I'm just finishing up my first year at Cornell, and I also considered (and sometimes still consider) going to medical school in Israel (at Ben Gurion in particular, but also Sackler and Technion). The down-side to this is that your residency will *likely* not be as nice as it would have been had you gone to school in the states. In other words, if you're going for a specialty that's somewhat competitive, like EM or general surgery, you may get a spot, but it might be at an "eh" program in the middle of nowhere. Or you might not get a spot at all. If you're interested in IM, peds, FP, pscyh - there are enough of those to go around, but again, you may end up in a location you don't want or a program that isn't so great.
That being said, however, if living in Israel and all of the wonderful things that come with it (more experience with the culture, learning Hebrew better, etc), outweighs for you the possibility of landing a residency that you may not be thrilled with, then I say go for it. In the end, you will have an MD, and you will complete a residency. Once all of that's done, you'll be working just like every other doctor, and all the rest won't really matter. I guess it comes down to a personal choice. The majority of your replies if you posted on the allopathic forum would have been negative towards choosing Sackler, but you have to remember that their mindset is all about getting a good speicalty and practicing in the US. If you really love Israel and think you might want to move there at some point, going to medical school there in order to become proficient with the language, etc., is actually a wise decision.
There is, however, another option. After much deliberation about staying/transferring, i've decided that this is the best decision for me. First, i'm spending this summer (between MS1 and MS2) in Jerusalem working with MDA as an EMT, and also shadowing at the Hadassah ER. Second, i'm taking a year off between MS2 and MS3 to go back to Israel, study Hebrew, do more ambulance stuff, do some research at Hadassah (will have to work this out), and maybe Marva (have you heard of it? sounds cool). Then fourth year i'll go back for a 2 month EM rotation at Hadassah. So, in this way, I stay at Cornell, thus giving myself better options for a good residency when I get out (i'd like to do EM, which isn't super-competitive, but I want a good location), but also enough time in Israel to both make myself happy and to prepare myself for eventually moving there (i'd LOVE to be a doctor for the IDF for a few years).
Anyway, this has turned into a really long post! Basically, if you love Israel, there is nothing wrong with not choosing the "standard" path in medical school. If you hate NY, you'll be miserable here (i'm also not a huge fan AT ALL, but you spend so much time studying that you hardly notice it; plus there are tons of sports around, so it keeps you busy and away from the traffic). However, know that it will be a rockier road for you as an FMG. That being said, there are other options - such as what i'm doing, which let you compromise between the two.
Best of luck, whatever you decide. If you have any questions for me, i'll do my best to answer them. In the end, though, you really have to just go with your gut. Trust me on this one.
Quid
