Is there like a Barrons/Princeton Review for International Medical Schools?

[ButAtYourBest]

I'm a post-bac pre-med student. My undergrad GPA may be a bit of a liability for my application, so I'm looking into "alternative" paths such as DO or international schools.

Is there a good reference style book that gives some basic info on all the international schools that have American programs or attract American applicants? Right now it's like going from country to country just researching...

The Caribbean sounds terrible. Philippines is too far and too hot for me. The system in the UK sounds too different and simply won't work well if I want to seamlessly come back to the United States, and if I'm not mistaken, it will take many years longer (since most start right out of high school). Israel is the most intriguing right now, although I'm not Jewish and don't speak Hebrew.

I know there's a Duke-NUS program in Singapore. An English speaking country seems preferred. But the American program at Sackler in Israel, combined with a more international location seems manageable.

Is there a good reference book or source ala princeton review/barrons for doing some basic general research on international med schools?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[RussianJoo]

what's wrong with carib schools? i personally think their the best foriegn alternatives for those that want to get a residency in the US. you do your first 2 years on the island and your last two years in the US in teaching hospitals that have US med students rotating through them, you go to the same lectures and get the same experience as US med students, you get LORs from US program directors and attendings, you learn how things work in the US health care system and you're compared to US med students when given end of rotation evaluations, no other country offers that. This also allows program directors to see how you stack up to your US counter part, and if you perform better then them that says a lot to them. Simply getting an A on your rotation or a good evaluation from some Dr. in another country doesn't mean anything to US program directors because they don't personally know them and they don't know how things are run over there and what kind of standards they have for grading their students. plus another advantage of carib schools is that you only spend 2 years or less out of the country, not 4 like all the others. plus the weather is awesome and everyone speaks english. Other countries might offer you a couple of months of electives in the US but that can't compare to 2 years of US clinical exposure.


ohh and to answer your question no book exists that compares foreign schools you have to do your own research.

 

[ButAtYourBest]

what's wrong with carib schools? i personally think their the best foriegn alternatives for those that want to get a residency in the US. you do your first 2 years on the island and your last two years in the US in teaching hospitals that have US med students rotating through them, you go to the same lectures and get the same experience as US med students, you get LORs from US program directors and attendings, you learn how things work in the US health care system and you're compared to US med students when given end of rotation evaluations, no other country offers that. This also allows program directors to see how you stack up to your US counter part, and if you perform better then them that says a lot to them. Simply getting an A on your rotation or a good evaluation from some Dr. in another country doesn't mean anything to US program directors because they don't personally know them and they don't know how things are run over there and what kind of standards they have for grading their students. plus another advantage of carib schools is that you only spend 2 years or less out of the country, not 4 like all the others. plus the weather is awesome and everyone speaks english. Other countries might offer you a couple of months of electives in the US but that can't compare to 2 years of US clinical exposure.


ohh and to answer your question no book exists that compares foreign schools you have to do your own research.

you bring up good points. and i am some time away from applying, so I have a lot of research to do. but what deters me is the fact that they are for profit, and I just read a few posts about the lack of incentive for the schools to pass the students (and in fact, the monetary incentive for the students to fail and repeat). Someone said about 50% of his class did not finish on time.

 

[Winged Scapula]

As noted above, there is no formal resource which lists all the schools.

you bring up good points. and i am some time away from applying, so I have a lot of research to do. but what deters me is the fact that they are for profit, and I just read a few posts about the lack of incentive for the schools to pass the students (and in fact, the monetary incentive for the students to fail and repeat). Someone said about 50% of his class did not finish on time.

I'd wager that ALL foreign schools that take Americans do so to make money, whether its Caribbean or in the UK, etc.

Secondly, I am doubtful that the information you read about some sort of conspiracy to delay graduation so that schools make money is accurate. Consider that:

- schools that take students that couldn't get into a US school may simply have a student body that is unable to manage the volume of medical school knowledge, hence taking longer to get through

- the schools may hold students back who cannot pass Step 1 - most cannot rotate in the US without having done so

The above is hardly the fault of the school and I seriously doubt that schools are purposely holding students back so that they can make more money.

Finally, there are 4 year post-grad schools in the UK and other English speaking countries, where the medical training is MUCH more akin to that in the US than in the Phillipines. You do not have to start right out of HS. RJ is correct in that the Caribbean schools do have some advantages given the US clinical work.

 

[ButAtYourBest]

hey thanks...

not a conspiracy, but it sounded like the culture was that a lot of people repeat or are held back, and not necessarily for lack of effort. sounded like there werent the best support resources/advising, etc.

anyway, im still early in my research, so im ruling anything out (or in) at this point.

that is good to know about the UK...but can't i bother you for names of specific universities (that are more akin to the American 4 year system)? Or said other English speaking countries?

and thanks for chiming in!

As noted above, there is no formal resource which lists all the schools.



I'd wager that ALL foreign schools that take Americans do so to make money, whether its Caribbean or in the UK, etc.

Secondly, I am doubtful that the information you read about some sort of conspiracy to delay graduation so that schools make money is accurate. Consider that:

- schools that take students that couldn't get into a US school may simply have a student body that is unable to manage the volume of medical school knowledge, hence taking longer to get through

- the schools may hold students back who cannot pass Step 1 - most cannot rotate in the US without having done so

The above is hardly the fault of the school and I seriously doubt that schools are purposely holding students back so that they can make more money.

Finally, there are 4 year post-grad schools in the UK and other English speaking countries, where the medical training is MUCH more akin to that in the US than in the Phillipines. You do not have to start right out of HS. RJ is correct in that the Caribbean schools do have some advantages given the US clinical work.

 

[RussianJoo]

hey thanks...

not a conspiracy, but it sounded like the culture was that a lot of people repeat or are held back, and not necessarily for lack of effort. sounded like there werent the best support resources/advising, etc.

anyway, im still early in my research, so im ruling anything out (or in) at this point.

that is good to know about the UK...but can't i bother you for names of specific universities (that are more akin to the American 4 year system)? Or said other English speaking countries?

and thanks for chiming in!

yep as mentioned above, i would be willing to bet that other schools in other countries that take US students are also for profit. I don't know about other schools but SGU is very supportive of their students and provides almost daily review sessions for 1st term classes, and weekly review sessions held by profs not to mention free either one on one or small (3 or 4 student ) group tutoring. They definitely want you to succeed. their student's success equals the schools success. Some schools might fail you out simply because they accept too many students to begin with, but they don't randomly fail you out, as long as you do above the class average you will never fail out. but do your own research. just cause someone failed out and are angry that they couldn't cut it, doesn't mean everyone fails out.

 

[Winged Scapula]

hey thanks...

not a conspiracy, but it sounded like the culture was that a lot of people repeat or are held back, and not necessarily for lack of effort. sounded like there werent the best support resources/advising, etc.

anyway, im still early in my research, so im ruling anything out (or in) at this point.

that is good to know about the UK...but can't i bother you for names of specific universities (that are more akin to the American 4 year system)? Or said other English speaking countries?

and thanks for chiming in!

England:

Queen Mary, University of London
University of Nottingham
University of Southampton
Swansea University
King’s College School of Medicine (London)
University of Bristol
University of Leicester
Imperial College London
University of Newcastle
University of Oxford
St George’s, University of London
University of Warwick
University of Birmingham
University of Cambridge
University of Liverpool
Keele University.

Australia:

Flinders University
the Universities of Queensland, Sydney, Melbourne and Western Australia
Australian National University
Griffith University
Notre Dame University

Ireland:

RCSI
Trinity
U of Dublin

and so on...Google is your friend, as are the International SDN Forums (ie, look at the Europe and other forums for more details).

 

[ButAtYourBest]

yeah, I was just getting exhausted googling a bunch of related stuff....

so grateful for you to give me this list as a starting point!

thanks!

England:

Queen Mary, University of London
University of Nottingham
University of Southampton
Swansea University
King’s College School of Medicine (London)
University of Bristol
University of Leicester
Imperial College London
University of Newcastle
University of Oxford
St George’s, University of London
University of Warwick
University of Birmingham
University of Cambridge
University of Liverpool
Keele University.

Australia:

Flinders University
the Universities of Queensland, Sydney, Melbourne and Western Australia
Australian National University
Griffith University
Notre Dame University

Ireland:

RCSI
Trinity
U of Dublin

and so on...Google is your friend, as are the International SDN Forums (ie, look at the Europe and other forums for more details).