(MENAFN- Brazil-Arab News Agency (ANBA)) São Paulo – Fabio Faria, Nicandro Figueiredo, and Gilson Hiroshi Yagi are among the Brazilian doctors who have left everything behind to seek new job opportunities in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

“I had this desire to leave Brazil for some time, but I had never had the opportunity to try something completely different. In 2018, I began to evaluate my possibilities,” recalls Faria.

“Obvious destinations for Brazilians are the United States and Europe, but in the medical field, especially in the United States, it's a bit complicated. For my specialty, for example, which is orthopedics, I'd have to redo my residency before practicing in the country, and financially it wasn't worth it for me. That's when I thought of Dubai.”

Fabio Faria first worked in Dubai and is now in Abu Dhabi

Since there wasn't much information on social media or news sites at the time, Faria's research on what it would be like to work in Dubai came through a college friend.“He told me that working there would be a somewhat simpler process than in most other countries. For starters, I wouldn't need a job before validating my documents, and it was very quick.”

Determined to pursue a new professional opportunity, the Rio de Janeiro native began the process of validating his documents in mid-2018. Translated into English and with the required fees paid, Faria sent to Dataflow-the main entity responsible for verifying medical documents in Dubai-his medical degree, specialist certification, résumé, university transcript, a document from the Regional Medical Council saying he had no ongoing proceedings, and documentation proving his experience as an orthopedist.

“After that, the company carried out primary source verification, which basically means contacting your university and the place where you completed your residency, checking with all departments to confirm that the documents are indeed genuine. In my case, that verification took two months. Once everything was in order, they authorized me to take a revalidation exam for my specialty, which, if I'm not mistaken, had 100 questions,” says the orthopedist.

After taking the exam online and scoring over 80% of the questions, Faria received a letter of eligibility and was cleared to move on to the next stage of the process: applying for a license to practice in the UAE. Once requested, this license granted the Brazilian a two-year period to secure a job in either the private or public sector and thus have his permit officially activated.

“Unlike in Brazil, where with a CRM you can work as a doctor in your own office, here we can only activate the license and practice as a medical professional if a hospital or clinic carries out that activation. We have to be hired,” explains Faria.

“While I was going through the document validation process, I sent messages to some hospitals and made contact. I also brought my wife and daughters to see if this was really what we wanted. They could picture themselves living here. So, when I was finally able to start working, I quickly received a job offer and moved.”

After a short time living on Arab soil, he received an offer to work for the Medcare group, where he remained for nearly three years, until in 2023 the Brazilian received another job offer-this time to provide services to the government of Abu Dhabi, UAE's capital.

“In 2020, I received the Golden Visa, which guarantees me a 10-year stay. This visa is granted to certain specific professionals, such as researchers, and that includes specialist doctors like me,” explains Faria.

While working in Dubai, the Rio de Janeiro native mostly treated Brazilian patients. Now, working in the capital, about 90% of his patients are Emirati. But regardless of the network-public or private-for patients to have a consultation with the Brazilian orthopedist, they must have health insurance.

A change of scenery in healthcare

Gilson Hiroshi Yagi is another Brazilian doctor who always wanted to work abroad. Trained as a general practitioner, nutritionist, and psychiatrist, he ran an aesthetics, weight loss, performance, and longevity clinic in Brazil for 15 years.

Gilson Hiroshi Yagi moved to Dubai in 2023

“In 2021, my wife, who is my business partner, and I thought about opening a branch of our company in Dubai to improve our marketing. But when we went there, our idea changed, and we decided to shift focus and concentrate our business in Dubai. At that point, I began researching what it would be like to work as a doctor in the Arab country,” recalls the São Paulo native.

In the same year, the general practitioner learned that to regulate his profession, he would have to submit documents, such as his résumé, for review and take an exam. And since he didn't want to work in hospitals, to be able to practice in the city in the UAE, Yagi began looking for potential business partners in clinics similar to his own in 2022.

“I paid to validate each document I submitted, and once they were validated, I paid to take the exam. It consisted of 150 questions focused on general practice. After that, it took another seven months to find a business partner. After some time, I moved with my wife,” recalls the São Paulo native.

He arrived in Dubai in 2023.“To work here, there are four types of licenses that doctors can obtain. Mine needs to be renewed every year. I pay a set fee and complete the mandatory courses, and that way I can continue practicing here,” says the general practitioner.

Experience in two Arab countries

The story of Arab medicine for Nicandro Figueiredo, a neurosurgeon with a subspecialty in spinal surgery, began long before it did for Faria and Yagi.“I always wanted to pursue medicine influenced by my brother, and after completing my postdoctoral work in the U.S., it was just a matter of 'waiting for death to come,' because there was no way to further my professional growth. Then I started looking for other countries to work in and found Saudi Arabia in 2012.”

Born in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso state, he decided to try his luck working in another country without any expectations. After sending his résumé to a major hospital in Riyadh, Figueiredo was called for a phone interview-and he passed.

In the UAE, Nicandro Figueiredo also teaches at the university

“At that time, few Brazilians lived here, and there wasn't much information about the country on the internet. However, I researched what I needed to do to make the move. Within six months, I managed to take care of all the documentation and moved in January 2013 with my wife, two children, and a little dog,” recalls Figueiredo.

To be able to move and work as a doctor in Saudi Arabia at that time, the surgeon needed to have all his specialty degrees recognized by the country's validating authority. While working there, he took an oral exam, during which he discussed various cases at a university hospital.

“With the temporary license, I could stay in the country for two years, but if I wanted to stay longer, I would need to take the exam to obtain a more permanent medical license,” adds the specialist doctor.

Life was going well, and the family was accustomed to living on the other side of the world, but Figueiredo felt it was time to return in December 2015. Then he received an offer to work in Dubai.“I asked my children if they wanted to go back or move again, and they agreed to move. People treat Brazilians very well here in the Gulf. They provided the working conditions and equipment I requested, and that's how I moved again.”

Since the native of Cuiabá had already worked as a doctor in an Arab country, the document validation process-carried out by Dataflow in the UAE-was faster. Months after the process began, it was time to take the oral exam. With his specialty tested, the Brazilian received the opportunity to work as a doctor in both public and private hospitals in the Arab country.

“Compared to Brazil, I now treat people with higher purchasing power, who have better health insurance, and I also earn more, in addition to having more modern equipment. After five years working for Medcare, a major healthcare group, I was invited to work at King's College Hospital Dubai, where I remain to this day,” says Figueiredo.

In addition to seeing patients every day, many of whom are Brazilian, the native of Cuiabá also teaches medical students from two universities, who come to the hospital to learn from him.

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* Report by Rebecca Vettore, in collaboration with ANBA

Translated by Guilherme Miranda

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