International student

[hopsa]

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Hi,

I'm 28 and from Scandinavia (non U.S. citizen, English as one native language). I want to apply to medical school in the U.S. (interested in psychiatry).

Six years ago I had the same thoughts and worked as a janitor at local hospitals for 6 months. After that I worked as a research assistant at the main central hospital neurology unit for 3 months. At the same time my artistic endeavors turned from a hobby into a business and I got “stuck” on that path. I studied a BA related to arts with a GPA of 2.93 working full time (I can’t raise the results anymore).

Now I feel like I definitely have to make the change and pursue a M.D. degree. What should I do in this situation and do I have a chance get into a U.S. university? What should an international applicant especially take in account and is it possible to work in the U.S. after graduating from a U.S. medical school as an international student?

Thank you for your help!

Edit: Noticed the 'What are my chances?' section now but I can't seem to be able to delete this post...

 

[Goro]

If you want to go to med school in the US, go to college in the US and you need to excel.

 

[hopsa]

Do you mean a pre-med college or college in general?

 

[gyngyn]

Do you mean a pre-med college or college in general?

Any college will offer the courses necessary to prepare for a career in medicine.

 

[SOMBound13]

Hi,

I'm 28 and from Scandinavia (non U.S. citizen, English as one native language). I want to apply to medical school in the U.S. (interested in psychiatry).

I studied a BA related to arts with a GPA of 2.93 working full time (I can’t raise the results anymore).

Now I feel like I definitely have to make the change and pursue a M.D. degree. What should I do in this situation and do I have a chance get into a U.S. university? What should an international applicant especially take in account and is it possible to work in the U.S. after graduating from a U.S. medical school as an international student?


is it possible to work in the U.S. after graduating from a U.S. medical school as an international student?
.

What are you asking?

are you asking if a US univ (not a med school) will accept you for a post-bacc or second BS so that you'd have the premed prereqs to apply to a US med school?

Do you have the funds to go to school here? You would need to pay for the undergrad classes AND med school.


If you're asking if a US med school will accept you with your current stats, then the answer is "no".

Why don't you go to med school in your own country?


as to your last question. After med school, you'd have to do a residency for whatever specialty you pursue..

 

[hopsa]

Any college will offer the courses necessary to prepare for a career in medicine.

Thank you gyngyn!

What are you asking?

are you asking if a US univ (not a med school) will accept you for a post-bacc or second BS so that you'd have the premed prereqs to apply to a US med school?

Do you have the funds to go to school here? You would need to pay for the undergrad classes AND med school.


If you're asking if a US med school will accept you with your current stats, then the answer is "no".

Why don't you go to med school in your own country?


as to your last question. After med school, you'd have to do a residency for whatever specialty you pursue..

I want to practice in the U.S. and have understood that the best way to do this is to study in the same country you want to practice in? I'm quite sure I will be able to get the necessary funds to pay for both but the more efficient/fast and less costly the route the better of course!

Medical school is free in my country but I understood it is much harder to move into practicing in the U.S. with that degree. It is also very competitive (but it is so in a lot of other places as well of course).

What about i.e. the Polish/Eastern European schools and Caribbean schools for an international student in this case?

 

[stemingen]

My 2 cents:

There will be a long list of steps you need to work really, really hard to get to the point your application package will be read by adcoms.

Green card: without this you will not be eligible for most of the programs here;
PreMed req courses: most programs ask for 90 or more credit hours obtained in US or Canada credited colleges, some also ask for a Bachelor degree in US;
Numbers: competitive GPA & MCAT
volunteering: community services and clinical ones
shadowing: ensure you know what you will get long term career wise
money and time: to invest on everything listed above

Is it doable? Yes. What will be ur chance, quite slim at this moment. Unless this is the only thing you absolutely want to achieve, then I would recommend you to look into other options. There are numerous rewarding careers paths. Why trap yourself in an almost impossible mission. Life is short...

 

[Gibbward]

I don't believe this is true. From my research, most US MD programs allow international students. However, you will have to be an extremely exceptional student and also be able to properly justify why you want to study in the US over your own country. (You shouldn't say you want to go to medical school in the US because you want to practice in the US. In theory, being an international student means you intend to leave the US after your studies. Of course, personal things could get in the way of this "intention" but you need to be careful with what you say.)

But after all that, the biggest barrier I see as an international student is a lot of schools will require you to show proof that you can afford to pay for all expenses associated with going to medical school. Some would even require that you show them a bank account with $50,000-$200,000 as proof, which is just ridiculous for most people.

Green card: without this you will not be eligible for most of the programs here;

 

[getdown]

I don't believe this is true. From my research, most US MD programs allow international students. However, you will have to be an extremely exceptional student and also be able to properly justify why you want to study in the US over your own country. (You shouldn't say you want to go to medical school in the US because you want to practice in the US. In theory, being an international student means you intend to leave the US after your studies. Of course, personal things could get in the way of this "intention" but you need to be careful with what you say.)

But after all that, the biggest barrier I see as an international student is a lot of schools will require you to show proof that you can afford to pay for all expenses associated with going to medical school. Some would even require that you show them a bank account with $50,000-$200,000 as proof, which is just ridiculous for most people.

Well actually, the problem lies when you're actually applying for residencies. If you're not holding a green card your specific residency will have to apply for a visa status on your behalf so that you can work there. Some programs, usually the ones that deal with a lot of IMGs do this, but a lot of higher tier programs with no IMGs will probably won't because why go to the trouble of having to do this for you when there are plenty of equal or better applicants that won't hassle them for this? So how does this translate to med school? If you are going to have problems matching why should a med school take you? It looks bad on them if you don't match, no matter the reason. Hence why very rarely do international students get accepted to a US med school.

 

[SOMBound13]

Thank you gyngyn!



I want to practice in the U.S. and have understood that the best way to do this is to study in the same country you want to practice in? I'm quite sure I will be able to get the necessary funds to pay for both but the more efficient/fast and less costly the route the better of course!

What about i.e. the Polish/Eastern European schools and Caribbean schools for an international student in this case?

If you'll consider Polish/EE schools or Caribbean schools, then you might as well go to med school in your country.

When you say that you're quite sure that you can get the necessary funds, are you saying that you can get $300k+ to pay for premed prereqs, postbacc or SMP and pay for med school?

 

[Winged Scapula]

I don't believe this is true. From my research, most US MD programs allow international students. However, you will have to be an extremely exceptional student and also be able to properly justify why you want to study in the US over your own country. (You shouldn't say you want to go to medical school in the US because you want to practice in the US. In theory, being an international student means you intend to leave the US after your studies. Of course, personal things could get in the way of this "intention" but you need to be careful with what you say.)

But after all that, the biggest barrier I see as an international student is a lot of schools will require you to show proof that you can afford to pay for all expenses associated with going to medical school. Some would even require that you show them a bank account with $50,000-$200,000 as proof, which is just ridiculous for most people.

I believe that you fail to see a few issues.

While it is true that most *private* schools of medical education will entertain or even accept applications from international students, to say they encourage them is far from the truth. Only about 60 schools consider applications from international students; less than half, so hardly "most MD programs".

A quotation from Yale:

It is extremely difficult for international applicants who are not citizens or permanent residents of the United States to gain admission to U.S. medical schools. (...) International applicants who are considering a career as a medical doctor and hope to receive their education at an American medical school should think carefully before applying for admission to an undergraduate program in the United States.

From Johns Hopkins:

International students not holding a green card will have a more challenging time in the school admissions process, because only a limited number of schools can consider them.

From Harvard:

Gaining admission to U.S. medical schools and obtaining funding to pursue that education can be difficult for individuals who are not citizens or permanent residents of the United States. Many medical schools will review the application of an international student without any bias, but many others, particularly state schools, admit few if any international students. International students are usually only eligible for the more selective private schools.

Less than 13% of international applicants to US medical schools ever matriculate; typically about 100 students per year. The obstacles are:

1) most require at least a year, if not a US undergraduate degree to be considered; your foreign training will not be accepted as meeting the pre-requisites
2) you will require a Visa, if not the preferred PR/Green Card
3) as you note, as you are ineligible for US federal loans and most scholarships, most will require you provide evidence of an insured trust/escrow account with the balance of your tuition and living expenses
4) the schools which you are eligible for are amongst the most selective; for those who come to the US to study, obtaining their undergraduate degree while adjusting to a new culture and often new language can prove difficult

This blog has a list from 2014 which details which programs accept internationals and what the requirements are: http://premedusa.blogspot.com/2013/05/medical-schools-admitting-internationals.html

 

[PP9X]

You have heard this before but it will be difficult unless you do your training and med school in the US

 

[Gibbward]

@getdown I never thought about the residency issues of the medical school application process for international students, but that's a good point.

@Winged Scapula Oh I misread the OPs post and thought that his bachelor's degree was from the US. So I agree in all the points you raised. International students are without a doubt at a disadvantage in the application process. Their stats, ECs and story need to be stellar just to even be considered. And I guess "most schools" is an exaggeration in my part, but if you are one of the few IS who's well informed and was an excellent student in a US college, there would still be at least around 20 or so low/mid-tier schools that you could apply to, which is a pretty solid number. Getting good grades and ECs to me are just the easier obstacle vs the ridiculous amount of money you need for the MD school escrow.

 

[futuremdforme]

Most schools do not accept international applicants. Those that do, may only accept Canadians. Those that accept all nationalities will probably only take a handful of internationals, so you had better be stellar.

 

[Fastrada]

I would just attend school in your own country. I've seen plenty of foreign trained physicians at top US medical centers- I don't know how hard it was for them to get here, but it's possible.

And you do not want this debt. I already looked into Universitetet i Oslo, but my Norwegian isn't up to snuff and the one year Norwegian language course makes you pay out-of pocket. I also speak enough French for med school in France, but you need to have money to fund your living expenses for 6 years. I would love to be in your position. You can get a quality education without $300,000+ in debt dictating the rest of your career.

Edit: Just saw that you want psychiatry too- that is a field that Americans taking on the full amount of med school debt avoid because of money and it is probably one of the easier field for foreign doctors to find work with, so I would definitely say to just go to med school in your own country.

 

[Danbo1957]

You could try looking at medical schools in the UK and Ireland, Mexico and Latin America, and the Caribbean. Getting an American or Canadian residency is the real issue...

 

[Petrichor1]

Hi,

I'm 28 and from Scandinavia (non U.S. citizen, English as one native language). I want to apply to medical school in the U.S. (interested in psychiatry).

Six years ago I had the same thoughts and worked as a janitor at local hospitals for 6 months. After that I worked as a research assistant at the main central hospital neurology unit for 3 months. At the same time my artistic endeavors turned from a hobby into a business and I got “stuck” on that path. I studied a BA related to arts with a GPA of 2.93 working full time (I can’t raise the results anymore).

Now I feel like I definitely have to make the change and pursue a M.D. degree. What should I do in this situation and do I have a chance get into a U.S. university? What should an international applicant especially take in account and is it possible to work in the U.S. after graduating from a U.S. medical school as an international student?

Thank you for your help!

Edit: Noticed the 'What are my chances?' section now but I can't seem to be able to delete this post...

I was reading this and your age and residency status worry me knowing how long it may take to obtain a permanent residency status (but that line in waiting is based off of diversity in applicants, so maybe not too long?). Anyways, whatever you decide I am seeing that you could potentially do a postbacca here and then go to a DO given your status becomes more permanent and should you not experience any hardship in residency area. Best of luck.

 

[Petrichor1]

Canadian residency is the real issue...

Oh brother, don't even go there if you are dreaming of medical school...so many less medical schools compared to the US and harsh cut off lines in terms of numbers for successful applicants.