How hard is it to practice abroad temporarily after getting your license?

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JackDanielsIp

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Hello everyone. So I'm about to start applying to med schools now, but I was just wondering if anyone knows about how hard it would be to practice in China if I am able to get in med school and through my residencies? I've always wanted to try living in China, so at the moment I am debating on whether or not I should put off Med school for a year and try following my dream of living in China for a year, or if I should put it off and get my license and then try living there afterwards. Does anyone have any knowledge about this or even some way I can do part of my training/residency over there so I can kill two birds with 1 stone? Thanks!
 
What is your end goal with going to China? Is it to just spend some time (a couple years) living there? Do you want to practice medicine in China? Do you want to learn CAM from natives? Do you want to live there permanently? Retire there?

If all you want it a chance to live in China for a bit, do it now. You'll never have a time where it's as easy to just pick up and move to a foreign country and if it doesn't work out all you've invested is the time you spent there. Later, if you want to go when you are already a physician, you'd have to invest time and money in getting your licensing worked out and you'd probably be taking a hit career-wise in the US. I worked in Europe for a few years right after graduating college, I just packed my bags and moved. If I was to try that now, when I've been back in the states for a few years and have accumulated a bunch of stuff, I have furniture and cars to get rid of and pets to somehow transport. If I had kids or a mortgage it would be an even bigger ordeal.

If you want to practice medicine in China or live there semi-permanently there are various options you can take. Catering to the expat community can be a very lucrative business since people like having a familiar face/system when they don't feel well, there's whole hospitals staffed by foreigners for this very reason. Similarly some large companies have physicians on staff for their employees and their families (think ME oil compounds), US military bases also hire civilian physicians sometimes. There are also some universities that have exchange training programs that last a year or so, I've worked with a couple Chinese physicians who've come to the US for research and training. These are all very program/city/company dependent so you'd have to spend some time researching.
 
There are also some universities that have exchange training programs that last a year or so, I've worked with a couple Chinese physicians who've come to the US for research and training. These are all very program/city/company dependent so you'd have to spend some time researching.

Actually something like this would be exactly what I would be interested in. I don't want to stay there for very long, I just want to broaden my horizons and try living in a different country so I can experience new things. A year of research or training abroad would perfectly fit what I'd like to do. I tried googling what you just said, but I don't think i'm using the right keywords. Do you have any info that could point me in the right direction?
 
Actually something like this would be exactly what I would be interested in. I don't want to stay there for very long, I just want to broaden my horizons and try living in a different country so I can experience new things. A year of research or training abroad would perfectly fit what I'd like to do. I tried googling what you just said, but I don't think i'm using the right keywords. Do you have any info that could point me in the right direction?

here's one:
http://www.yalechina.org/dynamicpage.php?Id=9&SubId=106
 
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