I'm a med school student in Finland and I thought I'd share a few facts about med schools in Finland 🙂. I hope this isn't bad forum area for this thread.
1. Medical school is 100% free here. No tuition fees whatsoever. Goverment actually support our costs of living by 500euros/month (560$).
2. Admission into med school is based 90% on the admission test and 10% on your high school grades. We have no interviews or recommendation letters. It's all about how well you succes in the admission test which is based on Physics, Chemistry and Biology. About 15% of the applicants are accepted depending on the university.
3. Only few students buy books. Most the time we just read the PowerPoint presentations of lectures. For those minority who actually read books there's books available at the library. Don't get me wrong, the exams we have are difficult and we have physicians with wide knowledge.
4. Physicians make on average 80.000 euros per year before taxes (88.000$). Surgeons, specialists and chief physicians can make >100k/year.
5. In case of medical error the compensation for the patient or patient's family is negligible (maybe something like 1000 euros for accidentally amputated limb). We believe physicians try their best and any compensation can't undo the error. That's why physicians don't need expensive insurances.
6. Students are given big responsibility. We can work in a hospital alone as a physician "subsitute" prescribing drugs etc. after 4th year (it's 6 years to graduate).
Feel free to ask me anyhing!
edit: clarified a few things about admission test and currency. Added points 5 and 6.
