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Medicine & allied health

Doctor, dentist, pharmacist, physiotherapist: careers built on trust and years of training.

Medicine is the most competitive route abroad. Undergraduate medicine (MBBS or MB ChB) takes five to six years in the UK, Ireland, Australia and Malaysia, needs top grades in biology and chemistry, often an admissions test such as the UCAT, and costs more than most degrees. In the US and Canada, medicine is a graduate degree, so international students start with a pre-medical bachelor’s. Allied health careers, such as pharmacy, physiotherapy, radiography, medical laboratory science, paramedicine and optometry, offer more places, shorter courses and strong demand. Whichever you choose, you must register with the regulator in the country where you want to practise.

What the evidence says

The numbers behind this career

PLAB
International medical graduates must pass the PLAB exams (being replaced by the UK Medical Licensing Assessment) before the General Medical Council will register them to work as doctors in the UK.
General Medical Council (UK), Joining the register: PLAB and the UKMLA, current
Low
Health professionals are among the occupations least exposed to generative AI: it mainly supports their work rather than replacing it.
ILO, Generative AI and jobs: a refined global index of occupational exposure, May 2025
Largest
Care and health roles are among the jobs adding the most workers worldwide to 2030.
World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report 2025, Jan 2025

You and AI

What AI takes on, and what stays yours

AI supports the work, but people still do the core of it: care, trust and being there in person.

AI increasingly handles

  • Reading scans and lab results as a second opinion
  • Clinical notes, letters and coding
  • Checking drug interactions and doses

Stays human, and grows in value

  • Examining, diagnosing and treating patients
  • Breaking difficult news and shared decisions
  • Legal and ethical responsibility for care

The career ladder

From your first course to a senior role

Typical steps. Titles vary by country and employer, and some roles need a local licence or registration.

  1. 1StudyMBBS/MD, dentistry, pharmacy, physiotherapy, radiography, medical laboratory science
  2. 2First roleFoundation or resident doctor, pharmacist, physiotherapist, radiographer
  3. 33–5 yearsSpecialty trainee, senior pharmacist, clinical specialist
  4. 4SeniorConsultant or GP, clinical lead, practice owner

Skills to build

Biology and chemistryClinical reasoningCommunication and empathyEthics and patient safetyEvidence-based practice

Where it’s in demand

  • General practitioners, pharmacists and physiotherapists are on Australia’s Core Skills Occupation List. Source
  • Health care and social services is a Canadian Express Entry category for 2026. Source
  • Doctors are a shortage occupation for Germany’s EU Blue Card. Source

Lists change often and are not a promise of a visa. How to use them →