I'm from the US, and I want to start med school in Romania during the fall of 2016, I just graduated from highschool. Is there anyone that can help me with applications? and what is the GPA requirement for Romania's medical programs
Romania application help
- Thread starter FareedaH
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I think there is an international forum that might be of better assistance. Do you plan on practicing in the US or Romania?
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Wrong forum, please refer to this:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forums/general-international-discussion.85/
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forums/general-international-discussion.85/
I want to go to school in Romania, and then hopefully come back to the states to practice.
Thank You!!
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I want to go to school in Romania, and then hopefully come back to the states to practice.
Why?
Well I heard its a lot easier to get into than schools in the US and Canada and much cheaper that's why.
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Bad plan. Very, very bad plan. Please do more research into this before making such a silly mistake.
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I want to go to school in Romania, and then hopefully come back to the states to practice.
Don't do that. Stay in the US if you want to practice in the US. Go to Romania if you want to practice in Romania.
A
AnatomyGrey12
This is ridiculous. If you go to Romania you ain't coming back as a doctor. Well you will still have the degree but you'll be the doc that holds the street signs for the construction companies
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There are so few applicants from Romania that there is no way to gauge your success in the the US Match. It's not likely to to be favorable.
Take a look at international stats here:
http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uplo...tional-Medical-Graduates-Revised.PDF-File.pdf
On page 22 you will note that of US IMG's from "all other" countries (including presumably, Romania) only 252/546 matched into their preferred specialty (or at all). This does not include all of those who never even got to the point of becoming eligible for the Match.
I cannot recommend this for someone who wants to practice here.
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I'm pretty sure med schools in Europe are international accreditated, which means they are accepted in the US. All I would need to do is take the USMLE when I'm completed with my studies, thanks for your concern.
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Actually, none of them are LCME accredited.
IMG's are expected to take (and excel in) all the USMLE steps even though the schools that they attend have entirely unaligned curricula. Even high scores may not be consistent with a good outcome (look at the stats for unmatched IMG's attached above). In contrast, even "low scoring" US grads have comparatively excellent outcomes: http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Charting-Outcomes-2014-Final.pdf
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Okay, good luck, have fun being unemployed!
Nope! not quite sure that's why I'm asking. Look I just made this account lol, I couldn't find the right forum to address my question. So I just gave a shot to ask randomly.
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This is not a good path to becoming a practicing physician in the U.S.
Don't try to shortcut the system. Take your lumps and do it the right way.
Don't try to shortcut the system. Take your lumps and do it the right way.
Damn why you so harsh **** are u a troll? seriously anyways I didn't think there would be trolls on this website. If you may know my physician studied in India and is in the US and practicing, and you know what she has her own clinic, making that cash, and her own boss!
Some of us don't want to be constricted by debt later in life or just don't have the money, I personally think this is a good path just because you didn't take it doesn't mean it isn't good.
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And when did this physician attend medical school? Things have changed a lot recently, and practicing in the US after attending a non-US med school (ESPECIALLY one in Romania, such a random country) is a much less viable option than it was in the past, from what I understand.
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No, it's a bad plan because you will have virtually no chance of matching into a U.S. residency when you finish.
D
deleted659912
OP you seem really uninformed. My own father was educated outside of the country and became a doctor here in the 80s but that's not feasible at all anymore. You will have to take the USMLE Step 1, and then use that score to apply to residencies here and most programs are not willing to take on students from an unknown institution with many variables. No residency = degree you can't use = cannot practice medicine in the US. Why would they take you when there are plenty of US educated doctors? Even Caribbean grads are struggling to find residencies in relatively non competitive fields despite residency directors giving them preference over other non-US trained medical students.
Not to mention the difficulty of adjusting to a new country. You're probably ethnically Romanian but it's still completely different to live there versus visiting family. Most foreign medical schools are actually 6 years long so you wouldn't be saving much time or money if you end up not matching in the US. Look more into it but if you choose to commit career suicide then don't complain you didn't know better.
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My troll sense is tingling.
If not @FareedaH to be licensed actually has nothing to do with medical school. A residency completed in the US is required to practice in the US. You enter residency through the NRMP (aka "The Match") at the end of medical school. You may go to any medical school you wish, but many people (>50%) who attend medical school outside the US are unable to secure a spot in a US residency.
As for the boards, every US Doc must pass the boards, but passing the boards does not make you a licensed doctor in this country.
As for your debt concerns, it is better to have debt and a job in the US than less debt but no job at all in Romania lol.
If not @FareedaH to be licensed actually has nothing to do with medical school. A residency completed in the US is required to practice in the US. You enter residency through the NRMP (aka "The Match") at the end of medical school. You may go to any medical school you wish, but many people (>50%) who attend medical school outside the US are unable to secure a spot in a US residency.
As for the boards, every US Doc must pass the boards, but passing the boards does not make you a licensed doctor in this country.
As for your debt concerns, it is better to have debt and a job in the US than less debt but no job at all in Romania lol.
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Man... I still remember when my parents wanted me to study medicine in Mexico.
Don't get angry OP, the people in this forum are trying to help you.
Good luck to you.
Don't get angry OP, the people in this forum are trying to help you.
Good luck to you.
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This Thread is all kinds of cringe.
You just graduated High School yet you're enrolling to Medical School - is it different in Romania or are you just so uninformed that you're overshooting Undergrad? Why Romania...? Why don't you visit the specific School's website and find out the requirements for International Students?
Even if you're #1 in your Romanian Medical Class of 2020 - there's still probably not a very good chance you're practicing in the US.
You just graduated High School yet you're enrolling to Medical School - is it different in Romania or are you just so uninformed that you're overshooting Undergrad? Why Romania...? Why don't you visit the specific School's website and find out the requirements for International Students?
Even if you're #1 in your Romanian Medical Class of 2020 - there's still probably not a very good chance you're practicing in the US.
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If you don't have the academic chops to get into a US med school, you shouldn't be a physician. Simple as that.
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As far as I'm concerned in almost all the countries in the world you go to medical school right after high school (the US is one of the few that makes you go to undergrad). Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
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You're correct.
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No? Some combine them. My old PI (Greek) was telling me you took some test before college to get into med school and that's it. Your fate was sealed.
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As far as I know, in some countries, even when they're combined, it's referred to as "medical school", when you apply in high school you are applying directly to medical school.
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Sounds like you haven't done much research.
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And yet another clueless newbie who reflexively attacks anyone who gives them advice they don't like.
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I want to go to school in Romania, and then hopefully come back to the states to practice.
While it may be easier to get into medical school in Romania, it's going to be very difficult for you to be able to be able to practice in the US.
I'm not sure what "international accredited" means, but even if your degree is recognized in the US, you will need to pass the USMLE and complete a residency in the US before being allowed to practice here. This is presently very difficult and expected to get even more difficult. The match rate for IMG's is quite low, as US MD and DO's are much more competitive for US residency programs. The amount of residency seats has not been growing at the same rate is US MD and DO graduates. Thus, a very difficult match is going to get even more difficult, if not impossible, by the time that your time comes. Not only that, but those who currently match are more likely to be coming from the best international programs. I'm not sure that a Romanian medical school would be at the same tier as the schools where people who match IMG typically come from.
Again, the timeline is quite different. IMG's practicing in the US are quite common now because they matched into residency long ago, when it was much easier and much more common. The difficulty of achieving this has gone WAY up since then, and is expected to continue to go up. You're simply too late to be able to accomplish this as easily as your physician may have.
Unfortunately you are wrong in this regard. While the attitude of what some posters are saying may be unsavory to you, the things they are saying are quite true. This is not a good path to practice in the US, because so few IMG's that try to do this are unsuccessful. You're going of the sample size of international graduates practicing presently, but this is not representative of the likelihood of being able to do it now - the times have changed and the outlook will continue to worsen for the foreseeable future. You sought out this forum and asked this question for advice. Naturally, it would be prudent for you to accept this advice, seeing as it is coming from people far more experienced than you with the system, namely @gyngyn who is a verified member of the admissions committee. However, heeding the advice you get is a choice only you can make. If you choose to be stubborn and stick to your original point of view, even in face of the facts which have been provided to you, there's really nothing anyone here can do for you.
Best of luck.
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OP seems more suited for a career that favors taking shortcuts. Students in the US have a hard enough time becoming a doctor. It is constantly an uphill battle. You think it gets better going to school outside of America? Laughable. If that were the case you would see even more students jumping ship from US medical schools. There is a reason why students favor staying here at home institutions. It's not like you discovered some crazy new way to approach becoming a doctor . Every student for the most part is able to overcome their debt after residency. You need a better grasp on the match process and applying to residency before you make the terrible decision to study abroad.
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She's a high-schooler...
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u wot m8.
Why are you even having this discussion OP? Go to college in the states and do well in your classes. Do some reading in the mean time to figure out what the hell you're actually talking about.
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Let me offer you a familiar perspective.
My parents are Pakistani. My dad is a doctor, and all his friends are doctors. Over half of the Pakistanis in my community are doctors. You know why that is? Because when they immigrated, back in the 80's and 90's, obtaining a residency as a foreign medical graduate was much easier than it is today. It's pretty likely that, if they were to obtain the same medical education they did back in Pakistan, very few would be able to do their residencies here, now.
We moved from the U.S. to Pakistan while I was in middle school, and my own parents tried to convince me to stay in Pakistan after high school, so that I could enter med school right after high school, then return to the U.S., minimizing debt and taking a shortcut, at least in their eyes. I refused, and came back to complete high school in the U.S., attended undergrad here in the U.S., and am now admitted to a U.S. medical school. Why? Because I want to live and practice here the rest of my life.
OP, don't think you can fly to another country, take advantage of their straight-outta-high school med programs, then come back and think residency programs are going to actually want you. If it were that easy, thousands of students would be doing this. If you go to med school in Romania, have fun practicing medicine in Europe, else, have fun trying to find a job in the U.S. The past few months have shown me way too many people take Europe or the Caribbean as an "easy" option and then have absolutely 0 job prospects when they get back. Don't shoot yourself in the foot like this. Just go to college in the U.S. We're not giving you information that's "just another perspective." Listen to @gyngyn and @Goro; those "verified faculty" badges aren't there for nothing!
My parents are Pakistani. My dad is a doctor, and all his friends are doctors. Over half of the Pakistanis in my community are doctors. You know why that is? Because when they immigrated, back in the 80's and 90's, obtaining a residency as a foreign medical graduate was much easier than it is today. It's pretty likely that, if they were to obtain the same medical education they did back in Pakistan, very few would be able to do their residencies here, now.
We moved from the U.S. to Pakistan while I was in middle school, and my own parents tried to convince me to stay in Pakistan after high school, so that I could enter med school right after high school, then return to the U.S., minimizing debt and taking a shortcut, at least in their eyes. I refused, and came back to complete high school in the U.S., attended undergrad here in the U.S., and am now admitted to a U.S. medical school. Why? Because I want to live and practice here the rest of my life.
OP, don't think you can fly to another country, take advantage of their straight-outta-high school med programs, then come back and think residency programs are going to actually want you. If it were that easy, thousands of students would be doing this. If you go to med school in Romania, have fun practicing medicine in Europe, else, have fun trying to find a job in the U.S. The past few months have shown me way too many people take Europe or the Caribbean as an "easy" option and then have absolutely 0 job prospects when they get back. Don't shoot yourself in the foot like this. Just go to college in the U.S. We're not giving you information that's "just another perspective." Listen to @gyngyn and @Goro; those "verified faculty" badges aren't there for nothing!
A
AnatomyGrey12
Go to college first, take some generals and some first year science classes. volunteer a little bit and enjoy being a freshmen in college (but don't kill your GPA) Worry about applying and the MCAT in two years or so
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okay! okay! I guess I'll stay in the US. You guys got any advice on how to practice for MCAT or volunteering?
GOOD CHOICE.
Don't worry about the MCAT yet.
Also, if you want to get involved in hospital volunteering, I recommend contacting the volunteer department the summer before you start undergrad. I did that and got a position no problem, but everyone I know who tried to get involved after that basically got ignored by the volunteer department. (Granted this was the Cleveland Clinic, might be different for smaller hospitals).
Do some non-clinical volunteering too. You can usually find opportunities through clubs at your university.
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Even if you were an underachiever in high school, there's no reason to believe you cannot do well in college, kick ass on the MCAT, and rack up good EC experiences so you get into a US medical school in 4-6 years from now. High school is nothing like college, and a lot of underachievers in high school turn out to be really smart and make good grades when they apply themselves. A lot of this is a function of maturity, which generally increases in the years immediately after high school.
Seriously, forget about going to a foreign medical school so you can practice in the US. This whole thing about Romania sounds like good material for a sitcom.
Seriously, forget about going to a foreign medical school so you can practice in the US. This whole thing about Romania sounds like good material for a sitcom.
okay! okay! I guess I'll stay in the US. You guys got any advice on how to practice for MCAT or volunteering?
For the MCAT, take a prep course - preferably during the summer between your sophomore and junior year. That way you are not bombarded with a lot of schools things and MCAT prep. It will also allow you to take the MCAT in the beginning of your junior year and not have to worry about it.
Most hospitals have some kind of volunteer program. It should be pretty easy to find online or you can directly contact them.
Good decision on not trying to do med-school abroad!
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We did it guys. We got OP on the right track. Pat yourselves on the back, SDNers. You made a difference in someone's life. You should be so proud. You're so special. Go, you. Yay.
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