What is a European medical degree worth in the US?

[Yazo]

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For example, if I finished medical school in Poland and I wasn't able to match for a residency, would this be equivalent to a master's or bachelor's degree?

Thanks.

 

[deleted407021]

I don't know if it's meaningful to think about degrees that way ... It would be the equivalent of a medical degree, in Poland.

If you want to practice medicine in the US, you need to go to medical school in the US.

 

[kwu]

If you are going to practice in the US it's best to study in the US. Moreover, I don't think you will be able to practice here if you don't have any residency.

 

[Law2Doc]

For example, if I finished medical school in Poland and I wasn't able to match for a residency, would this be equivalent to a master's or bachelor's degree?

Thanks.

A foreign medical degree without a license or residency is worth about what you paid for the frame.

 

[JustAPhD]

A foreign medical degree without a license or residency is worth about what you paid for the frame.

Which is kind of funny because you could say the same about many bachelors degrees from the US.

 

[Cookie04]

I don't know if it's meaningful to think about degrees that way ... It would be the equivalent of a medical degree, in Poland.

If you want to practice medicine in the US, you need to go to medical school in the US.

I don't think that is entirely true. I have met about 5-6 doctors who went to med school in Poland, Ireland, and Mexico and they are legally practicing in the US, but maybe they did a residency in the US or some additional US training.

 

[deleted407021]

I don't think that is entirely true. I have met about 5-6 doctors who went to med school in Poland, Ireland, and Mexico and they are legally practicing in the US, but maybe they did a residency in the US or some additional US training.

They would have to be licensed in the US and -- I believe, you can double check -- they would have had to also complete a US accredited residency.

 

[Law2Doc]

They would have to be licensed in the US and -- I believe, you can double check -- they would have had to also complete a US accredited residency.

To get a license in the US in most states, with a foreign degree, you need to pass steps 1-3 of the USMLE and do at least two years of an ACGME approved residency program. Only 40% of non US schooled applicants find US residency slots, fewer from many less accepted locales, so it's just a bad route to try to become a doctor in the states.

 

[bc65]

I think what OP is asking is: what would the value of a foreign medical degree be outside of the practice of medicine.

OP, if that's what you're asking, I don't think it would be worth much. Ask yourself what a US MD degree is worth without a residency. The answer is, not all that much. You could use it to help you get a job teaching in high school, or maybe as an instructor in a college, but you could get those jobs with a bachelors degree. You might get a job in industry, but an MD from a US school with no significant additional scientific background, you're not that attractive to industry. If that MD is from Poland, it will be worth even less.

If you went to medical school in Poland straight from high school, then your degree might be worth even less than a bachelor's degree here. I'm not sure how anyone would view it. A regular employer might see you as over-educated for a regular job, so it might be worth less than nothing.

 

[7331poas]

I think what OP is asking is: what would the value of a foreign medical degree be outside of the practice of medicine.

OP, if that's what you're asking, I don't think it would be worth much. Ask yourself what a US MD degree is worth without a residency. The answer is, not all that much. You could use it to help you get a job teaching in high school, or maybe as an instructor in a college, but you could get those jobs with a bachelors degree. You might get a job in industry, but an MD from a US school with no significant additional scientific background, you're not that attractive to industry. If that MD is from Poland, it will be worth even less.

If you went to medical school in Poland straight from high school, then your degree might be worth even less than a bachelor's degree here. I'm not sure how anyone would view it. A regular employer might see you as over-educated for a regular job, so it might be worth less than nothing.

So it's worth a bachelors?

 

[Law2Doc]

So it's worth a bachelors?

It's not. No employer is going to hire you based on this. It's worth what the frame is worth. I wasn't kidding .

 

[bc65]

So it's worth a bachelors?

I don't know.

My personal opinion is that it's probably worth nothing. I don't think that a job that requires a bachelors would consider a foreign medical degree as useful for their purposes. In hospitals where I have worked, there are doctors with foreign degrees working as surgical techs. These are jobs that require high school diplomas and then a vocational course. So based on what I have seen, a foreign MD without licensing here is worth a high school diploma.

 

[Law2Doc]

These paths are simply high risk, low yield paths to get into medicine. A lottery ticket, nothing more. It should be no more than a last ditch attempt to get into med school, at best. You don't get a fallback job by doing this.

 

[eteshoe]

A foreign medical degree without a license or residency is worth about what you paid for the frame.

I'm not gonna lie - some of these bookstores charge an arm and a leg for those frames.

 

[7331poas]

It's not. No employer is going to hire you based on this. It's worth what the frame is worth. I wasn't kidding .

I dont know enough to really dispute it, but it doesnt make logical sense that a US biology BA would be worth more than a foreign MD, especially in the EU continent. If not just for the fact that a biology degree is equally worthless. Even if the MD didnt give the same skills, the employer could still parade around an MD would cant practice.

 

[Law2Doc]

I dont know enough to really dispute it, but it doesnt make logical sense that a US biology BA would be worth more than a foreign MD, especially in the EU continent. If not just for the fact that a biology degree is equally worthless. Even if the MD didnt give the same skills, the employer could still parade around an MD would cant practice.

We aren't saying it's not worth more IN THE EU CONTINENT. We are saying it's worthless in the US. No employer wants to "parade around" a foreign degree, unless a customer somehow will pay more. And they won't. I supposed there are some high school educated fast food managers who might like the idea that they have a "doctor" mopping their floor though. But I would much rather have a bachelors in bio from the worst US school than a foreign medical degree with no residency.

 

[Goro]

You might be able to get a post-doc or research tech position with it more easily than a newly minted BA/BS. I've met plenty of foreign trained MDs who ended up in that career path. So, probably closer to an MS.

For example, if I finished medical school in Poland and I wasn't able to match for a residency, would this be equivalent to a master's or bachelor's degree?

Thanks.

 

[Law2Doc]

You might be able to get a post-doc or research tech position with it more easily than a newly minted BA/BS. I've met plenty of foreign trained MDs who ended up in that career path. So, probably closer to an MS.

People also seem to land gigs driving cabs or for uber with this background as well.

 

[Goro]

You made me double over my keyboard in laughter on this one!!!

🤣

People also seem to land gigs driving cabs or for uber with this background as well.

 

[Seth Joo]

For example, if I finished medical school in Poland and I wasn't able to match for a residency, would this be equivalent to a master's or bachelor's degree?

Thanks.

Assuming you finish the degree and pass your boards, your odds are 50 percent or maybe a bit less of getting a residency. Medical school in Europe and most other developed countries is similar to undergraduate study so I would say its comparable to a Bachelor's degree. The foreign graduates that tend to be looked upon favorably by residency programs usually come from Ireland and the UK, but most of them were not Americans studying in British and Irish medical schools, they were citizens of their countries studying at their respective medical schools who decided to migrate to the US.

 

[bc65]

Medical school in Europe and most other developed countries is similar to undergraduate study so I would say its comparable to a Bachelor's degree

You're missing the point. It's not what the education is equivalent to. The question is, what job will it get you in the US, if you don't pass the step exams.

So, you might get a low level research job, as Goro noted. Otherwise, no one will hire you. Seriously, if you were a manager at McDonalds, would you hire someone who came in with an MD degree on their resume? It's just weird. You don't want them around.

You can't be a nurse without going to nursing school. You can't even be a nurses aid without taking a course. So all the medical jobs are out.

Could you teach high school with that degree? No, because it's not a bachelors and I don't think schools would want to deal with you. So for most jobs, it's useless, or a big negative. Hence, it's the equivalent of a high school degree. Maybe less, because most employers would be reluctant to have someone over-educated or weirdly educated around.

 

[whatever5]

I think it would be equivalent to the MD, and like the US MD, you would need to complete Step I-III and apply for residency in the US in order to become licensed. This is difficult to do for international graduates, though more realistic if you are interested in something like rural family medicine.

 

[Danbo1957]

As a reminder: an MD is a professional degree, not an academic degree (there are many foreign medical school grads getting residencies in the USA in all specialties). A foreign medical degree without a USA residency pretty much excludes one from direct clinical work unless licensed for a specific job description (with relevant training), or working under a licensed medical physician.

 

[Law2Doc]

I think it would be equivalent to the MD, and like the US MD, you would need to complete Step I-III and apply for residency in the US in order to become licensed. This is difficult to do for international graduates, though more realistic if you are interested in something like rural family medicine.

You are missing the OPs question. He is asking what it's worth if he CANT get a residency or license. Which is squat.

 

[whatever5]

You are missing the OPs question. He is asking what it's worth if he CANT get a residency or license. Which is squat.

Ahh I misunderstood. I thought he meant if he was not able to achieve licensing in Poland.

 

[LizzyM]

I know of at least 2 Americans with medical degrees from Poland. They work as low level research assistants in med schools. They handle paperwork, assist with manuscripts, maybe crunch some numbers or create tables and figures for papers and grant proposals. Equivalent to a BS or maybe a MS from the States.

 

[bc65]

I know of at least 2 Americans with medical degrees from Poland. They work as low level research assistants in med schools. They handle paperwork, assist with manuscripts, maybe crunch some numbers or create tables and figures for papers and grant proposals. Equivalent to a BS or maybe a MS from the States.

A lab I worked in also had two foreign MD s working in the lab, from Syria, although I don't know if their jobs required any degree at all. I suspect that all of those guys are the exceptions. I don't think there are a lot of those jobs available. I certainly wouldn't count on using that degree as a steppingstone to a successful career.

 

[alomoma]

My dad is an FMG. After my family moved here, he bounced around a while doing tech/RN stuff in a few different before he took the USMLE, did his residency, and passed his board exams. He just started work as a licensed physician!

However... I would definitely NOT recommend that route. It took nearly a decade before he even went back to study for the USMLE, and he took around 3 years to study for just Step 1 (he worked full-time as a nurse at the same time -- raising a family isn't easy!) It was also definitely tougher for him to get his residency, because of his foreign (less trusted I suppose) degree as well as his age. Obviously the best options are 1) US MD and 2) US DO if your long-term plans are to work in the United States.

I thought I'd just provide a n=1 exception... it definitely is possible to work as a physician in the US with a foreign medical degree, but it requires much, much more work and lowered expectations as far as residency matching goes.

 

[LizzyM]

Immigrants who earn their medical degrees before immigrating are a different breed than Americans who go abroad for med school and then come back.

 

[eteshoe]

Immigrants who earn their medical degrees before immigrating are a different breed than Americans who go abroad for med school and then come back.

Definitely can attest to this. I have a few aunts and uncles that did this - man talk about determination.

 

[Seth Joo]

You are missing the OPs question. He is asking what it's worth if he CANT get a residency or license. Which is squat.

That is true, without a residency a medical degree is worthless, many foreign MDs do wind up working as lab assistants or doing other types of jobs.

 

[EventualMD]

Just last night i talked to someone whose friend was going to med school abroad. the reason? caught cheating here.

I know of current US MD students that cheated in school but never got caught.

 

[deleted718115]

Medical school in Europe and most other developed countries is similar to undergraduate study so I would say its comparable to a Bachelor's degree.

This is not true. It is true that their medical school is only 6 years long, and students come straight from high school. But high school students in those countries are no less knowledgeable than American ones with bachelor degrees. They ALL have had calculus (and even higher math), organic chem and higher-level physics (than what is required of premeds in the US) going into med school.

 

[gyngyn]

This is not true. It is true that their medical school is only 6 years long, and students come straight from high school. But high school students in those countries are no less knowledgeable than American ones with bachelor degrees. They ALL have had calculus (and even higher math), organic chem and higher-level physics (than what is required of premeds in the US) going into med school.

I'm not sure what this has to do with the value of a European medical degree in the US.
Clarify, please?

 

[getdown]

I know of a few neuro monitoring techs who had been MDs from foreign countries prior to coming to the US. They couldn't really overcome the STEPs and residency again so went the neuromonitoring route since they wanted to remain in the medical field.