Foreign qualifications - looking for help dealing with TEO

[Stefan Gofferje]

Hi,

sorry for writing English - my Finnish is not so good yet.

I am a German living in Finland. In Germany, I have worked >10 year in ambulance and I own the "Rettungsassistent" certification which is a 3 years advanced paramedic study including an exam in front of a government examination board.

I have contacted TEO about the recognition of my qualifications. The problem is that "Rettungsassistent" in Germany is not classified as a nurse profession. So according to TEO, despite the fact that the "Rettungsassistent" degree is - concerning emergency medicine - well on the level of Finnish Ensihoitaja, I could only work at Lähihoitaja level but I could not even call myself Lähihoitaja because I don't have the Finnish degree.

I am looking for some people - maybe from a nursing school - who have some experience in dealing with TEO and could help me a bit.

Regards,

Stefan

[{BS}]

Maybe you should contact to some finnish nursing schools(AMK, University of applied sciences) and ask what kind of studies you would have to take to change your orginal education to finnish one.

And you should get some explanation from your orginal school from Germany, where your level's contents has been explained.

TEO can only register those levels what are used in finland, (RN->sairaanhoitaja, Practical Nurse->lähihoitaja, Midwife/ObGyn-nurse ->kätilö....etc.).

[OldOne]

Biggest problem about that might be that "ensihoitaja-amk" is also R.N. And for that, there are some E.U directives what studyes for nursing must include. And before you can work as doctor, registered nurse or similar, you have to be legalised by TEO. And you cant be if your studyes arent in those EU directives.

If you wanna work in 'lähihoitaja level', like you sayd, you can, because you dont need that legalization from TEO. You cant call yourself lähihoitaja, because its "Protected occupational title". See http://www.teo.fi/EN/Licence_to_practice/Sivut/etusivu.aspx .

R.N (includes ensihoitaja-amk), doctors etc are those "licenced professionals", lähihoitaja etc arent. I dont see any way to you get ensihoitaja-amk or R.N status if you dont go to school  :-

Sorry my english sucks :D

[Stefan Gofferje]

Yes, I had a similar problem in Ireland years ago.  Finally, a comparism between the Rettungsassistent degree and the Irish EMT was done by an ambulance school and that was convincing the Health Board to give me a license.

So I was hoping that something similar would be possible here.

The major problem is the German system which traditionally separates ambulance and hospital work and gives different names for similar work, so the German authorities were refusing to give me that EU-paper...

@Osku: Don't worry about your English - you don't want to hear me try Finnish :D.

[OldOne]

The major problem is the German system which traditionally separates ambulance and hospital work and gives different names for similar work, so the German authorities were refusing to give me that EU-paper...

Bureaucracy, everyones best friend. Sometimes it seems its illegal to use your brain.  Good luck Stefan, i hope you can brake that wall of bureaucracy and find a solution :D

[Stefan Gofferje]

Good luck Stefan, i hope you can brake that wall of bureaucracy and find a solution :nauraa:

Some wise guy - I think it was one of my drill sgts. in military - once said "there are very little problems that can't be solved with the application of a little explosives" :D. So far about wall-breaking :).

But I still hope, somebody here might have some idea or maybe contact for me.

[OldOne]

*lol* Your sergeant havent met TEO :D

[Mats]

If you want to be recogniced or registered as "lähihoitaja", I'd recommend you to ask help from the second grade health schools (where they study to be lähihoitaja). As Osku said, there is no way you can be registered as a nurse without the EU standard studies.

One solution could simply be not to. In case you want to work in a basic level ambulance in Finland, leagally you don't need to have a degree. "Sufficent education" is enough at the moment (probably not in the future).

[OldOne]

Heres german wiki telling about  Rettungsassistents: http://translate.google.fi/translate?hl=fi&sl=de&u=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rettungsassistent&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DRettungsassistent%26hl%3Dfi%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG

You gotta laugh to those  Google transtations. Well, you can read *something* . :D

[Stefan Gofferje]

The English Wikipedia article is pretty good actually:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramedics_in_germany

[blondi]

Yes, I had a similar problem in Ireland years ago.  Finally, a comparism between the Rettungsassistent degree and the Irish EMT was done by an ambulance school and that was convincing the Health Board to give me a license.

Do you have any paperwork left from the Ireland-process? An official certificate perhaps? If I were you I would take every single diploma and certificate and any other even remotely significant paper and contact an AMK - school (I believe Polytechnic is the correct term) with an international Degree Programme in nursing. You might get some (hopefully a lot, but don´t get your hopes up, the Finnish education system is extremely non-flexible) credit because of your similar previous education and thus get in and out of school with a Finnish degree as flexibly and quickly as possible. Good luck!

[{BS}]

AMK - school (I believe Polytechnic is the correct term)

It's University Of Applied Sciences now days.

[Stefan Gofferje]

@Blondi:

Thanks for the hint! Do you happen to know such a school in Etelä-Pirkanmaa? ;D

[OldOne]

http://www.piramk.fi/english ?

[{BS}]

@Blondi:

Thanks for the hint! Do you happen to know such a school in Etelä-Pirkanmaa? :)

In Tampere is PIRAMK Pirkanmaa University of Applied Sciences  http://www.piramk.fi/english

In Hämeenlinna is HAMK University of Applied Sciences (HAMK) http://portal.hamk.fi/portal/page/portal/HAMK/In_English

Those schools are probably the closest ones.

[OldOne]

In Hämeenlinna is HAMK University of Applied Sciences (HAMK) http://portal.hamk.fi/portal/page/portal/HAMK/In_English

OT: those students look too bored :) I wonder why.

[Veli valkoinen]

In Hämeenlinna is HAMK University of Applied Sciences (HAMK) http://portal.hamk.fi/portal/page/portal/HAMK/In_English

OT: those students look too bored :) I wonder why.

You would too, if you lived in Hämeenlinna  >:D

[OldOne]

*LMAO* I see, thanks for clarification :)

[Stefan Gofferje]

Neither TRE nor HML were very interested... Both said they only have the "full" training programm but HML said, she has heard that Helsningin AMK has some programm for foreign degrees. I'll try them... Let's see...

[pile]

Stefan: You may have one short way to go. Send your application to Norway. They are liberal according due education. They are looking for what your education contains and then decide if you can be R.N. They are not allways so interested of EU... When you are RN in Norway then you get automatically finnish authoritation. You can ask more from german friend,who has working many years here in Norway. He can help you. Contact Andreas at www.skulsfjord.info. Tell him that Markus gave that addres to you.He is amazing guy to fix up things,just like Harvey Kietel in Pulp Fiction. 

Muokkaus:link fixed

[SirLucas]

Do you happen to know such a school in Etelä-Pirkanmaa? :)

http://www.seamk.fi/?deptid=1113

[Stefan Gofferje]

@pile: Thank you, I'll definitely try that!