International Students Enrolling in U.S. Med Schools

[PinknGreenMD]

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Why are there so many international students coming to America for education when most of their own countries have better health care systems and some offer better medical school education? Why not stay in your own country, go to school and practice there instead of coming to the U.S. and getting into medical school, practicing here for a short time and going back to your own country?

What is the appeal of the residency spots and medical student spots in the U.S. ? Especially with the "shortage" of residency spots as published by some journals.

Not a facetious question, but looking for a serious response from an International applicant. Seriously curious. Thanks.

If you feel as though you would like to respond with disparaging remarks and negativity please dont. Simply block me or ignore this post. You do not have to respond at all... let alone responding with snarky remarks. Thank you

 

[Mavs88]

Depends which Countries you are talking about? Third world country residents for obvious reasons...

 

[circulus vitios]

I imagine very few international students come to America to learn medicine and return to their home countries.

 

[Adria0]

I think it depends on the context with which we label health care systems "better."

Many European countries provide comparable (if not better) quality care at a lower cost than the U.S. So from the perspective of cost -- to a nation that is -- many countries have "better" health care systems.

From the individual physician who is looking for maximum compensation the U.S. may be better, if not "best"

Just my two cents. Not a health care expert, nor a physician.

 

[Deadlifts]

Which international students are coming from countries with objectively better medical education systems?

 

[mcloaf]

I imagine very few international students come to America to learn medicine and return to their home countries.

+1.

Can't say I'm aware of any sort of problem with outflow of international students who get their degrees here. If they wanted to practice at home it seems unlikely that they'd come here and pay out the nose for a US medical education.

 

[cookiemonsters]

Americans doctors make wayyyy more money than their international counterparts. There are also much better opportunities to distinguish oneself in the US. As an American it does piss me off slightly, but at the same time it means that our country attracts some of the best and brightest from the entire world... and that's pretty cool.

 

[pietachok]

Some of the countries with equally good medical education have less med school seats per number of applicants. Some base the entire admissions process on a single MCAT-like test score. Some admit MD students directly out of high school and do not have a very good system for re-entering the medical education track if you didn't do it at 17 years old. Some admit readily but then weed out at the graduation end of medical school by administering an exam that filters some successful students--part of the class does not get a license to practice clinical medicine and effectively ends up with a degree sufficient only for research, consulting, etc.

 

[PinknGreenMD]

Some of the countries with equally good medical education have less med school seats per number of applicants. Some base the entire admissions process on a single MCAT-like test score. Some admit MD students directly out of high school and do not have a very good system for re-entering the medical education track if you didn't do it at 17 years old. Some admit readily but then weed out at the graduation end of medical school by administering an exam that filters some successful students--part of the class does not get a license to practice clinical medicine and effectively ends up with a degree sufficient only for research, consulting, etc.

wow. interesting take. Thank you so much and All of the others for your feedback.

 

[PeruvianMD]

hey, I am from a third world country and let me tell you, medical education is really bad. Many people who study medicine at my home country aim for residency spots at the US, the main reason is the salary. Doctors in third world countries are paid so little compared to US doctors, in my country a recently graduated doctor practicing as a general practitioner earns about 12k a year, if they decide to do residency, during that period they will only earn 6k a year. And even if you did a residency as neurosurgery, the starting salary for these specialists is about 19k a year, and after some years of practicing it can reach 25k a year. That is the reason why many would be happy to match even in a non competitive specialty as family medicine in the US. But there are some of us that would really love to go into other specialties as surgery, which for a IMG is almost impossible. So going to med school in the US really gives us an advantage, as we would have better networking and we would be as good as an american doctor. As pietachok mentioned, some med schools in other countries weed out after accepting applicants, and this is the case in my country. Anyone can be a doctor in my country, there are dozens of med schools that only required a simple test, and these schools are producing mediocre doctors. Hope this helps.

 

[thesauce]

Why are there so many international students coming to America for education when most of their own countries have better health care systems

This stance has been widely accepted as truth with very little evidence to back it up. It was popularized by the WHO ranking for 13 years ago which was heavily criticized for its poor methodology and hasn't been published since.

 

[274631]

Coming from a former third world country (we recently got upgraded to developed status although I have my doubts about that), for me it's mainly because I think the quality of the training I get and the number of opportunities available to me through the US system are not things I would have been able to get at home. The opportunities US schools have to do research, participate in scholarly programs and even the more holistic coursework are way beyond what I would get at home. The system there is mainly about getting the hard sciences down and a lot of the social aspect of medicine are ignored. Also, there would be no avenue for me to integrate public health into medical school at all. For others, because my country is very small, it is so much easier to go to medical school in the US from the beginning if you want to do an advanced specialty that we don't offer at home. For me, it isn't as much about money because you still can have a pretty decent life considering the cost of living, etc as a physician where I am from. When I first started undergrad I thought that I would go back home to practice but that has changed over time, as I realize more and more that the opportunities to do what I want at home are limited and that my life has started to become settled in the US.

Also, I am very glad I didn't have to go right into medical school after High School. I think I would have hated the experience and missed out on so much during undergrad and my current masters.