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Hi!

I'm a medical graduate from the EU and I'm interested in applying for a Medical Genetics residency program. I have some questions:

1. Do I have to complete a period of training in another speciality, e.g. 12 months in Internal Medicine or Paediatrics, before applying for a genetics programme in Sweden?

2. Which "route" would suggest that could ensure that I get accepted in a genetics programme? Is, for instance, a master's degree in genetics in a Swedish University a good idea or is clinical experience (even in another speciality, like Paediatrics) more preferred?

3. Is the training conducted exclusively in University Hospitals? If so, does this mean that genetics residency programmes are competitive?

Sorry for the long post!

Hello TATA,

There is a residency program in medical genetics, the Swedish term being "klinisk genetic".

1. It is a basic specialty, meaning that no other area of medicine needs to be taken prior to starting it. You must have a Swedish medical license, however, which requires that you either already have a medical license in the EU country of your medical degree or that you undergo the AT internship (18-24 months) and pass the AT exam.

2. Research or clinical experience are often regarded as the main competitive factors. For immigrating physicians, the fluency in the Swedish language may also be a significant factor.

3. I am not familiar enough with the specialty to answer this question, hopefully someone else here is.

Hello TATA,

Klinisk genetik (medical genetics) is a speciality only given at six of Swedens seven University hospitals (Göteborg, Lindköping, Lund, Stockholm, Umeå, Uppsala, not Örebro).
http://sfmg.se/externa-lankar/

The speciality is very "research oriented", thus emphasising an interest for research among the applicants. Due to the fact that it is a rather narrow speciality with a limited amount of patients, there aren't that many specialists in the field due to a not that great need. Thus, there aren't that many openings. The first and only one I've seen, approximately six months ago, did not have that many applicants; >2/<6. However, the add stated that it was meriting to already have a speciality diploma, and from what I understand it is not uncommon that those applying are either specialsits or almost-specialists, most frequently in Oncology or Pathology.

My recommendation is that you contact the different departments and ask them directly what it would take for you to be able to start working at their clinic.

Please let us know what you find out!
Good luck