Over the last two weeks, I had the honour of travelling to Dubai and India with Remedium to help recruit candidates from all over the world and place international doctors in the UK.
In Dubai, we ran an information seminar for candidates who are interested in making the move and becoming international doctors in the UK. In India, my recruiter colleagues were busy preparing for our latest psychiatry recruitment drive, while the marketing team spent our time working on our next exciting campaign – watch this space!
In this blog, I would like to share some reflections on my experience and share what I learned from this amazing trip.
International travel can be exhausting
Travelling around the world is a huge privilege of our jobs at Remedium. However, I missed my family deeply and it made me reflect on how so many of our international doctors in the UK leave their loved ones in their home countries to join the NHS. They might be entering a culture which is totally new to them, and so I found it so humbling to recognise the daunting journey that every single one of our 3,500 doctors have faced. I felt proud that we offer our doctors an incredible onboarding service, be it our 24/7 support or our digital relocation platform, Red Carpet, which makes the move that little bit easier from them.
The immense value of our India Office
I was already well aware that our India office provides immense value for our NHS clients. For instance, it’s our Indian onboarding team who provide candidates with our award-winning pastoral care once they receive a UK job offer, supporting candidates with securing visas, CoS, finding accommodation and so on. However, what I wasn’t prepared for was how incredibly warm and welcoming Remedium’s Indian team would be. My teammates and I happened to be working in the India Office over Gudi Padwa, the Maharashtrian New Year, and the team showed us how to celebrate by bringing in delicious sweets and traditional dress which they showed us how to wear. They never let me travel home alone and always ensured I was well fed – thank you for your hospitality!
International doctors in the UK bring their unique cultural experiences with them
One of the most exciting aspects of my trip was seeing cultural differences playing out in a real-life context. For instance, I attended our information seminar in Dubai, and all the doctors I met were so friendly and openhearted. It was interesting to observe the culture in Dubai, particularly as most the doctors who work in the UAE are international doctors from elsewhere in the world. I found myself reflecting on how this creates a huge diversity of background and thought in the UAE, which is a great strength of the country. Similarly, international doctors in the UK bring their own unique perspectives and experiences that can help enhance the quality of care provided to NHS patients, especially in a diverse country like ours where our patients come from all over the world.
Of course, our international doctors in the UK have travelled from thousands of miles away to work in the NHS and can find our healthcare system and culture to be very different to their own. That’s why we offer our CPD accredited cultural and communications course for doctors and healthcare professionals – supporting them to acclimatise to working in the British cultural context.
The value of face-to-face communication
Working from Remedium’s Mumbai offices helped me to establish valuable connections with our India team. There is simply no replacement for face-to-face. Our NHS clients work with us on international recruitment projects for precisely this reason. Whether you are doing a mass recruitment drive like Manchester NHS Foundation Trust or looking for highly skilled doctors in hard-to-fill specialties like Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, travelling to meet candidates on their home soil shows them your dedication to providing a good candidate experience and allows you to evaluate them in person, meaning that you get a better understanding of the whole person – rather than a 2D image on Microsoft Teams.
Are you looking to recruit international doctors in the UK?
At Remedium, we are on a mission to solve the UK healthcare staffing crisis. To date, we’ve placed over 3,500 international doctors in the UK at more than 100 NHS Trusts. Our international presence means that we’re able to deliver award-winning international recruitment. Check out our case studies or contact our client team to find out how we can help you to move towards a permanent international recruitment model.
