Please help. Russian Medical School

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BorkLaser

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I'm currently a first year student in a Russian medical school and I absolutely hate it here. Here's why:
1. We have mandatory attendance from 8 am to 6 pm every single day, 6 days a week.
2. We have 16 different subjects to study in our first semester, most of them irrelevant to medicine. Like History, Economics, Culturology, Informatics, and many more like Hell.. we even have Physical training!
3. We've got classes mostly and very few lectures. What's the difference? I'll explain.. we learn from lectures on a big screen (like normal med schools) but we have to prepare the material ourselves for classes.. and the teachers then ask us questions and grade us based on our answers. My logic is - what's the point of attending school if we have to study ourselves anyways? If attendance is mandatory, shouldn't we learn something from our classes at the least?
4. School administration sucks and there is a lot of corruption, but that is to be expected since this is Russia.

My goal is to become a physician in the US, but I'm not a US citizen sadly. I'm considering leaving but my parents and friends suggest that I carry on for another 6 years. Any advice guys?
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I had a Russian trained physician once (though not from Russia - East Africa). He's an incredible guy, and worked his way into a US residency and is doing well for himself.

The mentality is... throw a dozen eggs against the wall and see which ones don't break. Cream rises to the top. Don't crack and you'll be better because of it.

I'll also add that I, in an American medical school, have history, personal training, and (maybe) some culturology integrated into my every day life. Except.... I do all that myself, not required by the school. Its the only way I make it through. Those Ruskis must be on to something...
 
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Lets_Run said:
I had a Russian trained physician once (though not from Russia - East Africa). He's an incredible guy, and worked his way into a US residency and is doing well for himself.

The mentality is... throw a dozen eggs against the wall and see which ones don't break. Cream rises to the top. Don't crack and you'll be better because of it.

I'll also add that I, in an American medical school, have history, personal training, and (maybe) some culturology integrated into my every day life. Except.... I do all that myself, not required by the school. Its the only way I make it through. Those Ruskis must be on to something...
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Ok, I counted.. I have 14 non-medical subjects in the first semester. I guess you're telling me to stick it out for 6 years. I'll let you know how it goes in the end
 
BorkLaser said:
Ok, I counted.. I have 14 non-medical subjects in the first semester. I guess you're telling me to stick it out for 6 years. I'll let you know how it goes in the end
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do you have a bachelor's degree already or is this 6 years total post high school?
 
Medical school is difficult and not perfect. You should ask yourself this can you come to america immediately to go an american undergrad (where you would still have to study non medical stuff, before medicine) ? If your answer is no? then what option do you have? Do the best you can in the situation you are in, do well in school and network with physicians who know how to get to america and match into america.
 
You have to go to college in the US (need a bachelor degree) before you can apply to a us med school. It takes 4 years after high school, as people have said above. It basically depends on what struggle you want to go through—now, or later (after you graduate and apply as img).


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BorkLaser said:
I'm currently a first year student in a Russian medical school and I absolutely hate it here. Here's why:
1. We have mandatory attendance from 8 am to 6 pm every single day, 6 days a week.
2. We have 16 different subjects to study in our first semester, most of them irrelevant to medicine. Like History, Economics, Culturology, Informatics, and many more like Hell.. we even have Physical training!
3. We've got classes mostly and very few lectures. What's the difference? I'll explain.. we learn from lectures on a big screen (like normal med schools) but we have to prepare the material ourselves for classes.. and the teachers then ask us questions and grade us based on our answers. My logic is - what's the point of attending school if we have to study ourselves anyways? If attendance is mandatory, shouldn't we learn something from our classes at the least?
4. School administration sucks and there is a lot of corruption, but that is to be expected since this is Russia.

My goal is to become a physician in the US, but I'm not a US citizen sadly. I'm considering leaving but my parents and friends suggest that I carry on for another 6 years. Any advice guys?
Click to expand...
The first two years of Russian medical school replace our undergrad diplomas. Trust me, most of us took a lot more random irrelevant subjects in college. Not to mention we spent 4 years at it.
 
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BorkLaser said:
I'm currently a first year student in a Russian medical school and I absolutely hate it here. Here's why:
1. We have mandatory attendance from 8 am to 6 pm every single day, 6 days a week.
2. We have 16 different subjects to study in our first semester, most of them irrelevant to medicine. Like History, Economics, Culturology, Informatics, and many more like Hell.. we even have Physical training!
3. We've got classes mostly and very few lectures. What's the difference? I'll explain.. we learn from lectures on a big screen (like normal med schools) but we have to prepare the material ourselves for classes.. and the teachers then ask us questions and grade us based on our answers. My logic is - what's the point of attending school if we have to study ourselves anyways? If attendance is mandatory, shouldn't we learn something from our classes at the least?
4. School administration sucks and there is a lot of corruption, but that is to be expected since this is Russia.

My goal is to become a physician in the US, but I'm not a US citizen sadly. I'm considering leaving but my parents and friends suggest that I carry on for another 6 years. Any advice guys?
Click to expand...

What country are you originally from?
 
Continue Russian Medical School and do great in the USMLE exams, I think it is your best choice 🙂
 
gyngyn said:
You are in a difficult position.
There were so few candidates for the match (from Russia) that we have no idea what the odds of your success might be

International applicants (even those who have attended US schools) have an uphill struggle as well
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I can't predict the match rates for IMGs in the future but I don't have a good feeling about it, even if I try becoming a superstar IMG (basically a perfect applicant but not a US citizen). I can try to get high step scores, I can try to get publications, LORs, clinical experience and whatever else. But so much effort and I'm still not sure to match. It's sad. But I have no choice
 
Raryn said:
The first two years of Russian medical school replace our undergrad diplomas. Trust me, most of us took a lot more random irrelevant subjects in college. Not to mention we spent 4 years at it.
Click to expand...
You got to pick your subjects. You also got to choose which classes to attend. I'm trying to say that the system in the US is less stressful than here. But I know it takes hard work to get into med school there.
 
BorkLaser said:
You got to pick your subjects. You also got to choose which classes to attend. I'm trying to say that the system in the US is less stressful than here. But I know it takes hard work to get into med school there.
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Not always. Columbia anyone?

Can you afford to go to college and medical school in the USA? Without financial aid, which isn't always available for internationals, you are talking about >$500,000 easily.
BorkLaser said:
I can't predict the match rates for IMGs in the future but I don't have a good feeling about it, even if I try becoming a superstar IMG (basically a perfect applicant but not a US citizen). I can try to get high step scores, I can try to get publications, LORs, clinical experience and whatever else. But so much effort and I'm still not sure to match. It's sad. But I have no choice
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You are right you have no choice if the goal is be a physician in the USA. You could make the choice to be a physician elsewhere though (Brazil or Russia come to mind)
 
I checked out match rates for IMGs in 2017 and you're like 95% likely to match (Internal Medicine, Pathology etc) if you've got 235+ on Step 1 ;P So don't worry, if you work hard, you'll get what you deserve 😉 Let the American matching system defeat you, not pessimistic people on this forum ;P
 
Dr.Jacobsen said:
I checked out match rates for IMGs in 2017 and you're like 95% likely to match (Internal Medicine, Pathology etc) if you've got 235+ on Step 1 ;P So don't worry, if you work hard, you'll get what you deserve 😉
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Op is an fmg.
 
A 235+ score on Step 1 gives you a good match chance even as a FMG.
 
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Dr.Jacobsen said:
A 235+ score on Step 1 gives you a good match chance even as a FMG.
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Depends on other factors such as step2 and year of graduation and lors and research and and and and. Its not impossible but its difficult, really difficult. I am hopefully going to go thru it in the near future. OP. Take small steps, relax and know that if you work hard you will get to where you want. A lot of people have done it before so why can't you? Start to prepare for the step1 once you start courses related to the topics that are in the beast. Rn im taking microbio and anatomy and im doing both my classwork and keeping up with my step1 work because its the only way i can make sure i can stay on top of things and not be mega stressed a few months before the exam. Talk to other people at your med school or people you know that either did the exam or r gonna do the exam and ask them for guidance since they relate the most to you. Good luck.
 
Who are these people that are from Brazil but go to medical school in Russia?? Or any alternative of this situation (be from country X, want to practice in county Y, but do medical training in country Z!)

Like why not just go to medical school in Brazil, so that if coming to the US doesn't work out you can at least work in Brazil?
 
evilbooyaa said:
Who are these people that are from Brazil but go to medical school in Russia?? Or any alternative of this situation (be from country X, want to practice in county Y, but do medical training in country Z!)

Like why not just go to medical school in Brazil, so that if coming to the US doesn't work out you can at least work in Brazil?
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There's for-profit schools in Eastern Europe that are the equivalent to Carib schools - will accept anyone who can pay. Many countries like Brazil have very competitive internal systems for applicants.
 
Dr.Jacobsen said:
Aren't all U.S medical schools 'for profit' too?
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No.

Out of 175 medical schools in the US, three are for-profit - California Northstate (MD), Rocky Vista University (DO), and Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine (DO). iirc, one of the Puerto Rico schools is now also owned by a parent company that is for-profit, but I'm not sure if that counts.
 
I grew up in the U.K. and moved to the U.S. around 3.5 years ago. I obtained permanent residency in May (just in time for med school apps!). We have the same medical school structure in my country, too (6 years post-high school). Yes, you have mandatory attendance and yes you have to learn subjects that aren't just restricted to medicine. Here in the U.S., I attend a liberal arts college and I have had to take religion, theology, social sciences, visual performing arts courses in my undergraduate years, just like you're having to do there in Russia. I am happy I've done so. I would suggest finding schools in the U.S. that accept international applicants (although this is few and far between) and transfer over here after attending another school and obtaining your undergraduate degree, which I know in the U.K takes 3 years, not sure if it is the same as in Russia, or waiting until you graduate and apply for residency as an IMG (also very difficult; you need stellar USMLE scores). It depends how serious you are about wanting to practice in the U.S. It is incredibly expensive as a foreign student. I got no financial aid my first 3 years here but luckily I have a pretty good scholarship that helps me out for undergrad, but you're unlikely to find something like that over here at a medical school. The immigration part is another huge hurdle. It took me 2 years and thousands of dollars to get my green card.
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
In the US, it is an 8 year process post high school. You have to have a bachelors first in almost all cases, and those first 4 years generally have nothing to do with medicine.
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Except for the core requirements (all of which are basically MCAT prep) undergraduate education is a lot of liberal arts filler designed to round out the education of young people who (sorry this is gonna sting a little, kids) have no real world knowledge or experience. The 6 year euro style med school does essentially the same thing, shaving off the upper level major requirements.

You're getting off light, OP, whether you realize it or not. On the downside, the chances of you matching in the US (if that's your goal) are reed-thin.
 
Here's my 2 cents and I was in the exact same situation for 1.5 years. (Chinese Med school)

I went to China because it was stupidly cheap yet still recognized internationally, I had the same plan as you; sit USMLE and score well as well as participate in various research projects. The problem is these Universities change year by year, you have no idea what to expect or what's required, so any future plans i.e USMLE study may go out the window as you may be forced to do an extra subject or something. Sure the theory is up to par but that's not where you are missing out. The whole patient interaction and clinical skills are what you'll be extremely lacking in not only do they delay patient interaction as long as possible but the patients don't speak English (I'll assume you speak Russian so this isn't an issue?) so if you have to learn the language you'll never get a proper experience taking a history or completing an examination with broken Russian.

Furthermore these Universities are notorious for withholding results and such and changing examinations at the last minute (happened to the final years at my Chinese Med school) so not only will you have a sub-par education they may also literally screw with you for a year or two post-graduation. As everyone above has said your best bet is to leave and either complete and undergraduate degree then apply to the US or try get straight into a program in the UK or another 1st world/renown country.

I withdrew and got accepted into a UK university, the education isn't even comparable; I've seen patients, examined them, talked through treatment options and when/why to use a medication. Not to mention the theory is all integrated, we don't learn "Anatomy" or "Pathology" like we used to back in China we study common diseases for each body system - Diabetes, Hypertension, PE etc and we learn every single detail associated with them from Epidemiology to Treatment and prognosis and i'm only 5 months in.

Changing Universities showed me what real medicine is, I had no idea while I was in China and it seems none of my classmates did either because we all hoped everything would turn out alright and negligence is bliss. I still keep in contact with my friends in China, I asked them how they're going, there last practical session was the classic undergrad experiment of putting salt on frogs legs, mine was the full Thyroid examination. They told me the things i'm learning are equivalent to their final years material, keep that in mind because I know virtually zero Medicine.

So it's really up to you, do you want to roll the dice and hope there's no speed bumps in 6 years or do you want to apply elsewhere and start working towards a real education or furthermore are you even sure you really want to do Medicine? Myself and my friends ask ourselves this question every morning, is it worth all this self sacrifice while our other friends are buying houses, taking 'leave' traveling the world (i'm only 25 btw) while we're confined to 9am till sometimes 7.30pm with only a half hour break.

Take it from me, do whatever you can in your power to escape.
 
Thanks for the advice, but I don't think I can afford to leave. I don't exactly have $500k+ required for the USA. Other first world countries are extremely expensive for international students with no provision for student loans. How are you able to afford a UK university, @IMG69 ?
 
Well I worked all through undergrad while also working/living (~10 hours a week) in a first year hall of residence - so received a paycheck while also getting free accommodation, plus i've been working since I was 13-14~ every summer.

Look for scholarships or get talking to Universities you have in mind (sure the US might be a huge stretch) for example my University offers a 30% discount for hardship or you could potentially do something like I did which I just mentioned above.

P.s I don't think you can afford to stay, it's 6 years you won't ever get back and it's far to big of a risk unless there is a possibility of you working in Russia.
 
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