MedSchool in Germany, France, S.Africa

[Skye04]

I am a US citizen thinking about med school in France, Germany, and South Africa. Fluent in French and nearly fluent in German. I am not particularly concerned with coming back to the States to practice, but would like to later work with organizations like MSF and the WHO with refugee health and treatment/research of infectious diseases.

*Some questions on the med schools in the above 3 countries:

1) Chances of admission for US citizen?
2) Is MCAT or similar test required?
3) Length of course?
4) Having done all the US med-school prereqs, would I be exempt from anything? Also, would exemptions shorten my med course or just make each term's workload easier?
5) Tuition for US citizen?
6) Ease/cost of doing clinical rotations in the US or other countries (ex: France if I am in a German med school -- as the German clinical training is weaker)?
7) Pardon my ignorance, but is med school in S.Africa taught in English or Afrikaans?

Any other comments or advice would be helpful as well. Thank you!

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[Stephen Ewen]

Well, let me just try to pretty much disway your from SA schools, since you ae not an SA. Still, there is a SLIGHT chance....

Witswaterand- located in Johannesburg. It tends to be known by SA docs as being a school of "lower standards" compared to others. It admits a very few non-SAs at $10,000 US tuition per year.

MEDUNSA - in Jo-burg. A historically racially segregated med school, still mostly that way today. Not sure of whether non-SAs could get in.

Stellenbosch- in Blomfontien. Closed to forgein students outside of the Southern Africa Alliance. Exchange students are welcome for one term though. You need to be fluent in Afrikaans to make it in this school.

U of Cape Town - Closed to students not in the Alliance.

U of Pretoria - Not offically closed to foreign students, but it is next to impossible to get in if you have a med school in your home country. Intake is 200 med students each year, 5 of those are from Botswana, and 3 spots open to international students (usually from Southern Alliance).

 

[pre-med lost]

I looked into French schools as well as the German ones. French schools are excellent and free. They have open admissions policies but they wash out about 90% of the class along the way. They are easy to get in but almost impossible to get out of. The German ones are difficult to get into and training takes too long. If you know French, and can make it out, it takes about 7-8 yrs to finish up! If you are looking at German based education, try looking at Austrian schools. They have open admissions policies and are free. But you need to be pretty good with German. There are no English instructions at any of these countries.