The EU presents the European Professional Card: a true revolution for ESP alumni as it allows for efficient and uniform transfer of your physiotherapy qualifications between countries!
ESP alumni are working all over the world. In at least 40 different countries, ESP alumni have been able to register, because of their high level and persistence in getting all the required paper work done according to the national requirements. Still, it’s a long and tedious process for many, but now there seems a brilliant solution as proposed by the EU: the EPC!!
It will be easier than ever for ESP alumni to register and work in any EU country if this electronic card will work as promised. The news has just been released, so we do not yet know what it means for recent graduates. In general, in order to fulfil your professional dream, make sure to 1) Get your MSc and 2) Register in your preferred country.
Interesting fact: according to the EU it’s only for five different categories, which seems quite unrelated to us: nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists, mountain guides and real estate agents!
Register in your dream country
Every ESP alumnus should register via the BIG register in The Netherlands in order to practice in here. After this, there is different procedures for different countries, in EU and non-EU. For many of them, we have a lot of experience via our extensive network of alumni, students and lecturers. Sebastien Marcante and Noemie Williams researched all the different registration requirements and presented them in the website that was the final product of the PAP (thesis).
Complete your dream with a MSc
In the international market, having an MSc in physiotherapy is indispensable. The BSc (hons) degree you get after ESP is already very close to MSc level, but you need to find a programme to get the MSc behind your name.
Micha Wolff and George Kalogerakis researched all the different MSc programmes ESP alumni followed and are interested in and presented them in the website that was the final product of the PAP (thesis).
Did you know?
In many countries physiotherapy is a MSc programme already and also in the Netherlands, physio’s should be MSc by 2020 according to the most recent KNGF vision document. ESP is currently trying to offer the MSc (partially) during ESP and with only a one-year follow programme at the VU, with Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy Sciences programme.
So, what is this EPC?
The European Professional Card (EPC) is an electronic procedure you can use to have your professional qualifications recognised in another EU country. It is easier and quicker to manage than traditional qualification recognition procedures, and more transparent: you can keep track of your application online and re-use already uploaded documents to start new applications for different countries.
http://youtu.be/N3if_6ZHsMM Do you want to know more about our non-EU connections also? Contact us via Facebook and we can connect you to many Canadian, US, Australian and other non-EU alumni!