My Dilemma, My Unclear Future, Help!

[Dreamin2beDoc]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

-------------------------------------------
If you want to get to the main idea, read the last paragraph.
-------------------------------------------

I am in stuck between different pathways for college. First, of all, let me introduce myself. I am currently a junior in high school, and I am going to be a doctor. I know that in the end, majority of high school people who say they are going to be a doctor don't become one and they change professions. But me, becoming a doctor is my ideal life. I want to save lives and see patients smile after helping them.

So here are my accomplishments and current progess as a junior in high school:
-3.95 academic GPA
-Currently taking 8 classes: including Anatomy/Physiology (1class), AP Biology and Physics, which are rigorous classes all together
-Next year, I will be taking 4-6 AP classes, that includes AP Chemistry, AP Calculus, AP English, AP Gov/AP Econ
-I am planning to do volunteer and do an internship in John Muir this summer and throughout the senior year.
-Will be taking SAT and ACT this spring.

Now, my problem is that my parents want me to study college and medical school in Philippines. I am aware that the education is cheaper, but I have to take several tests to practice medicine in USA, which include series of USMLE tests and other stuff. My parents are worried about the fact that I am going to be in massive debt by the time i graduate college and med school, so if i go to philippines, will be able to get rid of the student debt.
My parents want me to go to University of Santo Tomas to be specific.

I want to go to a prestigious university here in US so if im going here, my plan is to study in UC Davis or UC Santa Barbara ---> Stanford University or UCSF for med school. I know I got what it takes to fulfill this plan because I believe I can pull it through, I am competitive and one of the top in my class.

I want an honest suggestion though, I want to practice medicine here in US, so should i go study medicine in Philippines and be free from student debt or study in USA and be exempted from taking USMLE and other tests that foreign medical graduates take but will be in big debt?

 

[Droopy Snoopy]

-------------------------------------------
If you want to get to the main idea, read the last paragraph.
-------------------------------------------

I am in stuck between different pathways for college. First, of all, let me introduce myself. I am currently a junior in high school, and I am going to be a doctor. I know that in the end, majority of high school people who say they are going to be a doctor don't become one and they change professions. But me, becoming a doctor is my ideal life. I want to save lives and see patients smile after helping them.

So here are my accomplishments and current progess as a junior in high school:
-3.95 academic GPA
-Currently taking 8 classes: including Anatomy/Physiology (1class), AP Biology and Physics, which are rigorous classes all together
-Next year, I will be taking 4-6 AP classes, that includes AP Chemistry, AP Calculus, AP English, AP Gov/AP Econ
-I am planning to do volunteer and do an internship in John Muir this summer and throughout the senior year.
-Will be taking SAT and ACT this spring.

Now, my problem is that my parents want me to study college and medical school in Philippines. I am aware that the education is cheaper, but I have to take several tests to practice medicine in USA, which include series of USMLE tests and other stuff. My parents are worried about the fact that I am going to be in massive debt by the time i graduate college and med school, so if i go to philippines, will be able to get rid of the student debt.
My parents want me to go to University of Santo Tomas to be specific.

I want to go to a prestigious university here in US so if im going here, my plan is to study in UC Davis or UC Santa Barbara ---> Stanford University or UCSF for med school. I know I got what it takes to fulfill this plan because I believe I can pull it through, I am competitive and one of the top in my class.

I want an honest suggestion though, I want to practice medicine here in US, so should i go study medicine in Philippines and be free from student debt or study in USA and be exempted from taking USMLE and other tests that foreign medical graduates take but will be in big debt?

If you want to live and practice medicine in the US, then you need to stay here for your education all the way through. Foreign medical graduates face a tremendous uphill battle trying to secure residency and satisfy licensing requirements here in the States. The challenge will continue to increase every year, as US med schools increase class size against a set # of residency spots. Your parents mean well, and a lot of kids don't properly consider the real consequences of $200-300K in debt. BUT in a sense you get what you pay for. A second-rate education will always be just that, and will be treated as such.

BTW I don't understand that last sentence. All physicians practicing in the US are legally required to pass all steps of the USMLE within a 7-year period. All of this is beside the point if what you really want to do is move, live, and work in the Phillipines for the rest of your life. Doesn't sound like that's what you want to do, so your decision is really a no-brainer.

 

[Dreamin2beDoc]

Thanks, I knew it's better to go to school here, its just that my parents and family are influencing me about studying in the Philippines, thanks for the suggestion! 🙂

 

[indianjatt]

There are a few points I think you should take into consideration:

If you want to practice medicine in the US, go the US route. It will be VERY VERY hard to get a residency as a foreign medical graduate; there is simply too much competition nowadays. Some US medical graduates don't even match and have to scramble for a position. So why put yourself at a huge disadvantage by going to a foreign country as a US citizen?

Also, I am unsure about your remark about the whole testing issue. All US medical graduates who want to practice medicine have to pass all the board exams (USMLE).

Good luck with whatever you choose.

 

[da8s0859q]

I am currently a junior in high school, and I am going to be a doctor. I know that in the end, majority of high school people who say they are going to be a doctor don't become one and they change professions. But me, becoming a doctor is my ideal life. I want to save lives and see patients smile after helping them.

...

Now, my problem is that my parents want me to study college and medical school in Philippines.

...

I want to go to a prestigious university here in US so if im going here, my plan is to study in UC Davis or UC Santa Barbara ---> Stanford University or UCSF for med school. I know I got what it takes to fulfill this plan because I believe I can pull it through, I am competitive and one of the top in my class.

A few things:

1. Your parents, despite having a perfectly respectable opinion, need to back off a bit. If your intent at this stage in your life is to go into medicine, and if you would ideally practice medicine in the United States, you should be educated and train in the United States. Not saying that there isn't room for IMGs/FMGs -- obviously, there is -- but the road will be significantly more straightforward as a US medical student, particularly so if you end up going for more competitive specialties. Notice I didn't say "easier." Little about this is easy.

And as aforementioned... the USMLE applies to anyone wanting to practice here. I'm taking the first part of it in June.

2. I don't feel like re-finding the source, but I believe it was an AMA statistic that had newly-minted physicians at an average of about $150k in debt, including undergrad debt, as of 2010. So yes, you probably will have a whole lot of debt. So will most of us. We also manage to pay it off, so I'm not sure that going the FMG/IMG route is a worthy tradeoff, especially since I would imagine that you'd still have some debt in a foreign country as well.

3. I totally understand the starry-eyed take on being a physician, but just remember that no matter what college you go to, there's a lot to be done besides just chasing a degree and knocking out prerequisite courses. You don't have a crystal ball, and you might not want to be a doctor by the time you get to the point of having to apply to med school.

I have a serious passion for a few things outside medicine, to the point where my own parents said "maybe you should consider such-and-such instead," but I chose to go for medicine because I like it for its own reasons AND it can allow for those other things. Those "other things" became far more important to me while a college student. I'm all for being focused, but people who go through college with horse blinders on just so they can get to medical (or law, or dental, or whatever) school are doing themselves one hell of a disservice.

Just my $0.02.

 

[bucks2010]

Go to school in the US. The debt load won't be too crushing if you stay in-state.

 

[Mahliah]

Stay in the USA. From what Ive been reading FMG have many hurdles to jump over and are often stuck doing FM. Not that its a bad thing, if thats what youre going for.

 

[TheTruckGuy]

If you're a really smart FMG, and score super high on the USMLE, you should be able to get into an average family medicine or internal medicine residency. Maybe psychiatry. But if you're an average to slightly above average graduate from an American med school, you should be able to get into almost any residency you want except for ortho, derm, prestigious IM, and a few other residencies.

If you're afraid of going into debt you can serve your country as a physician in one of the armed services. It's a pretty sweet deal, and you'll definitely be living more comfortably than most of your fellow med students and residents.

And in my opinion, unless you want to be research oriented, the "prestige" of a med school doesn't matter.

 

[Mahliah]

Seems Ive heard differently in the Caribbean & allo forums. One in particular, a grad of SGU, which is apparently the top Caribbean school, had stellar scores and had trouble getting into a residency which is moderately competitive, EM.That person is now doing IM.