Difference between medical education in Europe v. US/UK?

[justclouds9000]

I'm trying to get a better understanding of the medical education system in Europe versus the US. I'm a EU citizen, but grew up in the States. I'm considering returning to the EU for medical school.

I'd like to find out whether residencies are pretty much mandatory to practice medicine in Europe , like they are in the US? I've read on these forums that generally in Europe, there are less formal residencies (except for the UK/Ireland). Can you become licensed then and practice successfully without a residency? The countries I'm most interested in are UK/Ireland and Germany.

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[shreypete]

I can answer only for the UK/Ireland and Germany. In Germany it is mandatory to have completed a formal residency/training program before you can practise medicine. No exceptions exist. This is in fact the case for most if not all European countries within the EU. The specialty which has the shortest amount of training is Family Medicine/General Practitioner (3 years). Every other specialty requires formal training which can last anywhere form 5-9 years.

In UK/Ireland, it's a bit different. After having graduated from medical school and having finished the Internship, you can choose to enter even non-training positions where you work in a hospital. These positions are usually taken up my international medical graduates as a means of acquiring experience in the NHS before applying to specialty training. There are a few doctors who remain in such non-training programs for a lifetime.