First, this is not parody related, sorry for wasting your time and one of your clicks if that bothers you!

Anyway:

Me and my coworker have been asked to help a Danish doctor to translate his CV to English. Yeah, that´s right, piece of cake huh?. =8-()

Now, my grasp of normal medical english has become, well, fairly acceptable as hopefully seen in some of my parodies of late, but this is harder, much harder. University level diplomas and titles etc is not my normal cup of liquid Xanax. Also, there´s the always present problem for a foreigner as to go with "legitimation", "exam", "diploma of" or something like that.

Whatever translation/explanation help can be offer will be gratefully reqognized. There are five levels/quiestions that we´re unshore of, I´ll try to explain them and also what I´m thinking:

1. (Laegevidenskabelig ambeteseksamen at Copenhagen University). Something like medical scientific officer exam at university level. Three years of studies at University if I got it right.

I´m thinking: "Bachelor of Medical Science at Copenhagen University" or something like that.


2. Authorisation to work as a doctor in the field of general internal medicine, B-authorisation (whatever that means).

I´m thinking: "Authorisation to work as a General Practioner" or something like that-


3. Legitimation for a doctor with the Danish Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen).

I´m thinking "Authorisation to work as a registered physician with the Danish National Board of Health and Welfare"


4. Specialist competence i general internal medicin. Apparently some sort of further studies to become a specialist. I don´t know how but it was 4½ years after the previous and ½ a year before the next.

I´m thinking: ???  :o


5. Authorisation as specialist in general internal medicine:

I´m thinking: Authorisation as registered specialist in internal medicine with the National Board of Health and Welfare" or something like that.


Hopefully you´re now thinking, Baah, that´s easy, I´ll help the poor shmuck out before his 15 hours from now deadline...

1. (Laegevidenskabelig ambeteseksamen at Copenhagen University). Something like medical scientific officer exam at university level. Three years of studies at University if I got it right.

I´m thinking: "Bachelor of Medical Science at Copenhagen University" or something like that.

************************** "Bachelor" only if it did not require any prior undergraduate degree, and only if it is the equivalent of a four-year undergraduate degree.


2. Authorisation to work as a doctor in the field of general internal medicine, B-authorisation (whatever that means).

I´m thinking: "Authorisation to work as a General Practioner" or something like that-

************************** Sorry...I'm not a doctor, but I write a lot of proctology parodies on Amiright.


3. Legitimation for a doctor with the Danish Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen).

I´m thinking "Authorisation to work as a registered physician with the Danish National Board of Health and Welfare"

************************** That sounds good.  In America, doctors have to take exams to get "board certified" in order for them to become "licensed" to practice medicine.


4. Specialist competence i general internal medicin. Apparently some sort of further studies to become a specialist. I don´t know how but it was 4½ years after the previous and ½ a year before the next.

I´m thinking: 

**************************** In America, after 4 years of medical school, doctors earn their MD degree, and then typically go on into another 4 years of residency and internship to learn clinical practice and to apprentice in a medical specialty.  Does that information help?


5. Authorisation as specialist in general internal medicine:

I´m thinking: Authorisation as registered specialist in internal medicine with the National Board of Health and Welfare" or something like that.


***************************** Sounds reasonable.  Again, in America, it's getting "board certified" to become "licensed".  But for all I know, maybe "registered" is the proper term in Europe/Denmark/Sweden.

Remember, Peter, I'm not a doctor ...... perhaps you could do some "Google" research into these matters for more information.

Remember, Peter, I'm not a doctor ...... perhaps you could do some "Google" research into these matters for more information.



Oh good!  I was seriously wondering where in the hell I had been...

1. "Bachelor of Medical Science at Copenhagen University"

Johnny wrote: "Bachelor" only if it did not require any prior undergraduate degree, and only if it is the equivalent of a four-year undergraduate degree...

I think it was three years. Assuming things are the same in Denmark and England/USA, would that make it a Ph.D (doctor of philosophy) in Medical Science instead?


2. Authorisation to work as a doctor in the field of general internal medicine, B-authorisation (whatever that means).

3. Legitimation for a doctor with the Danish Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen).

Nr 2 was taken only 1 month before number three so number 2 is like completing the studies required to become a physician/doctor (the uni diploma or the like) and number 3 is getting the Danish state´s authorisations to work as a professional within the country.

Could number 2 maybe be an "MD degree in Internal Medicine"?

And then number 3 "Authorisation to work as a registered physician with the Danish National Board of Health and Welfare" or maybe "Authorisation as Registered Physician as issued by the Danish National Board of Health and Welfare"


4. Specialist competence i general internal medicin. Apparently some sort of further studies to become a specialist. I don´t know how but it was 4½ years after number 3 and 6 months before number 5. Probably years of residency and internship to learn clinical practice and to apprentice in a medical specialty.


5. Authorisation as specialist in general internal medicine:

Maybe like number 3, but with specialist to the title?

Johnny wrote: Again, in America, it's getting "board certified" to become "licensed".  But for all I know, maybe "registered" is the proper term in Europe/Denmark/Sweden.

Peter,

I recommend you seek an authoritative on-line source.  I've given you all of my best guesses...and they were indeed guesses.

Johnny D

Peter,

I recommend you seek an authoritative on-line source.  I've given you all of my best guesses...and they were indeed guesses.

Johnny D




I did that too... ran some 5-10 IE windows separately at the same time, this seems to be one of those situations/questions where you have to know how to ask to get an informative answer and where knowing how to ask probably mean you don´t need the answer.  ???

Anyway, for the attempt to help I thank thee... :-)

Hi Peter,


1. "Bachelor of Medical Science at Copenhagen University"

Johnny wrote: "Bachelor" only if it did not require any prior undergraduate degree, and only if it is the equivalent of a four-year undergraduate degree...

I think it was three years. Assuming things are the same in Denmark and England/USA, would that make it a Ph.D (doctor of philosophy) in Medical Science instead?

No - you'd only get a PhD after studying for years after your bachelor's degree: most medics don't get them at all.  Over here medicine is a 5-year course (3 years pre-clinical, two years working in a hospital attached to a university medical centre).  At the end of the course you're a bachelor of medicine, which depending on where you did your course lets you add the letters MB or BMed (or sometimes BMedSci) after your name.





2. Authorisation to work as a doctor in the field of general internal medicine, B-authorisation (whatever that means).

3. Legitimation for a doctor with the Danish Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen).

Nr 2 was taken only 1 month before number three so number 2 is like completing the studies required to become a physician/doctor (the uni diploma or the like) and number 3 is getting the Danish state´s authorisations to work as a professional within the country.

Together with 1, that looks like it makes the pre-clinical/clinical degree, after which you'd be entitled to call yourself "Dr"


Could number 2 maybe be an "MD degree in Internal Medicine"?

And then number 3 "Authorisation to work as a registered physician with the Danish National Board of Health and Welfare" or maybe "Authorisation as Registered Physician as issued by the Danish National Board of Health and Welfare"

4. Specialist competence i general internal medicin. Apparently some sort of further studies to become a specialist. I don´t know how but it was 4½ years after number 3 and 6 months before number 5. Probably years of residency and internship to learn clinical practice and to apprentice in a medical specialty.

5. Authorisation as specialist in general internal medicine:

Maybe like number 3, but with specialist to the title?

There's a separate qualification which comes a few years after qualification as a doctor, e.g. specialism in general practice, ENT surgery, etc. (which, rather perversely, leaves surgeons calling themselves "Mr" rather than "Dr")


But...

If, as it sounds, your friend is applying for a medical job overseas, I wouldn't recommend trying to shoe-horn the qualifications he has into the names you get in the destination country: better to list what he has officially in his own language, supply a basic translation in parentheses afterwards and let the people reading the cv make the assumptions.  That way, he can never be accused of trying to mislead or claim a qualification to which he might not be entitled (not that I'm saying he will intentionally, it's just that something may have a specific meaning within the medical profession).

Phil

If, as it sounds, your friend is applying for a medical job overseas, I wouldn't recommend trying to shoe-horn the qualifications he has into the names you get in the destination country: better to list what he has officially in his own language, supply a basic translation in parentheses afterwards and let the people reading the cv make the assumptions.  That way, he can never be accused of trying to mislead or claim a qualification to which he might not be entitled (not that I'm saying he will intentionally, it's just that something may have a specific meaning within the medical profession).


Hi Phil!

The more I thought about it it seemed strange that someone who´s applaying for a job overseas did come to me/us for this rather than to check with a collegue and/or a merit validator at University, or something like that. He´s not even working at my ward. OK, so my rep as someone with an above normal (or should that be abnormal?) Swedish level of English sometimes proceeds me, but I have been very careful at my new job to point out that only applies to general everyday English, talking to tourists who have had accidents or ar there for some reason or the other etc, and that I DO NOT want to claime to be above normal in the medical field. Though of course I hope to be, eventually.

So I talked to the person who asked me/us to do this, (that was not the doctor himself) and she talked to an available collegue of his. After that we ended up doing something inbetween those alternatives that you lay out here. Basic translation + basic explanation, titles MD and Specialist of internal medicine etc, and they said it was fine.

It turned out that it wasn´t for overseas job purposes, at least not in the direct sense, it had to do with one of those worldwide clinical blind testings of new medical drugs, where half the patients gets the drug and the other half gets Placebo and neither the patient or the doctor or the science nurse know who´s getting what until seals are broken sometime in the future. Those pps handling this at national and supplying company level needs to, according to scientific regulations as it was explained to me, the CV for all personal involved with this thing on the local hosipital level. It didn´t need to be on the level it would have been if it had been about an overseas job, it only needed to be detailed enought to fill some sort of basic standard regulation of when and where exams were taken and legitimations were issued.

So it turned out OK, though we did put in much more work on this than we would have had to. I can live with that, I learned some in the process and that´s never a bad thing.