British medical degrees are, for the most part, five-year undergraduate degrees which begin after high school. A few British medical schools have been accepting North Americans over the past few years because they pay so much money (unlike locals who essentially study for a token sum). A North American will find it slightly easier to gain admission than a local, but it is still difficult.
The telling issue will be where your "friend" wants to practice medicine. If he is able to secure entry into an American medical school, it's just foolish to go overseas if his intent is to practice in the U.S. As of last year, the British government has placed a freeze on aspiring resident physician slots if the physician does not have an EU passport - even if they graduated from a British medical school. In addition, a British degree trains you to deliver healthcare in Britain, and a lot of the minutia on the USMLE is not taught there. He'll also be in the line behind U.S. osteopathic and allopathic graduates for a residency position if he wants to come back to the U.S. Unless he is independently wealthy and faces little repercussions if things go awry, with an MCAT score of 35, try to talk him out of going overseas.
