What do you think???

[bossman1818]

Well, its crunch time, tomorrow I send in my application, with either a yes or a no to my med school acceptance at UCD. I have come to the conclusion that UCD is an excellent medical school with a good reputation in the States, hense, nor worry about residency. However, one thing still haunts me. I am a 19 year old, fresh out of high school (finishing first year of my degree) living at home in luxury. The hardest thing I will find is 1) Will I like living away from friends and familiy, 2) will I like Dublin 3) Will living from home, and making that adjustment, affect my marks
So You see, theres a lot more to studying medicine from home besides school rep and residency that is an issue here, theres many sociological factors as well. In the end, I probably will accept, because it is an experience and chance of a lifetime.... time will tell. What do you think?

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[leorl]

1) Friends or family - that's a tough one. Yes, you'll probably miss them, but you'll make so many other friends. It's really a small world. Your parents are only phone call or email away, Dublin is only 6-7 hour plane flight from the east coast. You're the one who sought out the international experience in the first place, so somehow you knew you'd be able to handle it. there are a LOT of north americans in Dublin, more than you probably think.

2) You will LOVE Dublin. Canada is a more "european" country than America is, so you'll find that it probably suits you quite well. It's such a lively city...and the Irish are hilarious people.

3) guess what? 1st and 2nd year grades (at least at UCD and TCD) do not count. It's pass/fail. However, I will have to say that it is a lot easier to fail a course there than it is in our education system (where it's kinda hard to fail unless you completely skipped every class and didn't do any work). You'll have to work to pass the class, but nothing that you won't be able to handle. Marks don't count.

You're right. It's an experience of a lifetime. It'll be one of the most incredible things you'll ever do.

Congrats again!!!

 

[Winged Scapula]

leorl has made some excellent points and I agree that you'll get an excellent education and lifetime experience at UCD. I wouldn't go so far as to say "no worry about residency" because even despite the reputation, you are still an IMG and a non-US citizen (assuming you plan to seek US residency given the limitations placed on Canadians trained abroad).

But I gotta wonder - why are you taking the step to apply abroad at the young age of 19 without having even tried to get into a US or Canadian medical school. What's the rush?

 

[Telluride]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by leorl:
•

2) You will LOVE Dublin. Canada is a more "european" country than America is, so you'll find that it probably suits you quite well. It's such a lively city...and the Irish are hilarious people.

•••••Or you may NOT LOVE Dublin. Don't choose a school cause of the city in which it is located. I know many people who hate living in Dublin, but love living in Ireland.

 

[johnthestreak]

i'm sorry, but i'm late to this post, what school are you attending in Dublin?

 

[leorl]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by Telluride:
• •••quote:•••Originally posted by leorl:
•

2) You will LOVE Dublin. Canada is a more "european" country than America is, so you'll find that it probably suits you quite well. It's such a lively city...and the Irish are hilarious people.

•••••Or you may NOT LOVE Dublin. Don't choose a school cause of the city in which it is located. I know many people who hate living in Dublin, but love living in Ireland.•••••Oh, I should have clarified. I've corresponded via private email with bossman, and judging from a glimpse of his personality that I've gotten to see, I think he's gonna love Dublin . Not saying that everyone will but I actually haven't met anyone who doesn't love the city except for non-English speakers (i.e. other europeans) and possibly those of races which are foreign to Dublin. Dublin is the most cosmopolitan and largest of the Irish cities, even the 2nd largest city (I think Galway) is much smaller and relaxed in comparison.

Not saying people are racist there, but an influx of large numbers of foreigners has only happened within the last 10 years which is very sudden, so it's taking a little while for them to catch up and get used to it .

 

[Telluride]

Ah, thanks for the clarification! I don't want to get off topic, so I'll keep from debating the quality of Dublin. Suffice it to say that I have classmates here in Dublin who have been attacked in racially motivated incidents...

 

[leorl]

Oh, am so sorry. that's unfortunate. It was definitely rather hard to get used to the fact that people treated me coldly at first, not because they were being mean or outwardly racist but because they thought I couldn't speak English. And it's very strange for them to see non-whites interacting with white people. I'm Asian, and a really tall one at that, so the number of gawks I got was unnerving. People handled it best when I was in Dublin, but elsewhere in the country I was so out of place and people often acted like "What the heck is SHE doing here?" When I went to Waterford, I actually had this old lady stop me and say, "Your people are a wonderful compilation of people..." whatever the heck that was supposed to mean, and then I think she mumbled some referency to WWII. And when some guys talked to me at parties or clubs, they were like, "Gee, that's funny...well you LOOK asian!!" The whole mix of races that we've gotten used to in NA definitely hasn't happened there yet, but it's getting better.

Some of my own teammates actually wouldn't talk to me or introduce themselves to me because they thought I couldn't speak English, but once they realized I could, and that I was American, they warmed up quite a bit. And I would never go to a pub or club without my irish friends (or other american/european) friends there.

I also remember talking to Africans there. They hated it. Although some managed to befriend native Irish people, they still felt uncomfortable in bars and clubs. I didn't ever see outward racism, but it was more in the form of non-inclusion. But on the other hand, a couple became fully integrated into their society and had no problem with the culture. One of my best friends attended TCD and she was half-Jamaican, half-anglo of Galway descent, although she lived most her life in London. She said SHE got a lot of stares in her Irish dancing troupe . All this of course being much more complicated and subtle...my Irish friends had no idea that we picked these observations out of their culture until we had a lengthy discussion (over wine) one day. And afterwards, they started observing how other Irish reacted to us upon first impression, and they were amazed. It was sooo funny the first time my friend saw this old lady do a double take complete with jaw drop at the tall asian twins who spoke fluent English. She mimicked the old lady for weeks!