Financials of being a non-trad US-IMG

[wilsod04]

With the pending residency crunch and the less-than-stellar prospects of matching as an US-IMG, isn't it a huge risk to spend 300k on a foreign medical education?

I'm not speaking negatively about foreign medical schools at all. In fact, the school I'm looking at seems quite promising. However, 300k for a US medical school is one thing. 300k with the disadvantages of being a US IMG makes me think I should not go abroad for medical school as a 30 year old non-trad.

I'm curious because it seems like a lot of people are willing to go into US med school style debt without the same future prospects.

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[TheWeeIceMan]

Yes, it is a huge risk. I wouldn't head overseas to spend 300k on medical school if I was 30......or 20 or 40 or 50 etc.

 

[wilsod04]

That's what I am thinking. Unfortunately for me, it's probably go overseas or don't go to med school.

The future of US-IMGs is so murky. More US med school spots for a capped number of residencies. But there's a doctor shortage in this country. It's hard to tell what the future looks like for US-IMGs.

 

[DrMidlife]

If your stats are low, which is assumed here, then be responsible and be worried about whether you will succeed in med school. If you do not have a multi-year heavy-load-of-mostly-science mostly-A's academic performance under your belt, then you should not assume you can handle med school. You have no chance in med school to figure out how to be an A student.

Do more research. At 30 years old you can reasonably do a couple of years of GPA redemption to get well prepared for med school. You can find programs that offer "academic enhancement" or take more classes through extension. Find out what an SMP is. Find out what DO is.

In general, if you're well qualified for med school in the US and you're well connected with medical professionals where you want to practice, then you can reasonably consider med school outside the US, such as in the UK or Europe. Otherwise the pile of assumptions about things ending up okay is very precarious.

I started down the GPA redemption path at 38. I don't recommend it, but I did it.

Best of luck to you.