Going to medical school outside the US

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

mechengmed

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2012
Messages
62
Reaction score
1
Does anyone know anything about going to medical school outside of the US then coming back here to practice? Now, I'm not talking about some last ditch effort to becoming a doctor by going somewhere with really low standards, but a reputable school in somewhere like the UK or Australia. I found this link to the top ranked medical schools in the world (not sure how accurate it actually is) but it got me thinking about what would happen if you got your degree somewhere like that then wanted to come back to the States. I did notice that for one school you could spend two years there then two years here for your clinicals but you still get an MBBS.

Note that most of the schools give the degree MBBS or MBChB instead of MD or DO.

http://www.topuniversities.com/univ.../2011/subject-rankings/life-sciences/medicine

Members don't see this ad.
 
Slightly off topic, but whatever that list is listing, it is not medical schools. MIT nor Cal Tech have medical schools

Like I said, not sure how accurate it is but for the most part it seems to match up with some other lists I've seen with a few exceptions obviously.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
The easiest way to practice medicine in the US is to go to a US medical school. Even if you go to a well respected medical school outside of the US, you still have to apply for residency as an IMG, which can be much more competitive than matching as a US graduate. In general, if you want to practice in the US, go to a US school.
 
Us md > us do >>>>>>>>>>>>>> img md
 
Last edited:
And I do believe US MD is equal to US DO (just the residencies get a little funky with DO but there is definitely less disparity with each passing year)
 
And I do believe US MD is equal to US DO (just the residencies get a little funky with DO but there is definitely less disparity with each passing year)

There's still a huge disparity in many specialties.


As for the original question, if you want to practice in the US your best odds of landing a good US residency are if you do med school in the US. Period. Doesn't matter if it's the best med school in Europe -- from a competitive point of view in terms of landing residencies, you are much better off at your local state school.
 
Does anyone know anything about going to medical school outside of the US then coming back here to practice? Now, I'm not talking about some last ditch effort to becoming a doctor by going somewhere with really low standards, but a reputable school in somewhere like the UK or Australia. I found this link to the top ranked medical schools in the world (not sure how accurate it actually is) but it got me thinking about what would happen if you got your degree somewhere like that then wanted to come back to the States. I did notice that for one school you could spend two years there then two years here for your clinicals but you still get an MBBS.

Note that most of the schools give the degree MBBS or MBChB instead of MD or DO.

http://www.topuniversities.com/univ.../2011/subject-rankings/life-sciences/medicine

All other things equal, it might put you in a better position than a Caribbean grad, but but it will definitely not put you ahead of a US grad.
 
A lot of foreign schools also give out different degrees than a Doctorate of Medicine
 
Top