Leave Your Old Life Behind With Our Guide To What You Need To Start Working As A Doctor In Switzerland (Certified Translations).

You’re qualified! And now you want to move to Switzerland? Great! But, now what? How do you go about practicing your profession in Switzerland? Which documents are required for foreign doctors in Switzerland and what’s the process to get registered?
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If you’re a qualified professional looking to move to and work in Switzerland, there are some important things to note about how the process works. With non-regulated professions, such as office workers and low-skilled jobs, you usually just need to provide a certified copy of your qualifications with your visa application.
However, people in regulated professions, such as doctors, vets, dentists and chiropractors must have their qualifications verified and submitted to the appropriate regulatory body for approval.
Working As A Doctor In Switzerland
As it’s a regulated profession, foreign doctors in Switzerland need to be registered with the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) (if you’re from the EU) or Cantonal Department of Public Health (COPH) (if not from the EU) in order to practice medicine.
This is something you need to do separately from your visa application. You can have your qualifications approved either before or alongside your visa application, but a long-term work visa won’t be granted without approved qualifications.
How Does It Work?
The process sounds complicated, but it’s actually quite simple when you break it down. Your medical degree and other applicable qualification certificates will need to be translated into French, German or English. These will need to be certified translations done by an accredited professional.
After you’ve got your certified translations, you’ll need to contact the FOPH or relevant COPH. They’ll let you know exactly how the process works, how long it will take and what documents they need, as well as which institutions they’ll recognize in your home country. It may differ slightly depending on the Canton you live, or going to live, in. You might also be required to produce the original certificates as well as certified translations.
Why do I need Certified Translations?
As a regulated industry, medicine and similar professions are legally required to be subject to certain regulations. This means that all documents must be certified to verify their authenticity. Certified translations, such as the ones we produce, are universally recognized and accepted by regulatory bodies in Switzerland.
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We at SemioticTransfer AG are a translation services company based in Switzerland. We are certified to provide certified translations in 40 languages. If you want a free quote, or would like to contact us directly, please call or email us on +41 56 470 40 40 or contact@semiotictransfer.ch.