Besides 3 Caribbean MD schools, where else can we receive aid for MD School?
Started by zut212
Get help with your application
Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.
I'm not sure if the various Canadian and British medical schools would be eligible for American students to get financial aid via US government funds.
More importantly I would advise you to think very carefully before going to any of these schools, particularly the caribbean ones. It is a distinct possibility for you to spend a small fortune on med school and end up with no residency and thus no way to pay off your loans.
I am a second year medical student at Our Lady Fatima University, in the Philippines. I'm a US citizen, and I'm not of Filipino descent. Coming here as opposed to the top 4 Caribbean schools (Im including SABA in this list because it's eligible for private loans) has advantages and disadvantages.
Disadvantages include: 1) US clerkships are not guaranteed, and the majority of them are not green book. A full year of US clerkship that is greenbooked is available at Fatima, but its competitive and costs an additional $5000/3months. There are private companies, however, that help match Americans in Filipino schools to US clekship experiences for about $300/week. For me, i will probably choose a mix of local clerkships (that are more hands on) and US clerkships which will get me recommendation letters.
2) Filipino education is difficult. It's a broad based education that isn't focused on the USMLE. I feel confident I'll do great on that test because of the background knowledge that I'm getting here. However, test prep is completely self-driven, and there is equal focus on high yield and low yield material in the classroom.
3) Very far from home. This doesn't seem like a big deal till you experience family problems or personal health problems requiring attention in the US. These circumstances are more difficult when you're 20+ hours away from your land....
Advantages include: 1) More affordable education. The cost of attendance is $7k/year with a one time $6k enrollment fee. However, if you don't care about Staffords, other Filipino schools (Cebu Doctors, Southwestern University, University of the Visayas-Gullas) can give you an equivalent education at less than half of the above cost, albeit you pay out of pocket.
2) English education that is native. Meaning: you study side by side with the locals in English, you are not sectioned off into a special english class as you would be in latin american schools (although in Fatima you have the option of both. I chose to study with locals and I don't regret it. Tuition is the same either way for foreigners.). Also, unlike the Carribean schools that are basically business ventures to make a lot of money off of Americans, which have no associated hospital (hence away rotations in the US), and are only focused on the bottom line, in the Philippines one benefits from a true educational system whose primary mission is to produce doctors for the community. As a medical student in the Philippines you get some clinical exposure from year one, and you get to go on medical missions, and interact with PRACTICING physicians (who aren't just lecturing). Love it or hate it, you'll never feel like you're paying for an overpriced USMLE Kaplan review masked as a medical school. The student experience here focused on the art of medicine, not on getting high USMLE passing statistics.
3) Which brings me to one of the biggest benefits of attending here: Nobody will tell you when or if you can take the USMLE! Caribbean schools are notorious for not letting their students apply for the USMLE till they pass shelf exams, in order to artificially boost their board passing rates. Well, in the Philippines its up to you when you will take it. And the only thing standing in your way is your own personal preparation.
So there are ups and downs to choosing to study in the Philippines. I, however, find it negligent that most premed advisors don't mention this option to their students. Here's a country whose entire system of education is english based, whose schools don't have a problem getting 50 US state recognition, whose graduates comprise a huge chunk of IMGs in the US - and yet the advisors keep pushing the Caribbean option like it's in some way "less foreign." The funny thing is most of these schools hire MDs to lecture from India, Philippines, and South Africa anyway! If you choose a Caribbean school, do so for the guaranteed US clerkships, for the closer geographic proximity, for the more USMLE oriented curriculum. For a broader medical education, for the cost conscious, and for those who actually want to do some of their rotations in a country where you'll be expected to learn tasks that one only learns in residency training in the US, then Philippines is the right choice. And if you go to Fatima, you pay a little more (and far less than the Caribbean), and get Staffords for it.
hope this helps.
Disadvantages include: 1) US clerkships are not guaranteed, and the majority of them are not green book. A full year of US clerkship that is greenbooked is available at Fatima, but its competitive and costs an additional $5000/3months. There are private companies, however, that help match Americans in Filipino schools to US clekship experiences for about $300/week. For me, i will probably choose a mix of local clerkships (that are more hands on) and US clerkships which will get me recommendation letters.
2) Filipino education is difficult. It's a broad based education that isn't focused on the USMLE. I feel confident I'll do great on that test because of the background knowledge that I'm getting here. However, test prep is completely self-driven, and there is equal focus on high yield and low yield material in the classroom.
3) Very far from home. This doesn't seem like a big deal till you experience family problems or personal health problems requiring attention in the US. These circumstances are more difficult when you're 20+ hours away from your land....
Advantages include: 1) More affordable education. The cost of attendance is $7k/year with a one time $6k enrollment fee. However, if you don't care about Staffords, other Filipino schools (Cebu Doctors, Southwestern University, University of the Visayas-Gullas) can give you an equivalent education at less than half of the above cost, albeit you pay out of pocket.
2) English education that is native. Meaning: you study side by side with the locals in English, you are not sectioned off into a special english class as you would be in latin american schools (although in Fatima you have the option of both. I chose to study with locals and I don't regret it. Tuition is the same either way for foreigners.). Also, unlike the Carribean schools that are basically business ventures to make a lot of money off of Americans, which have no associated hospital (hence away rotations in the US), and are only focused on the bottom line, in the Philippines one benefits from a true educational system whose primary mission is to produce doctors for the community. As a medical student in the Philippines you get some clinical exposure from year one, and you get to go on medical missions, and interact with PRACTICING physicians (who aren't just lecturing). Love it or hate it, you'll never feel like you're paying for an overpriced USMLE Kaplan review masked as a medical school. The student experience here focused on the art of medicine, not on getting high USMLE passing statistics.
3) Which brings me to one of the biggest benefits of attending here: Nobody will tell you when or if you can take the USMLE! Caribbean schools are notorious for not letting their students apply for the USMLE till they pass shelf exams, in order to artificially boost their board passing rates. Well, in the Philippines its up to you when you will take it. And the only thing standing in your way is your own personal preparation.
So there are ups and downs to choosing to study in the Philippines. I, however, find it negligent that most premed advisors don't mention this option to their students. Here's a country whose entire system of education is english based, whose schools don't have a problem getting 50 US state recognition, whose graduates comprise a huge chunk of IMGs in the US - and yet the advisors keep pushing the Caribbean option like it's in some way "less foreign." The funny thing is most of these schools hire MDs to lecture from India, Philippines, and South Africa anyway! If you choose a Caribbean school, do so for the guaranteed US clerkships, for the closer geographic proximity, for the more USMLE oriented curriculum. For a broader medical education, for the cost conscious, and for those who actually want to do some of their rotations in a country where you'll be expected to learn tasks that one only learns in residency training in the US, then Philippines is the right choice. And if you go to Fatima, you pay a little more (and far less than the Caribbean), and get Staffords for it.
hope this helps.
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
I am a rising 2nd year at Univ. of Queensland medical school. It is located in Australia and I love it here. The country is nice and best of all I will be doing my 2 clinical years in New Orleans.
You are eligible for financial aid down here from the US govenrment. If you have any questions just look up the website mededpath.org OR go to the uq.ed.au website for information.
Cheers mate!
You are eligible for financial aid down here from the US govenrment. If you have any questions just look up the website mededpath.org OR go to the uq.ed.au website for information.
Cheers mate!
What is the cost of attendance per year to do the MBBS program in the University of Queensland?
