IsabellaHandcock

Hi,

I’m a current physiotherapy student from England and once I graduate I would love to move to Portugal and work.

If anyone has any contacts or experience/tips in finding jobs in Portugal as a recently graduated physiotherapist from UK I would love to hear from you and maybe get to know you better, as I’m always looking for new friends too.

I plan on chatting to the British embassy about logistics and I am currently having online Portuguese lessons while studying my degree too.

Anything anyone thinks would be helpful in entering the physiotherapy field in Portugal or anything about what I need to do beforehand would be great.

Looking forward to hearing responses,
Isabella

dmu

Hi, you'd have to check that your UK diploma would be recognized in Portugal, esp. as you'd be a non-EU citizen in 2021.
If it were France, for example, even if your diploma is recognized and you arrive before the end of December 2020, you would have to pass a language exam. before being able to register and work, since you'd have to prove that you can communicate with French patients. At the same time as having on-line lessons for "conversational" Portuguese, study as from now all the anatomical/medical terms, in preparation for a probable exam. A quick look shows that many terms are based on Latin/Greek, similar to English, which will help....
Good luck with your plans!

IsabellaHandcock

Hi dmu,

Thank you for your reply, yes I am looking at anatomical/medical terms also and luckily as you have said they are very similar if not completely the same in both languages due to them mostly being kept in their latin origin.
I will ask my teacher about taking a portuguese language exam when I am ready (I believe that to work I need to be level B1?)

And do I need to register to the APFISIO organisation?

Isabella

dmu

Some one on the Portugal forum must answer that one, but I suspect that health professionals should be at level B2 at least. It wouldn't be a Portuguese language exam., as in obtaining a certificate that you're competent at level xx, but a written/oral/practical exam. on the spot, prepared by the Portuguese Health Authorities.

Rambling archer

Perhaps your first port of call is to contact the APFISIO and ask there how you should go about it. There must be rules and regulations to follow if you want to practice in Portugal within the Portuguese system. Does your college have any links to advise you?

scot47

Do not expect much help from The British Embassy.

BillBullock

Before planning to have a chat with the British Embassy, have a look at this website: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/living-in-portugal

liveaboard

Work is thin here in Portugal, and medical people are poorly paid.
Not that you can't do it; but it won't be very comfortable living from the wage you'll earn.
Presuming you can find work in your specialty in the area you want to live.

Pgmills

You might get €25 per hour gross.

IsabellaHandcock

Hi,

My university is very little help in navigating future career that isn’t in the NHS let alone another country 😅.
I know to use DGES to get my qualifications recognised and converted.
I will contact APFISIO when I can.
I’ve read UK government advice of working and living in Portugal.
Money isn’t as important to me, I know that by moving to Portugal I would earn less than here in UK, however, Portugal feels like more my home and the place for me than UK does now.

Thank you for all your advice thus far. It’s a fairly tedious road to get there with all this but I’ll get stuck in as soon as I’m able.

dmu

Fair enough, but, if Portugal is anything like France, a prospective employer (hospital, reeducation centre, ...) would give priority to English-speaking Portuguese candidates for any jobs going. If you select an area with many expats (of all nationalities), you could set up your own physio practice and get English-speaking patients by word of mouth.
But first, get your UK Degree, master Portuguese during that time, and follow the regulations next year. It may be that you'll need proof of work when applying for a Visa. I'm being the Devil's Advocate here - fore-warned is fore-armed!
All the best!

Rambling archer