How do international medical graduates and colleagues perceive and deal with difficulties in everyday collaboration? A qualitative study.

Aims: Many medical doctors work outside their countries of origin. Consequently, language barriers and cultural differences may result in miscommunication and tension in the workplace, leading to poor performance and quality of treatment and affecting patient safety. However, there is little information about how foreign doctors and their colleagues perceive their collaboration and handle situations that can affect the quality of health services.

Language barriers and professional identity: A qualitative interview study of newly employed international medical doctors and Norwegian colleagues.

Objective: To explore how language barriers influence communication and collaboration between newly-employed international medical doctors and Norwegian health personnel.

Methods: Interviews were conducted with 16 doctors who had recently started working in Norway and 12 Norwegian born health personnel who had extensive experience working with international medical doctors. Analyses were consistent with principles of systematic text condensation.

International medical graduates' perceptions of entering the profession in Norway.

Background: There is little knowledge available about how it feels for an international medical graduate arriving in Norway. We have investigated how the initial period as an employee of the Norwegian health services is perceived.

Material And Method: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 16 international medical graduates who had foreign training and citizenship.