Did you know that BBi also provides a smooth landing into health care jobs in the Nordics? Our Country of Origin Training programmes, COOTs, enable employers to train incoming foreign workers during the recruitment phase. COOTs ensure that the professionals who are relocating have basic language skills and cultural understanding of the target country as well as a basic understanding of the organisational and legal aspects surrounding healthcare and the working environment of the employing organisation.

Fabiana had just graduated as a nuclear medicine specialist from the University of Navarra and had started a summer contract at a university hospital in Salamanca when she learned of the job opportunity in Sweden through BBi.

Both she and her husband, also a doctor, had already considered moving to another country for greater job stability and better working conditions.

The process was simple. They sent their CVs and after some phone conversations, the first videoconference interview was agreed in which two nuclear medicine specialists, members of the hospital’s HR team, and BBi Communication collaborators told her more details about the offer and were interested in her experience and motivation to participate in the process. 

Almost immediately, the hospital informed her that they were interested in her profile and invited her and her husband for a two-day visit to Gothenburg to see the hospital and the city. There they had a tour of the city that they found “very cosmopolitan and very pleasant to live in” according to Fabiana, and finally shared a dinner with the team and with those they had already met in the first interview. The next day they visited the hospital and the nuclear medicine department where they shared Fika (the famous Swedish coffee moment) with Swedish cakes. The hospital facilities and design seemed modern and Fabiana found that they use the best technology to serve a great number of inhabitants. This experience was very positive to help them make the decision as “when you see it in person, the offer becomes more real and you can see yourself working there”.

On the other hand, Fabiana says that one of the things that caught her attention is “the organization and commitment when organizing the whole process one year in advance, something that does not usually happen in Spain”. With the brief contact she has already had with Sweden, she has been able to verify that they are “people who keep their word and who value teamwork, when reporting you represent the whole department, you do not speak only on your behalf. There is a work-life balance. They have ingrained values as a society,” Fabiana says.

Upon her return to Spain, she was offered an agreement in which she and her partner undertook to begin their Swedish language training with BBi Communication and the hospital proposed starting the contract once B2 level was reached. This is another point that attracted them as this will make adaptation to the new destination easier. They are very excited about the course and within month they have already completed level A1.

Fabiana feels that working with BBi has been very easy, “they accompany you throughout the process and adapt to your needs, although they demand a high level of commitment. It is an interesting dynamic to be able to do the personalized language course together with your partner to lean on and progress along so neither of us is left behind and we are very grateful for it. This facilitates learning and increases confidence by making adaptation easier”

If any fellow doctor were faced with the same decision as her a few months ago, she would tell them it is a very good opportunity and not to think it twice. Learning a new language can be somewhat scary but if they are committed, they will progress quickly.

Her family is not in her current city of residence so she thinks she will be even more connected from Gothenburg than from where she currently is. They are excited and motivated to be able to work both in a world-class hospital with the best technology, as well as being able to be part of a developed society with good values that they believe they will also share. “We feel it’s an opportunity to grow professionally and as a family.”