United states or New Zealand for Medical School

[JLTmsu]

Hi, i am an undergraduate at an American University. My goal is to go to medical school in the United states or New Zealand and then eventually end up practicing in New Zealand. I am a Citizen of the U.S and therefore med school will be much cheaper if i go here in the U.S as well as easier to get into. However i don't know how easy it is to get into a Residency program in New Zealand with an M.D. Would it be better for me to just go to Med school in New Zealand. Any advice helps.
Thanks

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[JLTmsu]

Hi Bashwell, thank you for responding. I am a junior who is about to take the MCAT and I am a citizen of the United States. I'm very focused on getting in but i know I've got to look at all the different possible routes i can take. When you say 'beyond" do you mean getting a job in NZ at all? Is it particularly difficult for me to become a dual citizen of NZ and the US if i were to live there for 5 years (med school).

 

[JLTmsu]

Sorry, JLTmsu! I haven't checked back in a while! But just to try to answer your questions...

For "beyond" I mean for residency and registrar or specialty training (e.g. like if you want to become a surgeon or whatever). Basically, if you aren't a NZ or Aussie PR (permanent resident) or citizen, then it'll be really tough to get an internship in NZ or Australia. Internships and RMO jobs and so forth are given to locals first, as far as I'm aware. Also, internships etc are given to people from a medical school in the same state, at least in Australia. So if you are from New South Wales, then NSW locals (i.e. PRs and citizens), who did high school in the state, and who did med school in the state, would be preferenced over interstate applicants like from Victoria or Queensland for example. That's how I understnad it at least.

I'm not sure how citizenship works in NZ? But for Australia as I understand it, it'd depend on what pathway you're applying for citizenship (e.g. via marriage, via a needed skill). I might be wrong and others can correct me, but I don't think an international student studying medicine without other arrangements like marriage to an Aussie citizen or a skill could get citizenship easily though, at least not until after graduation once you're a doctor. But then that again makes it hard to get an internship because you won't be a PR or citizen unfortunately. 🙁

No worries bashwell, I'm still in the juvenile stages of this process so theres no rush. I think you're right with a lot of the stuff you said, I've done a little bit of research on it and many sources are confirming what you're saying. It looks like its difficult to immigrate to NZ in the medical field regardless of what path you take. I guess they just want to be certain that you're really dedicated to living there. Anyways thank you for responding and for the help, i really appreciate it!

 

[Winged Scapula]

While you didn't ask, I wanted to point out that training outside of the US isn't automatically accepted here. That is, if you end up doing your residency in NZ but either change your mind or need to come back to the states (e.g., to take care of an elderly parent), you can't just expect that your Australian or NZ residency training will be accepted here. In many cases, you need to repeat part of or all of your training to work here as a physician. I know thats a long ways off, but you need to be informed about all the possible consequences of your actions.

 

[Leforte]

It is best to do your training where you want to practice.

There is a reciprocity with Australia and NZ in that qualifications transfer and there is an automatic indefinite visa for citizens between each country. There are many NZ trained doctors/specialists working here in Australia.

As pointed out - there can be challenges if you are trained in NZ/Aus and want to return to the USA. You may be ineligible to sit the Boards for your field and without BC/BE status, it can be extremely difficult to get a job in some fields. Likewise, if you trained in the USA and want to come to NZ/Aus, you would be assessed as a foreign trained specialist and have to find a position over here - which with increased numbers of junior doctors coming through is going to get increasingly difficult in the future. Opportunities which exist now may not exist in 7-10 years from now when you would be eligible to apply to come over here.

What, in particular, makes you want to practice in NZ? The location? The medical climate?

 

[JLTmsu]

Thats all very true, sorry i didn't get back to you right away, exams were happening. There are a number of reasons I want to go there, first of all i would like to say that i know it's not paradise, every system and country has their flaws and problems. So first of all i like the way their medical system is set up for physicians and anesthesiologists (.what i hope to be.), it appears to be less high passed and have shooter hours, i know the moneys less but i don't really care about that. Also the location, I love the outdoors and i would love to be close to the ocean and mountains. There are others reason that would take to a while to explain but basically thats the long and short of it. Thanks again for responding!