Easter battle

Integration: more than a bicycle and local jokes

In the Netherlands, people say that true integration starts when you finally understand the local jokes and trade your car for a bicycle. For me, real integration is about keeping your roots while learning the rules of a new game.

The Easter egg analogy

At Easter we did what we always do: the children "battled" with painted eggs, tapping them together to see whose shell would hold. Watching them, I realised how much this small ritual looks like the road of a doctor or dentist in a new country.

• The egg is your diploma and your years of practice. Strong, polished, built through hard work.
• The battle is the encounter with a new system. Some people fear the first crack: a rejection, a missing document, a language test. Others see every tap as something that makes them stronger.

What actually helps

I know many talented doctors and dentists who have moved to the Netherlands. They have plenty of inner strength. What they often lack is a clear picture of the road: which step comes first, who decides at each step, and how to prepare for the parts that are tested.

That picture is what we build at mentoramedic.nl. We are not a recruitment agency and we do not place anyone. We build the two parts of the road you prepare for yourself:

• Medical Dutch, from the first word to B2+, in our course Mentora Taal;
• BI-toets preparation in BigMentor: practice questions with the explanation and the source behind every answer, and consultations with a virtual patient.

The other steps (diploma recognition, the BIG register, your first job) belong to the CIBG, the CBGV and your future employer. We name them, so you always know where you stand.

Integration isn't about breaking who you are to become someone else. It's about staying strong and finding your place at a new table.

Are you a doctor or dentist preparing for BIG registration? Start with the route in five stages.

Yevhenii Butov