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- Apr 19, 2018
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Hi fellow students! As title suggests I am actually not US based as I am a MD student at the International Medical School in Italy. I don't want to talk about studying abroad (which is why I didn't post in the forum dedicated to international students...), but rather I want to ask for your advice.
From the beginning - I always wanted the best possible education, which is a reason why after my high school in Poland I left for the UK where I completed my BSc in Medical & Biological Sciences. I was planning on applying for Graduate Medicine programme (which is 4 years so similar to the US system), however Brexit forced me to change my plans as tuition fee loan would be no longer available to me. Considering my financial situation, I could either go back to Poland and study medicine in Polish (which I didn't want to do), or move to Italy and enter newly opened English programme in Medicine&Surgery. It was recommended to me by a number of people (so it wasn't a random decision), I actually attended the lecture before even applying to see the level of education by myself. Everything seemed pretty good. I applied, I sat the entrance exam and currently I am a first year MD student.
Past 7 months have been nothing but a continuous disappointment. Some lecturers speak very poor English, some don't seem to be prepared to teach the module, some are simply rude and unhelpful. The programme doesn't seem to be very demanding (or rather demanding in a way which only requires remembering without understanding the subject), everything is purely theoretical and book-based. On the other hand, there are students who don't seem to care about the low quality of teaching. Out of a 100 people I am one making official complaints to the lecturers (for instance for showing us youtube kenhub videos on anatomy as an "anatomy lecture" and many, many others). I have been constantly depressed because of the environment. I feel like I am stuck and if I simply follow the medical curriculum here, there is no way on Earth I will make a good doctor... which obviously limits my chances to apply for residency programmes (in Europe).
I know the US has good medical education (you're lucky guys!) and hence I think you will be able to give me some advice. I was wondering whether you could recommend any materials which could help me to fill in the gaps. How can I assess myself? Do you think USMLE would be a good idea? Are there any other studying resources (ideally for free...) you could recommend? Or are there any open lectures that are worth listening to? What resources would you recommend to improve the clinical skills (I know I need to be in clinic to learn.....but I wouldn't count on quality teaching during rotations).
I'm aware that there are all sorts of materials on the internet but its easy when you know what you want to know. It's very difficult to search for quality resources without any "structured programme" (I hope you can understand my point). I know this is not ideal, I know it will be hard to catch up by myself but I think the least I can do is try.
I would be more than grateful for any advices.
Cheers xx
From the beginning - I always wanted the best possible education, which is a reason why after my high school in Poland I left for the UK where I completed my BSc in Medical & Biological Sciences. I was planning on applying for Graduate Medicine programme (which is 4 years so similar to the US system), however Brexit forced me to change my plans as tuition fee loan would be no longer available to me. Considering my financial situation, I could either go back to Poland and study medicine in Polish (which I didn't want to do), or move to Italy and enter newly opened English programme in Medicine&Surgery. It was recommended to me by a number of people (so it wasn't a random decision), I actually attended the lecture before even applying to see the level of education by myself. Everything seemed pretty good. I applied, I sat the entrance exam and currently I am a first year MD student.
Past 7 months have been nothing but a continuous disappointment. Some lecturers speak very poor English, some don't seem to be prepared to teach the module, some are simply rude and unhelpful. The programme doesn't seem to be very demanding (or rather demanding in a way which only requires remembering without understanding the subject), everything is purely theoretical and book-based. On the other hand, there are students who don't seem to care about the low quality of teaching. Out of a 100 people I am one making official complaints to the lecturers (for instance for showing us youtube kenhub videos on anatomy as an "anatomy lecture" and many, many others). I have been constantly depressed because of the environment. I feel like I am stuck and if I simply follow the medical curriculum here, there is no way on Earth I will make a good doctor... which obviously limits my chances to apply for residency programmes (in Europe).
I know the US has good medical education (you're lucky guys!) and hence I think you will be able to give me some advice. I was wondering whether you could recommend any materials which could help me to fill in the gaps. How can I assess myself? Do you think USMLE would be a good idea? Are there any other studying resources (ideally for free...) you could recommend? Or are there any open lectures that are worth listening to? What resources would you recommend to improve the clinical skills (I know I need to be in clinic to learn.....but I wouldn't count on quality teaching during rotations).
I'm aware that there are all sorts of materials on the internet but its easy when you know what you want to know. It's very difficult to search for quality resources without any "structured programme" (I hope you can understand my point). I know this is not ideal, I know it will be hard to catch up by myself but I think the least I can do is try.
I would be more than grateful for any advices.
Cheers xx