FMGP8P said:
My english co-worker told me that the application process to get into a UK med school is much easier than in the United States.
Not sure I'd agree with that. I've studied for four years at universities in both countries. Both systems are so entirely different that you cannot compare them very easily.
FMGP8P said:
Apparently, there are no interviews and the grades and test scores determines which schools you can get into.
From high school, there are generally no interviews (at least, in Scotland). However, the entrance exams are INSANELY difficult and the selection criteria is less subjective than the American medical school system which I found to be equallly thorough, but frighteningly arbitrary at some schools. British schools care more about grades and, interestingly, do not employ affirmitive action. I found the British university entrance exams harder than most exams I took at a British university.
To gain entry into medicine from high school in Scotland, you generally need AT LEAST AAABB in five "Scottish Higher" exams (chem/biol or phys/math/English and a language or social science or humanities subject) and these assess work over an entire year. Just to let you know how difficult they are: each exam is about five hours long and you '
only' need >70% for an 'A'....and that would be a C or less in many American universities. Also, unlike the SAT, ACT, or MCAT, it REALLY hurts you if you take the exam a second time - schools REALLLY care about how you do on your "first sitting" so, if you have a bad day, you're in BIG trouble. In England and Wales and parts of Ireland, applicants generally take three "A Level" subjects (assesses material over TWO years and in more depth than Scottish entrance exams). Most applicants need at least AAB in those exams to be eligible. A levels are probably as in-depth as 1st-2nd year subjects in an average American undergraduate school.
Several British universities are realizing that it's difficult for a person to know for sure that they want to be a doctor at the age of 16 or 17 and they are now opening up medical school places for people with undergraduate degrees. There is also an acute doctor shortage right now and this was thought to help alleviate the problem. Many British medical schools are now shortening their medical degree from 5 years to 4 years for graduates and some are even making the applicants take an entrance exam called the GAMSAT (not quite as hard or in-depth as the MCAT, but the structure is similar). I predict that British Universities will become more and more like the U.S. and Canada; that is, you will need an undergraduate degree before applying to medical school. The bottom line is this: two very different systems, two very different methods of selection for medical school, yet two successful systems for delivering medical care - each with their own strengths and weaknesses.
