Hospital de Braga Careers, Salaries & Jobs

The Unidade Local de Saúde de Braga (ULSB) is a public business entity of Portugal's National Health Service (SNS).

It is made up of the Hospital de Braga and the primary care units of six municipalities in the Braga district, directly covering 327,888 users.

The Hospital de Braga has 41 specialties and serves about 1.2 million people from the districts of Braga and Viana do Castelo. It has 704 beds in single or double rooms with private bathrooms, 136 consulting rooms, 13 operating theatres plus one in the delivery suite, a heliport and general, paediatric and obstetric emergency services.

ULSB had 4,791 staff at 31 December 2025. Its 2024 report shows 1,194 doctors and 1,424 nurses at the end of 2024, after large intakes when the local health unit was created. On an average day in 2025 it saw 2,270 hospital consultations, 148 operations and 8 births.

ULSB teaches medical students from the University of Minho's School of Medicine and trains junior doctors (internos) in many specialties. It is part of the Academic Clinical Centre Braga (2CA-Braga) with the University of Minho and Hospital CUF Porto. For international applicants, the route is the same as elsewhere in the SNS: recognition, registration with the professional order and Portuguese at the level it sets.

Run by

Unidade Local de Saúde de Braga, E.P.E., part of Portugal's National Health Service (SNS)

Leadership

• Américo dos Santos Afonso, Presidente do Conselho de Administração (Chair of the Board of Directors)
• Aldara Dorisa Gonçalves Salsa Braga, Vogal Executiva, Diretora Clínica para a Área dos Cuidados de Saúde Primários (Executive Board Member, Clinical Director for Primary Care)
• Elisabete Maria Duarte Fernandes Dias Pinheiro, Vogal Executiva, Enfermeira Diretora (Executive Board Member, Nursing Director)

Accreditations

• CHKS Accreditation Global (8th cycle) and ISO 9001 quality certification by CHKS for the Hospital de Braga, renewed in 2025 and valid until 30 November 2027

Switchboard

+351 253 027 000

• Emergency care

  General, paediatric and obstetric-gynaecological emergency services, with about 405 adult and 100 child emergency attendances a day in 2025 and a heliport for urgent transfers.

• Surgery

  13 operating theatres and about 148 operations a day on average in 2025.

• Maternity

  A delivery suite with its own operating room and about 8 births a day in 2025.

• Psychiatry

  A psychiatry service is part of the hospital's core structure.

• Clinical research

  Through 2CA-Braga, a non-profit partnership with the University of Minho and Hospital CUF Porto focused on clinical research, with a particular emphasis on neurosciences.

• ULSB does not describe an international recruitment programme, visa sponsorship or relocation support on the pages we could read. Its website links to a 'Venha trabalhar connosco' (come and work with us) page and a separate recruitment portal for active recruitment processes; that portal was not reachable when we checked in October 2026.
• As an SNS body, ULSB fills posts through public recruitment procedures published in Portugal's official gazette, the Diário da República, as well as on its own portal. Its 2024 report describes the completion of competitions for nurse managers and for specialists, and records 405 new doctors and 350 new nurses in 2024, a rise it links to the creation of the local health unit.
• ULSB has growing contact with foreign patients: its 2024 report notes a marked rise in foreign users, especially Brazilian and French nationals, at its emergency department and outpatient clinics.

• Doctors: recognition of a non-EU medical degree through a Portuguese public medical school (via DGES), including the CEMP exam, then registration with the Ordem dos Médicos, starting without autonomy. Specialist posts require registration with the relevant college of specialty.

• Doctors' Portuguese: pass the Ordem dos Médicos Prova de Comunicação Médica, aligned with B2, or show a B2 certificate from a certified Portuguese body, unless you studied medicine in Portuguese.

• Nurses: registration with the Ordem dos Enfermeiros, which under Regulation 371/2025 requires Portuguese at C1, shown by a certificate or by passing its language test. Non-EU nursing degrees also need recognition through a Portuguese institution.

• Residence visa: non-EU nationals with a job offer apply for a residence visa for work (subordinate work, highly qualified activity or EU Blue Card) and then a residence permit from AIMA.

1. 1

   Get your degree recognised

   Apply through DGES to a Portuguese public university or nursing school; doctors sit the annual CEMP recognition exam.
2. 2

   Reach the required Portuguese

   B2 for doctors and C1 for nurses, as set by their orders.
3. 3

   Register with your Ordem

   Obtain your professional card from the Ordem dos Médicos or Ordem dos Enfermeiros; SNS recruitment procedures ask for it.
4. 4

   Check ULSB's recruitment portal

   Look for active processes on recrutamento.hospitaldebraga.pt and the 'Venha trabalhar connosco' page of hospitaldebraga.pt.
5. 5

   Follow notices in the Diário da República

   SNS competitions are published in the official gazette with the documents, criteria and deadlines for each process.
6. 6

   Apply for your residence visa

   With an offer, apply at a Portuguese consulate for a residence visa for work, then for a residence permit with AIMA.