Where to study

[wanderingtom]

Dear others,
I have been researching studying medicine overseas. My question is does anyone have any advice. The two places that have stood out are Turkey and Hungary or the Czech Republic. I would like to try living in a completely different culture as a personal development project. What doesn't matter is where I can practice afterwards. I am not looking to spend the least amount of money or simply come up with a degree. Nor do I mind if it is a six year program as long as the standard of teaching is rigorous. I recently quit school for the second time, not for marks or educational difficulties. I am taking a year off to work on a farm overseas. So I am looking to start in the fall of 2006. I am confident that I could pass an entrance exam. Finally, I have a gut feeling that I would like to study medicine with local people; if that means taking a year to learn the language first, so be it. Thanks for bearing with me whether you have something to say or not
Sincerely,
tom

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[neilc]

to get into a native language program would take more than 1 year of language study, IMHO.

the czech republic is a nice place. i would not say it is a completely different culture, however. it is pretty western, and every time i get back here it is more and more like the states. in fact, it is very much like living in a big city at home, just with older buildings and a different language.

the school is difficult, but medicine in general will be pretty similar everywhere. 90% of the work is done by you, so a "rigorous" program will be pretty much any program. if you study in the english language program, you will be surrounded by many different nationalities, which is cool. the czech students are a good group, and if you make the effort you can make some good friends in both programs.

to me, it sounds like the actual med school you attend is secondary to your true, personal goals. so, the solution would seem to be to figure where you want to live, and go to school there. simple.

good luck.

 

[wanderingtom]

Thank you. I have read a good deal of your stuff and it has been very insightful. I read about Charles a long time ago when I started looking into this and it still seems like a good place.
I am off to Vienna, Prague, through Hungary and then to Istanbul in March. I think this will help me get a sense of things. When you say "more and more like the states" do you mean culturally. Out of interest how many of the students in your class are north american. I found a break down of nationalities at Sveged but have been unable elsewhere.
Finally, have you ever encountered someone on these forums who studies or studied in Turkey. Thank you so much for your time.

 

[PsychMD]

See http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=129345

 

[neilc]

in my class it is about 10% north american, with the majority of the rest from england. there are a few swedes and greeks as well. however, the more recent classes have large numbers of germans and botswanans. the north american contingency is going up as well, but still a small percentage overall.

i don't know anyone that studies or studied in turkey

 

[Miklos]

I found a break down of nationalities at Sveged but have been unable elsewhere.

For a breakdown at Semmelweis, see http://www.valuemd.com/ftopic14695.html

For a breakdown at Debrecen see http://www.ud-mhsc.org/General/Distribution_of_students.html