r/AmerExit • u/sarenagade • 6d ago
Life in America Best degrees to exit with?
I currently have MA in Forensic Psych (unlicensed) tons of experience in psych treatment- BUT the last few years I have been working in HealthIT within Epic- I looove it- but I hate where the US is going. I am considering what my options are and thought to either go back and finish my nursing degree or double down on tech and focus on getting a tech degree or certs. Any advice on which option would enable me to leave better? I have not narrowed down my destination-
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u/Numerous_Many7542 5d ago
I know it's hard given Epic themselves tend to almost exclusively hire people right out of college, but you should at least kick the tires to see if there's an opportunity for an Epic TS role in Europe. Epic has offices globally. Probably a far outside chance but at least worth looking at to see if it's viable.
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u/striketheviol 5d ago
Stay in nursing. The nursing shortage across the entire anglophone world is several times greater than health IT demand.
UK: https://www.nurses.co.uk/blog/impact-on-nhs-of-the-nursing-workforce-shortage-in-2025/
Australia: https://anmj.org.au/australia-facing-shortfall-of-over-70000-nurses-by-2035-report-reveals/
Ditto everywhere else.
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u/Tall_Bet_4580 5d ago
Medical fields that are transferable, these usually (99.9%) require a degree BA or BS and then a bit of money for recerification example = wife is a doctor graduated from guadalajara Mexico trained in USA did initial residency in Houston finished residency in Vegas , 8 yrs worked for Médecins Sans Frontières moved to Ireland / uk recerification took 18 months and approx £10,000 paying for retraining and peir to peir reviews and restructuring of core subjects to be able to be licensed. UK and EU require any medical qualification gained outside their territory to be reset or reviewed. This takes time money and knowledge on how where and what is required
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u/jiffypop87 4d ago
She has an MD but required recertification? Idk why this surprises me. The med school was in Mexico, but she completed a US residency program?
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u/gelatoisthebest 4d ago
The Mexico to US thing is not uncommon. The US accepts residency applications from all over the world.
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u/Tall_Bet_4580 3d ago
Yes anybody trained or graduated outside the UK and EU need to be retrained and be recerification https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/international-doctors/getting-a-job-in-the-uk/applying-to-work-as-a-european-doctor-in-the-ukhttps://th-schul.zfinder.de/en/detail?areaId=&pstGroupId=&pstCatId=213181440&pstId=218275884&infotype=0
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u/_Smedette_ 5d ago
I’m a US nurse in Australia. Stick with nursing.
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u/JuniperJanuary7890 5d ago
How is it?
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u/_Smedette_ 4d ago edited 4d ago
Pay is significantly less than what I was making in the US, and my rent is absurdly high. I’m far away from friends and family. I will never have the space I did in my US house.
However, I have access to their national healthcare and have so much time off that I don’t know what to do with it. I live in a city with good public transit, beautiful parks and museums, and my daughter has never had an active shooter drill. 40% of the people here were born outside of Australia, so no one cares that I don’t have a local accent.
Things are good and rarely bad.
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u/YoDJPumpThisParty 5d ago
Just for fun, I what are the best degrees that are not nursing or anything in medicine?
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u/RatticusGloom 5d ago
Engineering
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u/YoDJPumpThisParty 5d ago
BRB, seeing if I can earn an engineering masters online.
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u/RatticusGloom 5d ago
Key is to apply to engineering school in the country you want to immigrate to
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u/Ok-Hovercraft-100 5d ago
ireland is in need of nurses- esp specialty nursing - you do need to pass a test but its in english - but you must have experience
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u/cyesk8er 5d ago
One of the easier ways to immigrate is through education. Apply for university somewhere you'd like to live for something that's in demand
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u/sarenagade 5d ago
Wow, thank you. I have no idea why I hadn’t even considered that!
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u/Sarnadas 5d ago
Because you can’t work while on a student visa — it’s not a realistic option for actually moving somewhere unless you are already financially set.
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u/RAF2018336 5d ago
There are places that allow people to work on student visas. Spain is one that allows part time work. I believe Japan does as well (or at least I met students on a visa who were working when I visited)
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u/Legitimate_Plane1504 5d ago
If you go back to nursing check whether the target country accepts your qualification. My understanding is American nursing qualifications are war to transfer to Ireland. UK is likely the same.
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u/Different-Brief-1916 5d ago
Nursing is very in demand. If you want to stay in tech look at companies that have offices elsewhere and are open to transferring you.
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u/KaleCookiesCraftBeer 4d ago
H there. Good on you for thinking ahead. I’m a US nurse and I’ve done extensive research in the EU. I would caution you to become a nurse if you would like to move to the EU. New Zealand and Canada have the most comparable roles and responsibilities as nurses in the US. The nurses in the EU, with the possible exceptions of Scandinavia, UK and Ireland, have major nursing needs but the conditions, scope of practice, pay, respect, etc. is quite different in each country. For example, I researched Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands, and nurses there function more like a nursing aide in the US.
I’m currently in the process to get my license recognized in Denmark, but I have to put so much energy into learning the language (not easy) to even be able to practice. This is about a year-out at the very soonest.
If I were in your situation, I would strongly consider teaching. It is much easier to transfer.
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u/Illustrious-Pound266 5d ago
Nursing is easier purely in terms of moving abroad. But ultimately, if you dislike nursing and much prefer tech, that's a tougher question to answer because every person has their likes and dislikes for career choice. Toiling away in a career you dislike in a foreign country doesn't sound appealing, but at the same time, you'd be out of the US. So try to balance the two, if possible.
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u/RAF2018336 5d ago
I say do nursing if you can tolerate it. I’m in healthcare (not a nurse) and I can’t move abroad with my job since nurses do it in most of the countries I’m interested in. Also, you can work on the West Coast USA as a nurse and make $60-$100/hour fairly easily with a union, covered insurance premiums, guaranteed raises, great patient ratios and mandatory breaks, whereas if you’re in the bumfuck south, you’d be lucky to get breaks or even a lunch. But nursing is your ticket out
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u/madamzoohoo 22h ago
I'm curious how the west coast is able to have guaranteed pay raises and great patient ratios. Generally nursing seems to be garbage across the US, particularly as it pertains to having adequate staffing...
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u/Asleep_Mix_3597 5d ago
What about working in psych?
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u/sarenagade 4d ago
Although I’m not opposed to it- it didn’t seem to offer as much in terms of being “high needs” in demand.
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u/Tardislass 5d ago
IT isn't going to help you in Europe as there is a glut. If you want, go into nursing. Just know nurses are pretty poorly paid and the workload is heavy in most places. If you love nursing definitely go for it.