I am an Emergency Medicine Doctor, UK qualified with over 11 years experience. I fell in love with the beautiful sunny Algarve many years ago. To my surprise, I bought property here, and I am now even married to a Portuguese citizen!
I want to share my experience of attempting to work as a doctor in the Algarve, which I have still not managed to achieve.
The process to have my Medical Degree (gained at the world-renowned Queens University Belfast) recognised in Portugal is a complex and expensive process, littered with bureaucracy.
The ‘Reconhecimento Específico do Mestrado Integrado em Medicina‘ (degree recognition) starts with multiple emails, documents, and a 1550€ bill. This would be followed by travel in person to Lisbon, certifications, official translations and Apostilles, costing over 2000€. Don’t forget travelling to Lisbon for an intense language exam costing 300€.
All of this, at a time when the Hospitals are in desperate need of recruiting doctors!
I wonder how a process can be so excessively complicated, when all I want to do is work in a sector so dismally understaffed?!
