Better to do medicine in india or in US?

[waitwat]

hello!
i am currently senior at high school in US.

i am debating over whether to go to a medical school in india or US.

i want to go to india because it takes you only 6 years to get your MBBS degree, but i want to know how to get residency in US after coming back from india. How hard will it be to get residency??

If i decide to go medical here in US, what chances i have to get into a medical school after undergraduate studies?

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[dragonfly99]

It would be a lot easier to get a residency here in the US if you go to school here. Do a search on here, or ask your question in the "general residency issues" forum to get more input from more people.
I'm a cardiology fellow here in the US, and I can tell you that to get a residency is MUCH more difficult for students who didn't go to school in the US. This is true even if they have US residency/Green Card or US citizenship. The reason is that there are lots and lots of students graduating from US med schools each year. These students are seen as a "known quantity" by U.S. residency programs, which know the accreditation standards and what has been taught by the US med schools, which have a pretty standardized curriculum that aims to prepare students for practice in the U.S.

I recently had a student from a med school in India rotate through my service (i.e. work for me for several weeks). He was very nice, but honestly he was not well prepared clinically to work in the U.S. even though he was supposed to be in his final year of medical studies. The problem didn't seem to be with how smart vs. not smart he was...he knew the material, scientifically speaking, but he just wasn't prepared clinically. My impression is that the Indian system of medical training is different than the U.S. system, with not as much early clinical exposure. They may spend longer in residency...I don't really know. I just know that others have experienced what I have mentioned as well...having students from Indian med schools who didn't appear prepared to function in our system. Then the students are trying to go for a US residency and they need good letters of recommendations...some physicians will refuse to write those because if they give someone a recommendation they are staking their own reputation on that person being able to perform as a resident. As for the student I had, I hope he succeeds because I think he's a good guy, and I think he's smart enough, but I know that at least one attending (i.e. physician in charge) refused to write him a letter of recommendation because honestly he just wasn't that good, at least not yet.

If you just want to get done faster and are sure you want to be a doctor, then I would encourage you to investigate the various early-entry or guaranteed-entry programs at US universities in and med schools. If you want to practice in the US, I think it's a much safer and better way to go. For example, St. Louis University and Northwester in Chicago both I think have a guaranteed-entry program to their med schools...Northwestern lets you do BS/MD in 7 years. I think there's a place in Florida that has a 6 year college/MD combined program. You could still do visiting rotations or travel to India for a few months at some point, most likely, if you want to experience that (either in med school or residency). I wouldn't encourage going to med school in India, though.

 

[penguin24]

I am a 4th year US med student applying for residency in Radiology; I've spoken to Indian med students, and they say that Radiology is not even an option b/c competitive residencies strongly prefer US students. They are happy to get any specialty as long as they match.

Not to mention, if you go to India you are not guaranteed to match into a US residency; whereas, if you're US med student you pretty much are. I point this out b/c you're hesitating to go to US undergrad b/c what if you don't get accepted to US med school (valid concern), but you forgot that if you go to India, yes you're guaranteed your MD, but not your US residency. Thus, if you want to increase your chances of practicing medicine in the US, go to US college and apply to US med school.

What if you go to med school in India, and discover that you love Ortho, or Rads, or Ophtho; they will be out of your reach.

 

[viscous]

Go to India if you do not want to spent the rat-cat life of a typical pre-med. It would be a smart move.

 

[J ROD]

If you want to practice in the US, then go to medical school here.

That simple!!

 

[tennisball80]

Attending a medical school in the U.S. will give you an option to choose a variety of specialties when it comes to residency.

 

[NRIfromCA]

Going to a medical school in the United States will give you a substantial advantage when it comes to getting a good residency in the United States. That being said, there are many advantages to going to medical school in India and you will not be completely barred from getting into decent residencies in the US either. For one thing, going to med school in India over undergraduate + med school in the US will probably save you a $100,000-$200,000. That's pretty substantial. Secondly, you will save time. Especially if the alternative to going to med school in India is 4 years of undergrad in the US, possibly something before med school to pad your applicaiton, and then 4 years of med school in the US...you are going to get out of med school and practicing medicine a lot earlier with the average of 5.5 years curriculum in India. Then, there's the whole thing of skipping the stress of being a pre-med student, etc.

Also, if you choose a good med school in India (top 20 maybe) with students who do indeed every year come to the US for residencies, you will not be completely barred from high residencies. I know people personally who have gotten residencies at Mayo, places in Boston, etc....and in competitive specialties such as Urology and orthopedic surgery...or go into internal medicine and then get a competitive fellowship after such as cardiology. But you have to remember, these people probably DOMINATED in med school and these people are certainly the exception, not the rule.

In the end, it really comes down to personal choice. Having been given both choices, I personally chose going to a medical program in the US, but going to med school in India should certainly be an option in my opinion if you know you want to be a doctor and are willing to explore a wide array of options on how to get there.

 

[c5212]

Go to med school in the US if you are competitive enough (MCAT, GPA, EC's, etc.). Like everyone else said, getting a US residency as an IMG is HARD, especially for any of the more competitive residencies (neurosurgery, radiology, plastics, anesthesiology). Going to school in the US will make your life a whole lot easier than having to jump through hoops just to make it into a residency.
And on your question about your chances... there are many variables that play into that, and even an applicant with good well-rounded stats isn't guaranteed acceptance. The med school application process (although I haven't been through it yet---from what I've heard/seen) is probably one of the most unreliable processes one can go through. Go USA

 

[underdog10]

I am doing my MBBS now as an American IMG who went to some undergrad back home.

I suggest come to India only as a last resort, only after you screw up undergrad and screw up your post-bacc. There are 10,000 extra obsticles you have to deal with here and you WILL NOT save time. You will have to take an extra 2 years off to study for USMLE, rotations, research, and to apply. It is not cheaper either; if you go to your state school back home for undergrad it will be about the same.

Please trust me, I was in the same position you were in high school. Just work hard in undergrad, don't jeporadize your chances for residency.

Here is a website that gives more info comparing American and Indian schools:

medschoolindia.blogspot.com

 

[relapse]

As an IMG currently studying in India come here if you meet one or more of the criteria:

1) Are lazy and know you won't be able to be competitive in the U.S. medical system (get a good MCAT, be competitive in med school, etc..)

2) Want to save some money as an undergrad and med school will cost you over 300,000 U.S. Dollars where you will pay less than half of that (although be it down payment) here in India.

3) Want to save some time -- 3-4 years as you will graduate when you are 23 when most people are around 27. The only thing about this is that you must be prepared to deal with the corruption here and ignore it.

Normalcy: the ability and extent of an individual to adapt and accept corruption.

Thats the motto in India regarding all levels and sectors.

So in conclusion, if you can accept corruption, have the motivation to become a doctor but don't want to pay the extreme price and put in the long years in the U.S., come to India and start reading from Day 1 with all the right books. Read for at mininum atleast 1 or 2 hours a day and you'll be fine.

Good luck and let me know how your decision goes.

 

[FutureCTDoc]

Stay in the US. It is better to go to the Caribbean than to go to India. Recent Indian grads tend to be poorer clinicians, are trained in less technologically advanced hospital and have difficulty matching in the US. Either do a BS/MD or BS/DO or go the premed route.

 

[relapse]

Long Live India