How US schools relate to Mexican schools

[RoyalMD]

Hi, I'm a medical student from one of the top 5 schools in Mexico, according to the 2016 ENARM report (mexican residency exam). I'm an american and I'm planning on doing my steps to later seek for a spot in the MATCH.
I'd like to know someones thoughts on competing as an IMG (hopefully) VS AMG and IMGs from the caribbean. From what I've heard caribbean schools are favoured.
Classes and exams are on spanish but almost all of my books are in english and I plan on doing 5 english terminology electives just to make sure I know my stuff.
My school has a very traditional system, first 2 years are the basic courses but each course has an overload of material so very few pass. School here is really tough and no one but other classmates (if they're not gunners) help you out. The avarage class usually beguins with 350 (who come from a pre-semester that starts with around 800 and only those who pass get to go onto 1st semester) and only 20-35% make it.
Histo, anatomy, physiology, embriology and pathology are the really heavy courses, we get questioned in exams for really detailed stuff. As an example, in histo we get asked "what produces hidrogen and breaks down alcohol" or "which of the following are the proteins do the ostheoclasts have?" to be fair they're all multiple choice exams but almost all the answers sound alike.
It only gets harder until you reach the third year and we do 5 years, a clerkship and social service (an clerkship kind where you go to a rural area and become a general practitioner for the community, without supervision).
How does is it reallate to the way you are thought in your school, being the US one of the top countries to stuy at?

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[CaliforniaDreamer]

Those example questions actually sound like the opposite of difficult questions, which I have experienced as requiring multiple levels of abstraction and understanding between the question and the answer, rather than a direct one to one relationship. Like giving some patient's symptoms and then asking what side effect they would experience from the first line therapy for what they most likely have and why.

 

[Goro]

You forgot "None of the above" as a choice.

Hi, I'm a medical student from one of the top 5 schools in Mexico, according to the 2016 ENARM report (mexican residency exam). I'm an american and I'm planning on doing my steps to later seek for a spot in the MATCH.
I'd like to know someones thoughts on competing as an IMG (hopefully) VS AMG and IMGs from the caribbean. From what I've heard caribbean schools are favoured.
Classes and exams are on spanish but almost all of my books are in english and I plan on doing 5 english terminology electives just to make sure I know my stuff.
My school has a very traditional system, first 2 years are the basic courses but each course has an overload of material so very few pass. School here is really tough and no one but other classmates (if they're not gunners) help you out. The avarage class usually beguins with 350 (who come from a pre-semester that starts with around 800 and only those who pass get to go onto 1st semester) and only 20-35% make it.
Histo, anatomy, physiology, embriology and pathology are the really heavy courses, we get questioned in exams for really detailed stuff. As an example, in histo we get asked "what produces hidrogen and breaks down alcohol" or "which of the following are the proteins do the ostheoclasts have?" to be fair they're all multiple choice exams but almost all the answers sound alike.
It only gets harder until you reach the third year and we do 5 years, a clerkship and social service (an clerkship kind where you go to a rural area and become a general practitioner for the community, without supervision).
How does is it reallate to the way you are thought in your school, being the US one of the top countries to stuy at?

 

[mimelim]

Completely subjective, off the cuff, in terms of being ready to handle being a relatively challenging residency like vascular surgery, I would say Western Europe followed by Middle East would be my picks. There is a relatively steep drop off after those two areas. There are of course a handful of relatively strong applicants from elsewhere, but in terms of average quality, that is my ballpark.

 

[libertyyne]

Completely subjective, off the cuff, in terms of being ready to handle being a relatively challenging residency like vascular surgery, I would say Western Europe followed by Middle East would be my picks. There is a relatively steep drop off after those two areas. There are of course a handful of relatively strong applicants from elsewhere, but in terms of average quality, that is my ballpark.

Do you lump Asia in with Middle East ? I have seen lots FMG from India / Pakistan in vascular surgery.

 

[mimelim]

Do you lump Asia in with Middle East ? I have seen lots FMG from India / Pakistan in vascular surgery.

I mean Egypt, Pakistan, Iran, etc.

 

[akuko2]

I mean Egypt, Pakistan, Iran, etc.

Have you had any residents who went to medschool in India? Jw because I have acquaintances who have told their kids to go back to India to go to medical school. (Though idk how that would even make sense because in the past they used to start at the post high school level)

 

[mimelim]

Have you had any residents who went to medschool in India? Jw because I have acquaintances who have told their kids to go back to India to go to medical school. (Though idk how that would even make sense because in the past they used to start at the post high school)

Anecdotally, test crushers and zero skills derivation through medical school. But, n=2ish.