UK treatment of non-EU qualified dentists

Well, after 15 months of what was intended as a permanent move to the UK, my wife and two kids and I are moving back to the States. We go back to Seattle mid-December.

I had transferred with my employer to the UK office (Guildford, Surrey), while my wife quit her dentist job in America with the expectation of working as a dentist here. When we moved, the rules were that for non-EU qualified dentists, they need to take the IQE Part A, B, and C exams to be registered with the General Dental Council (GDC) as qualified dentists (EU dentists, just show up). While this in itself is unfair (preferring rather questionable dental qualification from some European states compared to someone with years of clinical experience in the US), we accepted that as a political requirement on the UK as an EU member.

My wife passed IQE Part A in June (£650 fee by the way), and was preparing for Part B (another £650) when the GDC announced that all registrations of non-EU dentists is now frozen "until further notice". In other words, even if you pass all 3 exams (taking around 18 months and a couple of thousand pounds), there is no assurance you will be registered!

See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6177330.stm [nofollow] for a good writeup.

After a year of trying everything we could to work within the system, my wife feels the goal post has been moved in the middle of the game. And in a somewhat American way, we have decided enough is enough and we won't accept this way of doing things. So off we go.

What I do hope is that in the future the GDC will reconsider its stance, and allow some "common sense" treatment of foreign qualifications (e.g. case by case, where you make a distinction between degree/experience from different countries, for God's sake). When this happens, we will reconsider our decision, because all things being equal, we want to live in the UK for all the wonderful reasons (Yes, BBC4 is a big one) that you have come to appreciate by living here.

One trait the British will have to change soon is to be too reserved and too patient in the face of bureaucracy and lack of common sense. I hear everyone here complain (quietly, of course) about the shortage of dentists, but they all fall in line behind a completely misguided application of EU politics to their own dental care.

Thanks for hearing me out.

Sorry to hear about you experiences and frustrations. This is not the first such story I have heard unfortunately and I am sorry your wife had to go through all of that for naught. Thanks for an enlightening post and best of luck to you both.

I spent 12 years working in the dental community in California and had no idea what they make you do to work here as a DDS.

(EU dentists, just show up). While this in itself is unfair (preferring rather questionable dental qualification from some European states compared to someone with years of clinical experience in the US)

I cant believe an EU dentist can immediately work here, but a US dentist cant.    That to me is just a** backwards.  Sorry things didnt work out for your wife. 

Wishing you the best of luck on your move back to Seattle.

I'm really sorry that you've experienced this!  I hope that the move back goes well!   

One trait the British will have to change soon is to be too reserved and too patient in the face of bureaucracy and lack of common sense. I hear everyone here complain (quietly, of course) about the shortage of dentists, but they all fall in line behind a completely misguided application of EU politics to their own dental care.

Some of us complain loudly, and certainly do not 'fall in line', but it seems that there is little we can do about this, as there are EU laws in place which the British electorate can do nothing about.   I am truly sorry for the way you have been treated, it is utterly despicable.

Vicky

i am so sorry to hear about this...as i am sitting here contemplating a very similar problem.
i am a critical care nurse who's been here 3+ years and i've recently been placed on band 5 of the "new" agenda for change pay scale. with 10 years plus experience that puts me with newly registered nurses!!!! it's all because of being unfamiliar with the system and not knowing how to play the game NHS style. i've made so many phone calls, written so many emails i've lost track. all i want is for someone to sit down and discuss my qualifications and match them to the skills i actually perform in my job, but nobody is able to do anything. i just get passed on to someone else.
i'm now gathering a notebook full of evidence to support my appeal, but honestly i am tentatively planning to return to the states, because on top of everything, i was eligible for ILR next july and now that's been extended also!!!

i feel just like eusjrah, it's a tough decision, but if the home office/NHS wants to make it so unreasonably difficult for us to use our skills here then perhaps we are better off in the states. i am not here to donate my very valuable skills/education/experience and not be adequeately compensated or respected.

Hello Eusjrah,

I'm very sorry about your situation and can in a way relate because my husband is a US trained dentist as well.  We had hoped/still are hoping to move to the UK, though right now it seems almost impossible for us to do so  :\\\'(

If you wouldn't mind - I'd like to chat with you further as it seems you are probably the best person to advise us given what you have been through.

Good luck on your move back to the States.

Dara

hi eusjrah,

I can sympathise with you and your wife on this one, I posted about my 2 cousins who are an Anesthetist (sp?) and Pathologist headhunted by the NHS and now subject to the same as what you and you're wife are experiencing (thread below is 'nhs is to lose 2 highly skilled docs)

in addition to the frustrations Ladybug59 has written - these are often said by my cousins as well!

What gets me is, my cousins 2, ladybug 59 and Eusjrah's wife, that's four in demand skilled workers who are not wanting to stay here - four less commited individuals less for the health service (public & private whichever)  and this is just on UKY! there must be hundreds if not thousands of similar cases up and down the country!

So Ladybug & Eusjrah - you're not alone and many others are experiencing similar frustrations.
 
I really wish the UK would ACT like a major G8 country, it's getting ridiculous now, more and more aspects of the UK are fast becoming less appealing and I really do wonder what it will be like 5,10 years down the road.

Like you, my cousins are now sitting the examinations to qualify in the US and join my many myriad of extended family who are medical professionals - at the very least, they'll get triple or quadruple the pay and put up with the crap/nagative aspects that also exists in the US healthcare system - If i was in the same situation, I know where I'd rather be.

Frustrated on behalf of my cousins, Dennis! West London & Slough UK!

dennis, i saw your post about your cousins and also the one about giving credit where the NHS has done a good job, which most of the time!!!

last night at work i was thinking and i don't know if this applies to other health care professionals but there is a reason why the NHS is not flooded with EU nurses. french, german, etc nurses have no interest in coming to england and probably are better compensated in their own countries. and eastern european (polish, etc) don't have the level of training required to work in the uk. so what did the NHS do, go off to the philipines and africa and recruit highly skilled third world nurses!!!!
in my opinion, it's whatever suits their purpose at the time, now there is a surplus of newly registered uk nurses and the home office would love to boot out all the foreign nurses, they just can't find a polite way of doing it!!!
so they throw up obstacles, change the rules, limit our potential, and discredit our qualifications hoping we'll give up...guess what???? it's working!!!!