In recent years, healthcare professionals have been leaving their home countries in droves to pursue new careers in Iceland, a land of beautiful landscapes and hospitable people. The reason? The country’s growing healthcare industry is booming, with employment rates reaching an all-time high. With its growing ability to travel easily using car rental in Iceland or one of its public transportation systems, it's slowly becoming a country with quite a lot to offer. If you’re interested in learning more about why healthcare professionals are flocking to Iceland and what job opportunities may await you, read on.

Why Healthcare Professionals Are Flocking to Iceland

Take control of your health

What makes healthcare in Iceland so different? You’ll be happy to know that health-care professionals in Iceland take control of your health. They do not wait for a patient to identify his or her symptoms before treating them, nor do they immediately give you medications. Instead, they listen actively, ask questions, and empower you by giving you options when it comes to your own care.

Who knows more about food than Icelanders?

The average Icelander eats 3 times as much fish per capita than Americans. That’s because 70% of Iceland is covered in glaciers, which keeps almost all of its farmland frozen and unable to grow most fruits and vegetables. As a result, a traditional Icelandic diet consists mostly of seafood—salmon, herring, mackerel, trout—with some sheep’s cheese and skyr (yoghourt made from skimmed milk) served alongside fatty lamb dishes. This gives them ample Omega 3 Fatty Acids as well as required protein, making the population much more healthy.

Water quality monitoring, protection, and innovation

Iceland's natural hot springs and geothermal water sources, combined with a strong chemical industry, gave rise to comprehensive legislation on chemical management in 1990. The nation launched a comprehensive program to monitor chemical levels in every source of drinking water. Today, The Icelandic Environment Agency monitors 40 quality parameters—including nutrients and pesticides—and recommends how municipalities should deal with emerging contaminants. Its work has led many municipalities—as well as members of parliament—to believe that current standards are strict enough without additional regulation at the national level.

Renewable energy and sustainability

A major driver behind Iceland’s healthcare industry is its concern for sustainability. The country is home to countless renewable energy initiatives, and with annual energy costs lower than in many other countries, it’s easy to see why healthcare professionals would want to set up shop there. This is a growing trend in healthcare: as technology improves and greenhouse gas emissions become more alarming, hospitals around the world are seeking ways of reducing their carbon footprint.

Support from medical schools and universities

Over 50 healthcare schools and universities worldwide have established exchange programs with their Icelandic counterparts. The goal of these programs is to provide students and graduates with an opportunity to work side-by-side with doctors, nurses, and health professionals in hospitals, care facilities, and other healthcare facilities in Iceland. This gives them valuable experience early on in their careers that is difficult or impossible to obtain elsewhere.

Prevention first

Rather than waiting for medical issues to appear, health professionals in Iceland take a preventative approach. Prevention is at the centre of everything they do, for example UV damage protection. It’s a pretty cost-effective way of running a healthcare system. After all, dealing with one minor ailment is cheaper than diagnosing and treating hundreds of patients suffering from chronic conditions. So why doesn’t everyone do it? Well, prevention takes time and patience—both in short supply in most healthcare systems around the world.

Health care is everyone’s business

When you look at healthcare in America today, it’s pretty easy to get discouraged about what’s happening in the system and how healthcare professionals are being impacted. However, things are starting to change around the world, and if there’s one country that is leading a healthcare revolution it is definitely Iceland. Health care is everyone’s business in Iceland, and it is showing the world how everyone can make real improvements if people work together. As health care professionals, it is demonstrating a need to be united in the fight against the proposed cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and other programs that affect low-income people or those with chronic illnesses. As in Iceland, healthcare professionals are always fighting for the right opportunities for the people. An important aspect, often overlooked, is healthcare for animals in Iceland which is also consistently given attention. So whether you are a paediatrician or a Vet, there is something for you in this country.


Photo by Evelyn Paris on Unsplash.