Foreign Med, School vs. American Med. School

[dph201]

Hey I am interested in getting the opinions of others with regards to going to a medical school outside the US. Some people say they would while others will say they would never. I am kind of lost when it comes to this. Yes I do know coming back to practice in the US is difficult after graduating from foreign school. But then I think, that I want to be a physician so bad and if this is a way to accomplish that dream why not??? So what do you think????
Foreign or no foreign, that is the question!

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[poloace]

i think the training you receive is great- however, among your peers, you may be looked at as the guy who couldn't hack it in the states. so, i'd try to get in here first... if not (and med is definitely what you want to do) by all means, go for it.
p

 

[UCLAMAN]

i agree with poloace...If you want to become an MD work hard and apply to US Schools. If you don't get in and aren't willing to reapply to US Schools(or perhaps even DO schools) then go to another country to study medicine(Caribbean, Dominica, Mexico, Philippines, etc.).

Before you start thinking about foreign schools perhaps you should set your goals on US Med schools first. I think you should set your goals high first and work hard to reach them. Remember, shoot for the moon first. I don't think a foreign med school(assuming you'd like to practice in the US) should be your plan A....instead use it as a plan B or even plan C.

just my $0.02

 

[dph201]

Thanks for responding guys. But I need to clarify something foreign med school is not my Plan A. One of my co-workers is thinking about it and asked me what I thought. I gave her my opinion and decided to find out what the feeling is out here. UCLAMAN, I am going to reach for the moon. Thanks for the words of encouragement. Really needed that. I am starting to get discouraged. So thanks

 

[14931]

alrite i am going to add my dollar here, in addition to the above comments , i also think that several people attend foreign medical school for the experience, this people might not be the norm and are probably interested in international places or jobs that require moderate travelling, what i am trying to say is that the decision is really urs.
i would rather study in another country cos well i would be stuck in my present country like forever but on the other hand, the stigma associated with studying in another country is somemthing u have to consider and decide if u are ready to deal with it.

so in summary , u dont necessary have to consider foriegn medical schools only if u fail to get into a U.S school, and many foreign trained medical students have sucessfully matched into excellent U.S. residency programs, so the risk is eventually urs to take.

 

[Rudy1223]

Shoot for the moon, if you miss you'll still be a star!

 

[wazupshah]

What do you guys think about programs in England, Austrailia, or New Zealand? I'm applying to US schools right now, and I'm not worried about getting in....but part of me thinks that it would have been really neat to go to medical school in one of these other developed countries. Any thoughts?

 

[lola]

i applied to oxford's 4 year accelerated program but recently found out i wouldn't be able to practice medicine in california! so... watch out. none of the accelerated programs in england are approved for california residencies. i have no idea what it's like in other states, but i did not want a degree that would limit me like that. the 5 and 6 year programs in england are approved.

if you want to go abroad, ireland and australia have established programs. one in ireland does not require the mcat, but i think the rest do. also, the ireland schools are 5 years -- an extra year of clinical.

i have no idea about new zealand.

there is a lot of info about this on the international medicine forums. in general, it's pretty competitive to get into these schools. if your stats are too low for the u.s., chances are they'll be too low for these schools. also, england hardly takes any international students. some schools don't take any -- at least the accelerated programs don't.

i too think it would be really fun to go to medical school in a foreign country! i studied abroad for a year and would love to do it again. 4-5 years is a long time, though, and i don't know if it's worth risking it if you want to get a competitive residency. it might be hard.

 

[tryingagain]

Shoot for the moon, if you miss you'll still be a star!

God, make me puke now.

 

[ny skindoc]

If you are very highly motivated and are good at learning things independently then foreign med schools offer a good alternative.It is possible to return and get a decent residency.Some schools such as in Australia,Ireland,Israel are highly regarded and their grads do comparable to US medical graduates.Caribbean schools are another story.Many drop out before graduation and oppotrtunities in the US medical systen are available but more limited.St Georges is generally regarded as the best of them.Ross is a viable option.Be very careful about the other off shore schools,as some have licensure problems in some states and graduates do poorly with residency placement.