European School or Carribean School?

[Doc4Life]

Hi. I'm from the US and thinking about where to apply. If you aren't accepted to a medical school in the US, does it make a difference if you attend a european school or a carribean school? Will you still be able to take the USMLE and get back into the US to practice either way?

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[Miklos]

Hi. I'm from the US and thinking about where to apply. If you aren't accepted to a medical school in the US, does it make a difference if you attend a european school or a carribean school? Will you still be able to take the USMLE and get back into the US to practice either way?

This topic has been covered many times and there are a number of differing opinions.

In brief, here's mine (hopefully others will chime in):

IMO, solid Carib. schools with an established track record (e.g. SGU/Ross/AUC) seem to do a better job than most European schools in preparing their grads for U.S. practice for the following reasons:

-They have largely American faculty teaching toward the USMLEs.
-Their students have access to 2 years of clinical rotations in the U.S.
-Their graduates have near universal U.S. licensure.

Miklos

 

[neilc]

well...what kind of european school? in general, i would say stick with the better carib schools. sgu, ross, auc and saba have universal stateside approval, us clinicals, licensed grads in all states (well, maybe not saba yet, i don't know) and are familiar with what it takes to get grads back to the US and working.

the native european schools are going to do a great job also. you may miss out on lots of clinicals in the states and USMLE directed curriculum, but they will do a great job educating you, and you will not be a carib grad. that won't matter much to most folks in the job market, but some people prefer to avoid the carib. i am confident that if you do well, either group will be about the same for returning to the states.

basically, with the above you have to find your niche. do you want to get home as quick as possible, and have a US style education? go to the carib. do you want to live in europe, and have a totally new experience in addition to med school, at the expense of US clinicals and returning home a bit later? go to europe. at the end of your program, you will be pretty much equal in terms of hireablility from either the top carib schools or the native european schools. there are differences in strengths and weakness, but i think the overall applicant picture will be similar.

if you are speaking about the english programs in the central europe region, i would say that the above groups are better. but, the english programs can get you back and you can do well coming from here. but, be sure to go to a 6 year, CA approved school if you do decide to attend school in CE. there are several.

 

[Miklos]

Neilc,

What is your opinion about Karolinska Institute in Sweden? I have a cousin applying there.

thanks

Karolinska enjoys a great reputation in Scandinavia, Europe and worldwide.

 

[neilc]

personally, i have no experience. however, as miklos stated, it has a great international reputation. for an american coming back to the states, it would do a fine job. again, you would be in europe for a while, and you would not be getting the US clinicals, etc...but, you would be educated at a world class institution and i am sure you would be very well recieved when returning to the states.

 

[leorl]

also no experience, but karolinska does indeed have a fine reputation. It might be a good place to consider if you'd like to get involved in some research work as well.

 

[APACHE3]

Of course two years of clinicals in a US hospitals are good. However, even if you go to Europe, you can still do rotations in the states. I attend school in Europe and I did 3 months of rotation back in the states and I was just as good as the senior US students rotating with me. (1 honors, 2 high passes) Anyway, if you want an academic career aas an IMG, then go european, if you want to be just a good doc and make crap loads of money, go to carib or Euope. I also worked with a guy from AUC. he was my fellow on the rotation and he was awesome. he was a great doc. BUt carib is much more expensive..anyway..both produce good docs. Always check you states medical board before enrolling to make sure whichever school you select is recognized. Good luck!

 

[LADoc]

This topic has been covered many times and there are a number of differing opinions.

In brief, here's mine (hopefully others will chime in):

IMO, solid Carib. schools with an established track record (e.g. SGU/Ross/AUC) seem to do a better job than most European schools in preparing their grads for U.S. practice for the following reasons:

-They have largely American faculty teaching toward the USMLEs.
-Their students have access to 2 years of clinical rotations in the U.S.
-Their graduates have near universal U.S. licensure.

Miklos

The above advice is worthless if you are a good student looking for a good university. If you really care whether your school teaches toward the USMLEs then go to an American school.

The reason that you have "access" to 2 years of clinical rotations in the US is that Caribbean schools don't have hospitals of their own. You have to go elsewhere to do your clinicals. (Any time you see a foreign school that boasts that you can do all your clinical rotations in the US or the UK you should be fairly suspicious about what this says about the school's own training hospitals...or lack thereof.)

And as for Caribbean schools having near universal US licensure...isn't this a ridiculously low standard? Every native European medical program has universal US licensure. The only European programs that don't are some of the Eastern European English language programs which lower standards so as to attract students who couldn't make it into one of their own countries' med schools. They're simply following the example of the Caribbean schools to make money off foreign students.

Go to Western Europe, Australia or perhaps Israel but stay away from Caribbean schools...unless you really can't get in anywhere else. And in that case, stick to California recognized schools like SGU, Ross, AUC and Saba.

 

[Miklos]

The above advice is worthless if you are a good student looking for a good university. If you really care whether your school teaches toward the USMLEs then go to an American school.

Sure. If you can get in.

The reason that you have "access" to 2 years of clinical rotations in the US is that Caribbean schools don't have hospitals of their own. You have to go elsewhere to do your clinicals. (Any time you see a foreign school that boasts that you can do all your clinical rotations in the US or the UK you should be fairly suspicious about what this says about the school's own training hospitals...or lack thereof.)
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Go to Western Europe, Australia or perhaps Israel but stay away from Caribbean schools...unless you really can't get in anywhere else. And in that case, stick to California recognized schools like SGU, Ross, AUC and Saba.

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And as for Caribbean schools having near universal US licensure...isn't this a ridiculously low standard?

Sure. They just are the ones you mentioned above (after me cutting and pasting). Those schools all have excellent track records in getting their grads into US residencies.

Every native European medical program has universal US licensure.
The only European programs that don't are some of the Eastern European English language programs which lower standards so as to attract students who couldn't make it into one of their own countries' med schools.

No question about it. However, that doesn't mean that the accepted student will graduate.

They're simply following the example of the Caribbean schools to make money off foreign students.

If you think that US schools do not make money off their students, you are mistaken. Besides, what is wrong with profit?

 

[doclm]

Hello, could someone list the names of these good european schools that offer an MD back in the U.S. not the MCh....ect

 

[Miklos]

Hello, could someone list the names of these good european schools that offer an MD back in the U.S. not the MCh....ect

I'm not sure that I understand your question.

Each European country awardes its own medical degree. They are all the equivalents of MDs.