British Medical Schools/Colleges

[Jug27]

Is it possible for an American to go to a British medical school/college. I know they have very good programs over there. If so, what med schools accept US citizens. Thanks for you input!

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[shoe_box10]

I think most uk med schools offer places to international applicants...the only problems are there arnt very many(around about 30), and you have to pay international fees....

 

[Kev (UK)]

I think most uk med schools offer places to international applicants...the only problems are there arnt very many(around about 30), and you have to pay international fees....

Whilst it is true that most UK medical schools accept a small number of international students, many give preference to students from the developing world where there are limited opportunities in medical education. Others seem to give preference to Commonwealth students. There are very few American students in UK medical schools, but there are some, mainly at Oxford, Cambridge and London from what I can gather. We have a few Canadians at our school but no Americans that I have met or know of.

 

[champSJL]

I have heard that getting into UK schools are extremely tough actually and you have to be a pretty strong applicant. Also, it goes without saying that if you plan on returning to the US afterwards then try to stay in the US for your medical education.

 

[notetote1111]

There are many medical schools in the UK.

How hard is it to get into one of the easier ones? (not oxford or cambridge)

 

[johnny_blaze]

It can be very tough getting into a medical school in the U.K. Most universities only have like 15-20 spots for international students and preference is given to applicants from less developed countries (as stated in another post).

UK medical schools consider experience a very important aspect, even more than grades. Most of the people I know applying to US/CAN medical schools did ****ty 1day a week volunteer work for a couple months… most of the people over here in the U.K took gap years after high school and did medically related work in other parts of the world (ie. China, India) as this is a common thing here... quite impressive if u ask me.

 

[Rico]

I beleive Oxford and Cambridge have BMAT exam as part of admission process ( LIKE MCAT in NA), so you should take them off your list. As Johnny said, you should have many volunteer work and community services. I built up mine during my senior yr in high school and my undergrad ( + 1500 hrs ).
And since it is really competitive, you should have high GPA too. Means you should be an elite here. (Mine was 4.0 for both high school and undergrad)

Also British system is different from NA system.

You can also consider St.Andrew and Edinbrough in Scotland too. Follow the UK and Scotland approved med-schools from CA list, and then look into their websites.

Rico

 

[wannabedoc34]

Rico, do you get the MBBS or MD in UK? I was actually looking at the UK medical schools. Since I'm done with my undergrad, got a good number experiences in health-related areas, would I have to study for 5-6 more years? What would is the overall process of becoming a doc for a US student?

 

[Rico]

actually I was looking to apply for UK schools which are approved by CA. I think you should apply thru UCAS http://www.ucas.ac.uk/. and only you can apply for FOUR at the same time. They have 5yr program, but I've heard that some of them have four year program as well.

Here is the list of schools you can look into their websites.
England

University of Birmingham Medical School

University of Bristol Medical School

University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine

University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Medical School

University of Leeds School of Medicine

University of Liverpool Faculty of Medicine

University of London School of Medicine, University College

University of Manchester Faculty of Medicine

Oxford University Medical School

University of Sheffield Medical School, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry

University of Southampton Faculty of Medicine

University of London, King's College School of Medicine and Dentistry

The University of Nottingham Medical School

University of Leicester School of Medicine

University of London, United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St. Thomas's Hospitals

University of London, St. George's Hospital Medical School

University of London, Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine

University of London, Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School

University of London, St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College

University of London, The London Hospital Medical College

University of London, St. Mary's Hospital Medical School

St Bartholomew's and the Royal London School of Medicine

University of London, Imperial College School of Medicine

BTW, Students from the developing countries have priority over NA since those schools would like to train those people to be effective for their home countries. So, you can see how competitive it is.
A good things is that they usually do not take MCAT into account. ( especially for students from the developing countries)

Tuition for the first two years is around 10000-11000 pound. and 3rd-5th year around 20000 pounds. Overall is cheaper than Irish schools, but harder to get in.

FYI British system is different from NA style in teaching. I got my B.Sc in British system and M.Sc in NA. I would say British System is more difficult and you learn more efficient and practical. They really DO care about your personality, Community service, Volunteer work more than your grades, how you can communicate and get along with other people in a team work, how you communicate with your profs and etc.

I think you will love it if you study at one of those universities with many international students with different background. I found it more relaxing and less stressful in that system eventhough it is harder.

I made a HUGE mistake last year that I didn't apply to UK. ( actually my loan hadn't approved at that point and Canadian $ vs Pounds were way lower )

One of the good ones which I love it is Queen University in Belfast.( Northern Ireland)

I myself have M.Sc and got offer from UCD-RCSI and SGU so far. ( hoping to get from Canada as well )

Hope it helped,
Have any questions, pm me.

Rico

 

[shoe_box10]

I beleive Oxford and Cambridge have BMAT exam as part of admission process ( LIKE MCAT in NA), so you should take them off your list. As Johnny said, you should have many volunteer work and community services. I built up mine during my senior yr in high school and my undergrad ( + 1500 hrs ).
And since it is really competitive, you should have high GPA too. Means you should be an elite here. (Mine was 4.0 for both high school and undergrad)

Also British system is different from NA system.

You can also consider St.Andrew and Edinbrough in Scotland too. Follow the UK and Scotland approved med-schools from CA list, and then look into their websites.

Rico

University College London also requires all applicants to take the BMAT. A good website for information about uk medschools is here

 

[saphenous]

Hiya,
Am an american studying in a british med school. will be glad to help if there are any questions .


Cheers.

 

[leorl]

Tuition for the first two years is around 10000-11000 pound. and 3rd-5th year around 20000 pounds. Overall is cheaper than Irish schools, but harder to get in.

Not entirely correct. 10,000 sterling = 15,000 euro (roughly) and 20,000 sterling = 30,000 euro. So for a 5 year program on the low side, that'd be 120,000 euro = 144,000 USD. Studying in Ireland (if you don't go to RCSI) would be roughly 100,000 euro for the 5 years - putting annual inflation aside. It may be more like 110,000 euro but at this stage, everything counts. RCSI is much more expensive. Living expenses are higher in the UK because of sterling, but not terribly much since Ireland (especially Dublin) is the most expensive EU country.

 

[meriem]

hi! my name is meriem and i am algerian. i've finished my medical studies here as general doctor and i'm looking to cary on in UK. is it possible? and what can i do for that? have i to pass exams or does my algerian diploma allow me to cary on studies there?

thanks in advance

 

[Lifehouse]

Hiya,
Am an american studying in a british med school. will be glad to help if there are any questions .


Cheers.

Did you apply after completing your undergraduate degree? How did you apply and how competitive is the process? Thanks.

 

[NoUse4aName1286]

Hiya,
Am an american studying in a british med school. will be glad to help if there are any questions .


Cheers.

Hi there. I'm a junior in college and am also interested in attending medical school in the UK but have no idea what to do first. Any steps in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[merrymary]

Hiya,
Am an american studying in a british med school. will be glad to help if there are any questions .


Cheers.

So happy to find you!! I'm American and was just accepted into Oxford's 4 year program. Are you planning to return to the US after you're done with your training? And, if so, do have any info on how American residencies view Oxford grads? I've been told that a graduate of ANY U.S. school is placed higher than a foreign school... your help is greatly appreciated!

 

[ItOnlyTakesOne]

Hi there. I'm a junior in college and am also interested in attending medical school in the UK but have no idea what to do first. Any steps in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

If you want to go, check out UCAS (just google it). It's the application website for all UK univerisites and lists the degree programs by university (you can look for 5-year full medicine programs or 4 year graduate medicine programs for people who already have a B.S. and now want to study medicine).

You'll also have to take at least one exam, an MCAT-like exam, or the UKCAT (it's like the SAT, more of a reasoning exam), depending on where you want to go.

Also, don't know if you're planning on training/practicing in the UK or coming back to the US for residency, but there are some issues on both sides. As far as coming back to the US, you'd have to find a way to study for and take the USMLE parts I and II while over there (it's not really integrated into the cirriculum or considered as part of the medical student education like it is in the US so I don't know how easy that would be). If you wanted to stay in the UK, they recently passed a law (beginning of 2006) that says any training position (like residency) available must be given to a UK or EU resident before a medical school graduate from another country (even if you trained in the UK and have the same exact degree as the UK student applying for the same post) so that's made it really hard to get training in the UK and lots of recent medical school graduates can't find jobs to complete their training. Just something to consider.

 

[Delano]

Hello, I'm Delano from PI. I'm graduating this year. I'm planning to take my residency in the UK. What are good hospitals that accept residents from the Far East? I'm planning Infectious diseases or Hematology Oncology.My realtives have a house in Belgium. They told me it takes about half an hour to get there.
My concern is actually how does an IMG apply for residency in the UK? I heard they prefer people from developing nations? I also heard they offer cheaper fees when it comes to taking the tests? Also, that it's expensive living there too, compared to the US.

I would appreciate any reply. Thank you.

Delano

 

[Delano]

By the way, I would also like to introduce myself. I graduated from University Of Santo Tomas in Manila. Currently in my internship. Applying for residency next year. I'm 25 years old. Aside from medicine, movies, fiction, music make me tick. I'm an adventurous person. In the future I'd like to work with MSF, WHO...be sent to wars, epidemics and to Africa.

Delano

 

[ullhk]

Hey all,

my name's khalil & i'm from afghanistan i live in Virgina US i'm 23 yrs. i wanted to be a doc. but i've just finished high school can anybody guide me through to where should i start from?

 

[slight365]

High School at 23? Was it a GED?

You'd probably have to start bottom level, as a good Community College. Yes, there are plenty of good ones that have entrance requirements, associated staff and facilities with nearby universities, and some also offer honors courses.

First, I'd assume that English isn't your first language, and if you're not going to improve it, you'll be dead in the water.

So go to a Community College that offers advances courses, such as the Calculus, Chem, Organic Chem, Bio, and Physics, in addition to what you need to do to get yourtwo year. If you graduated HS at 23, I'm assuming you're going to need remedial courses, and this is what CC's offer as well. You can take the foundation courses for what you need and work your way up to the courses in your AS major, as well as a couple required for evaluation courses outside. If you do well, you'll likely be eligible for scholarships for minorities and exceptional CC students to continue at 4 year universities. You can then also take the MCAT and make sure you do well. Pick a major after picking a 4 year university or college to finish and get your bachelor's. If you still need more, you can do a 1 or 2 year masters and get a good average. Apply to med school towards the end of your Bachelor's program or towards the end of your master's.

It's a long road, but doing nothng is a longer road. You face an uphill walk, being 23 and just finishing HS, regardless of the circumstances. You also have to turn yourself from whatever level student you are to a top student and get mostly A's and some B's from here on out.

Note: I answered this question based on you being in the US and continuing that path. It would possibly be difficult for you to go to a UK school without at least doing a few successful years of degree and non-degree remedial courses at a CC to prove you can handle advanced courses. Going to a CC with an honors program and taking at least a couple helps, as they are as tough as some of the best schools in the country.