Career paths for medical doctors
Here you can find information on the services offered by the Finnish Medical Association at different stages of a medical doctor’s career path, from working and specialising during studies to forging a working life and career best suited to you as well as transitioning to retirement.
Career and competence
Working during medical studies
During your medical studies, you can work as a junior house officer, in summer jobs as a medical doctors’s substitute, and during the last years of your studies, you can also work in various medical doctor’s positions with limited rights.
Junior house officers
Junior house officer posts, amanuenssuuri in Finnish, are paid periods of practical work as part of medical studies. The degree of Licenciate in Medicine includes mandatory periods of junior house officer work, but the contents and the length of these periods varies between universities. See your university study guide for the number of mandatory junior house officer jobs and their contents as well as for practical instructions. The salary of a junior house officer is set out in the salary appendices of the Lääkärisopimus (doctors’ collective agreement).
Working after the 4th and 5th years of the medical degree
A student of medicine can work as a medical doctor’s substitute after they have completed the 4th year of medical studies. A medical student can only work in the public sector with a public service employment contract as as an employee of a private employer. Students cannot work as independent entrepreneurs. A senior supervising medical doctor must be named for the student in writing. It is also important to note that a medical student can only prescribe medication for the patients they treat during their work.
YEK and specialties
YEK is an abbreviation for specialised education in general medicine, which can be completed after completing the Licenciate in Medicine degree. After completing the YEK, a doctor can work as a medical doctor covered by social insurance in Finland but also in other countries of the European Union. Specialties, on the other hand, refer to the completion of a Specialist Degree in Medicine.
Specialised education in general medicine, YEK
The specialised training in general medicine, YEK for short, is a degree that allows you to work as a physician covered by social insurance in other EU countries. You can apply for the training once you have completed your Licentiate in Medicine and Valvira has granted you the right to practice the medical profession in Finland (full licensing) or the right to practice that profession in Finland under the management and supervision of another person (partial licensing) that is valid for the time being or for a limited period of time.
The YEK lasts three years and covers 180 ECTS credits. Those medical professionals whose Licenciate of Medicine degree is from Finland or Belgium can submit 60 credits towards the YEK, i.e. one year’s study, in which case the YEK training period is two years in total. The YEK includes working in a health center and hospital, as well as theory training. An YEK student must work at the health center for at least nine months in a direct employment relationship with a wellbeing services county. The work period at a hospital must be at least six months.
For more information, please contact the Finnish medical faculties.
Specialties
Specialties refer to training as a specialist doctor of a specific field in medicine. You can start studying for a Specialist Degree in Medicine after obtaining your Licenciate of Medicine degree and legalisation from Valvira. In addition to practical training, i.e. working in a specialized field, the Specialist Degree in Medicine includes a training period at a health center, theoretical studies and management studies.
Only work experience gained as a fully licensed doctor is accepted for specialist medical training. Depending on the specialty, the degree includes working in a university and/or central hospital and a health center.
Support for career planning
Mentoring is available for medical doctors during their studies and after graduation at different stages of their career.
Some of the medical faculties in Finland offer group mentoring during medical studies wither as part of the degree or otherwise.
To support the first summer jobs of student medical doctors the Association of Young Medical Doctors (Nuorten Lääkärien Yhdistys, NLY), The Association of Medical Students (Medisiinariliitto) and Duodecim organise group mentoring for 4th and 5th year medical students in the summer. This mentoring is aimed at medical student in Finland and Finnish students studying medicine abroad.
For more information, please see e.g. the Duodecim website of contact the associations mentioned above.
Unemployment fund
Work during medical studies counts towards your unemployment benefits. LL-kassa is the unemployment fund for physicians and lawyers. Contact LL-kassa for more information.