Cher M Docteur,
I, a German citizen, actually studied at several schools in Germany and France (Marburg, Berlin West FU, Paris V, Nice).
First at all: you can?t expect from a European University what you are used from in the states.
According to the information I received from my colleagues in the states I can say that there seems to be much more dedication among the American professors to actually train their students. In European schools, a med school student in a rotation often has a feeling of being a rather dusturbing factor.
Med schools in Germany and France both take 6 years but they also already contain what you call pre-med.
Germany puts an emphasis on academic content. A typical German med student at the end of his studies knows a lot about very rare deaseases but he doesn?t know how to treat a banal cold. Nor does he have a lot of experience in how to examine patients, every-day ward procedures etc. We are supposed to obtain the practical knowledge after school.
It is quite the contrary in France: here the emphasis lies on the practical experience. thus, you have to spent quite some time on the various wards. The clinical part rudimentary resembles US rotations. Yet, we are speaking about France. There are classes scheduled during your rotations. But what if the professor just doesn?t show up ?
One example: i just did a 2 month rotation in the pediatrics ER in Nice. There supposedly were classes held by our professors twice a week (during 8 weeks of rotation). In fact, professors showed up for class TWICE all together. In the states these professors would get fired. Here they get promotions. There is no system of student evaluation established yet.
After all, I have to say that you can evade the downside aspects of European schools by carefully choosing your schools and rotations. I, for example, did my basic science classes (that stuff you have to study for the USMLE I) in Germany and received a good training. The clinical years I spent in France and only accidently I ended up in a badly organised rotation like the one mentioned above.
For a research year in medical inormatics I returned to Berlin (French people just discovered that there is such a thing like the internet).
There are exceptions; two schools are supposed to be actually excellent:
Two private med schools in Western Europe:
1. Maastricht in the Netherlands and
2. Witten-Herdecke in Germany
The first one actually does classes in English, as far I know. My friend goes to the same university (he is obtaining a MBA, though). He says that his school is the closest to US standards you can find in Europe.
One last thing you have to consider:
You will have litterally no debt after graduation.
Hope this all isn?t too confusing. If you desire more information, don?t hesitate to contact me !
Au revoir,
Marius
-I just wanted to see this one again.
