Hey!
I just finished my second year at Medical University of Vienna (Medizinische Universität Wien). First of all, I've got two links for you:
www.meduniwien.ac.at
that's our official website - I'm afraid most of the information is in German.
www.medizinstudium.at
that's our student forum. If you have any questions, just get an account and ask (feel free to do so in English)
Now back to your questions:
There are three public "medical universities" (I hate that term - how can any institution call itself a university if it only has a single faculty? But that's just me ...) in Austria: The Medical University of Vienna, the Medical University of Innsbruck and the Medical University of Graz. In Salzburg, there is a private school: Paracelsus Medical University (www.pmu.ac.at).
All of them have different curricula, and I don't dare to judge which one is the best. Ours is "integrated", meaning that we study pre-clinical and clinical topics at the same time. For instance, in our fourth semester we studied (among other things) the anatomy, histology, physiology, pharmacology etc. and the most common diseases of the heart. I think the University of Heidelberg has a similar curriculum. In Innsbruck, they have a more traditional approach: They teach all pre-clinical subjects (i.e. anatomy and physiology, chemistry, biochemistry ...) in their first four semesters, then they switch to clinical topics.
Unfortunately, the only program MUW offers in English is the PhD program. The MD program is taught strictly in German. (That is also true for all medical schools in Austria) Also, what exactly do you mean by undergraduate? I guess that by an American definition, our MD program would be an undergraduate program: People generally start right after high school and it lasts six years.
Even if you're not interested to attend a German speaking school, I guess I'll write a short guide on how to get admitted in case anybody else wants to know:
Before I get to the problems of getting into medical school here, let me give you the biggest perk: it is extremely cheap. Tuition for non-EU citizens is about 700/semester, which is a little less than $1,000. That puts the costs for the complete program at $12,000.
The first problem is obviously the language: I have heard from many people that German is hard to learn. (Even though it does have a lot of similarities with English.) It might work if you took German in college. If not, you'd need a certificate from a language school here, like the Goethe institute.
The second problem is the biggest (and most ridiculous) one: In order to be admitted to an Austrian MD program as a non-EU citizen (even at PMU), you must prove that you got admitted to an MD program in your home country. If I were an American, I would probably stop reading now. Our programs are two years longer than yours, which also means two years of lost income. Even though it would probably still be cheaper to go to school here considering the ridiculously high tuition at American medical schools, you'd also "lose" two years of your life (if there is such a thing).
Then, if you're still interested, you have to sign up for our "medical aptitude test" (EMS - Eignungstest für medizinische Studien, http://www.eignungstest-medizin.at/cms/ )
You have to register electronically in February (it's important not to miss the date), and then later you get an invitation to sign up in person.
The test itself shouldn't be too hard for people who have gone through a pre-med program in the US. It is completely in German, but you'd have to know that anyway. The test measures stuff like basic math, reading scientific texts etc ... There is no minimum score to pass, the best ones get taken until there are no more free places left. For Vienna and Innsbruck, there are about 1000 spots per year available. (Add another 300 for Graz - they use a different test that's held on the same day, so you can't do them both. They only test basic sciences - chemistry, physics, biology, so that might be even easier if you went through pre med.)
75% of those places are reserved for Austrians, 20% for EU citizens and 5% for non-EU citizens. These three groups are graded completely independently, so you'd only compete against other non-EU citizens. That might sound harsh, BUT up until now there have never been enough students from non-EU countries to fill up all the places reserved, making the test a formality for them.
If you want to practice in the US later on, that shouldn't be a problem as long as you pass the USMLEs. I have talked to a few Austrian doctors who have done this, and they all said that the biggest dificulty for them was the English - not a big issue for US citizens I'm sure. Although I don't know if top-tier residencies in the US would consider foreign applicants. (But then, MUW is also not a top-tier school. It is a very good one, but definitely not comparable to John Hopkins.)
Ok, I can't really think about anything else right now. If you have any questions, just ask
Hey!
I just finished my second year at Medical University of Vienna (Medizinische Universität Wien). First of all, I've got two links for you:
www.meduniwien.ac.at
that's our official website - I'm afraid most of the information is in German.
www.medizinstudium.at
that's our student forum. If you have any questions, just get an account and ask (feel free to do so in English)
Now back to your questions:
There are three public "medical universities" (I hate that term - how can any institution call itself a university if it only has a single faculty? But that's just me ...) in Austria: The Medical University of Vienna, the Medical University of Innsbruck and the Medical University of Graz. In Salzburg, there is a private school: Paracelsus Medical University (www.pmu.ac.at).
All of them have different curricula, and I don't dare to judge which one is the best. Ours is "integrated", meaning that we study pre-clinical and clinical topics at the same time. For instance, in our fourth semester we studied (among other things) the anatomy, histology, physiology, pharmacology etc. and the most common diseases of the heart. I think the University of Heidelberg has a similar curriculum. In Innsbruck, they have a more traditional approach: They teach all pre-clinical subjects (i.e. anatomy and physiology, chemistry, biochemistry ...) in their first four semesters, then they switch to clinical topics.
Unfortunately, the only program MUW offers in English is the PhD program. The MD program is taught strictly in German. (That is also true for all medical schools in Austria) Also, what exactly do you mean by undergraduate? I guess that by an American definition, our MD program would be an undergraduate program: People generally start right after high school and it lasts six years.
Even if you're not interested to attend a German speaking school, I guess I'll write a short guide on how to get admitted in case anybody else wants to know:
Before I get to the problems of getting into medical school here, let me give you the biggest perk: it is extremely cheap. Tuition for non-EU citizens is about 700/semester, which is a little less than $1,000. That puts the costs for the complete program at $12,000.
The first problem is obviously the language: I have heard from many people that German is hard to learn. (Even though it does have a lot of similarities with English.) It might work if you took German in college. If not, you'd need a certificate from a language school here, like the Goethe institute.
The second problem is the biggest (and most ridiculous) one: In order to be admitted to an Austrian MD program as a non-EU citizen (even at PMU), you must prove that you got admitted to an MD program in your home country. If I were an American, I would probably stop reading now. Our programs are two years longer than yours, which also means two years of lost income. Even though it would probably still be cheaper to go to school here considering the ridiculously high tuition at American medical schools, you'd also "lose" two years of your life (if there is such a thing).
Then, if you're still interested, you have to sign up for our "medical aptitude test" (EMS - Eignungstest für medizinische Studien, http://www.eignungstest-medizin.at/cms/ )
You have to register electronically in February (it's important not to miss the date), and then later you get an invitation to sign up in person.
The test itself shouldn't be too hard for people who have gone through a pre-med program in the US. It is completely in German, but you'd have to know that anyway. The test measures stuff like basic math, reading scientific texts etc ... There is no minimum score to pass, the best ones get taken until there are no more free places left. For Vienna and Innsbruck, there are about 1000 spots per year available. (Add another 300 for Graz - they use a different test that's held on the same day, so you can't do them both. They only test basic sciences - chemistry, physics, biology, so that might be even easier if you went through pre med.)
75% of those places are reserved for Austrians, 20% for EU citizens and 5% for non-EU citizens. These three groups are graded completely independently, so you'd only compete against other non-EU citizens. That might sound harsh, BUT up until now there have never been enough students from non-EU countries to fill up all the places reserved, making the test a formality for them.
If you want to practice in the US later on, that shouldn't be a problem as long as you pass the USMLEs. I have talked to a few Austrian doctors who have done this, and they all said that the biggest dificulty for them was the English - not a big issue for US citizens I'm sure. Although I don't know if top-tier residencies in the US would consider foreign applicants. (But then, MUW is also not a top-tier school. It is a very good one, but definitely not comparable to John Hopkins.)
Ok, I can't really think about anything else right now. If you have any questions, just ask
