Medical doctor

Public and private healthcare units such as hospitals, healthcare centres and medical centres. Educational institutions, universities and research institutes, as well as the pharmaceutical industry, insurance companies, the defence forces and central government.

Browse job postings: Medical doctor

The work is demanding and responsible. You need a high level of medical competence and practical skills in the profession. When you graduate, you can work as a general practitioner or specialise in one of about fifty areas, which requires in-depth expertise in a specific medical field. Medical science is evolving all the time, so you must follow the development of medicine and research throughout your career.

Interaction skills are important in the profession, as you must be able to identify the patient's distress based on the symptoms they report. You must be able to provide clear, understandable treatment instructions for a variety of patients of different ages. You must be able to make independent decisions even on a fast schedule.

You also play an important role in preventing diseases and promoting healthy lifestyles, which requires the right approach and good communication skills. You need to use different equipment in your work, so technical competence is important. 

You need to be in good health and have good stress tolerance. You may also need financial and business management skills in your work.

A precondition for working as a medical doctor at the emergency clinic is adapting to shift work.

A Licentiate of Medicine is the basic degree of a medical doctor completed at a university. Based on the Licentiate of Medicine degree, you will be granted an approval under which you have the right to practise your profession independently.

Most medical doctors complete a specialist qualification after basic training, which takes at least five years. There are dozens of specialisation areas. Completing special training in general medicine is a prerequisite for the right to work within the scope of health insurance in countries other than Finland in the European Union.

Search for study options (studyinfo.fi)⁠

A medical doctor is a licensed professional. The profession may only be practised by a licensed professional. Upon application, the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health Valvira grants approval for the profession of medical doctor.

Professional qualifications (suomi.fi)

The data is based on the median income, meaning the amount of salary which is the middle of the salary amounts arranged in order of magnitude.

Source: Statistics Finland's structural statistics on wages and salaries