Zagreb English med program - need feedback from US/Canada/UK students here

[dreamdoctor7]

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Hi everyone,

The University of Zagreb in Croatia started an English medical program in 2003. UZMS' 6 year program incorporates basic science fundamentals and they do waive their entrance test requirements, depending on one's current qualifications.

It states in their website that many foreign students, including Canadians and Americans are also in this English medium program. Please refer to http://mse.mef.hr/link1.php?grupa=03060000

Problem is , I want to do my residency and practice anywhere in USA🙂.

So, I called up Miss Pat Park at the California Medical Board (CMB), to find out if UZMS' English Medical program is accredited by them. Currently, ONLY the CROATION program is accredited but their ENGLISH program is not yet🙁. Pat said that they havent submitted any forms yet for accredition of their English program. She also said that if a degree is not accredited by the California Medical Board, even if the student passes USMLE, the student will not be able to land a residency slot in California🙁.

By the way, UZMS is listed in WHO, IIME & IMED directories - so that's good.🙂

I need to know :

1) Is there anyone ( especially Americans or Canadians) at UZMS doing the English program? I really need your honest feedback to this program.
i.e.
a) How are the Professors & teaching quality at UZMS English medium medical program?
b) what is the attrition rate for foreign students?
c) Are exams given as viva voce (orals) only ?
d) Are subjects graded as pass or fail ? Or indicated as A,B,C,etc?
e) Does UZMS allow students in their clinical years ( 4th - 6th year ) to really work with patients or just take down patient history?


2) Does UK and Canada recognize the UZMS English medium program?


3) Which USA body can I check with, to find out if UZMS English med degree is accredited in other states of the USA?


4) How can a university gain accredition for their English med program in the US and Canada? ie. procedures?


Appreciate your feedback.🙂

 

[HrvatskiDoktor]

Hi everyone,

The University of Zagreb in Croatia started an English medical program in 2003. UZMS' 6 year program incorporates basic science fundamentals and they do waive their entrance test requirements, depending on one's current qualifications.

It states in their website that many foreign students, including Canadians and Americans are also in this English medium program. Please refer to http://mse.mef.hr/link1.php?grupa=03060000

Problem is , I want to do my residency and practice anywhere in USA🙂.

So, I called up Miss Pat Park at the California Medical Board (CMB), to find out if UZMS' English Medical program is accredited by them. Currently, ONLY the CROATION program is accredited but their ENGLISH program is not yet🙁. Pat said that they havent submitted any forms yet for accredition of their English program. She also said that if a degree is not accredited by the California Medical Board, even if the student passes USMLE, the student will not be able to land a residency slot in California🙁.

By the way, UZMS is listed in WHO, IIME & IMED directories - so that's good.🙂

I need to know :

1) Is there anyone ( especially Americans or Canadians) at UZMS doing the English program? I really need your honest feedback to this program.
i.e.
a) How are the Professors & teaching quality at UZMS English medium medical program?
b) what is the attrition rate for foreign students?
c) Are exams given as viva voce (orals) only ?
d) Are subjects graded as pass or fail ? Or indicated as A,B,C,etc?
e) Does UZMS allow students in their clinical years ( 4th - 6th year ) to really work with patients or just take down patient history?


2) Does UK and Canada recognize the UZMS English medium program?


3) Which USA body can I check with, to find out if UZMS English med degree is accredited in other states of the USA?


4) How can a university gain accredition for their English med program in the US and Canada? ie. procedures?


Appreciate your feedback.🙂

DreamDoctor 7

I don't know how to answer all of your questions, but I wanted to help you out. I have been to the school, visited there one day while I was living in Croatia, applied, was accepted and decided very last minute not to go. There were many factors that made me change my mind but one of the primary was that I couldn't get straight answers from the admissions office about me "testing" out of anatomy and the other being Financial aid in America.

I did have some communication with a Canadian who said that it is accredited there.

I'm happy to answer more questions/share my experience/knowledge so so send me a message if you want to hear more. I need to get working on my secondaries.

HD

 

[dreamdoctor7]

Dear Hrvatski Doktor

I am sooo thankful I got a reply from you. I was really waiting for a kind soul to give me some feedback about UZMS or at least someone who has been there.

Are you from USA? Where are you studying now? Maybe the admissions office at UZMS could not give you much info since the program only started in 2003. But then, we as students really do need to know as much as possible, in order to make a decision on where we want to practice.

Could you give me the contact person in Canada so I can ask further questions on canadian recognition?

If you dont mind, can you email to [email protected] so I know your email address and can ask you some more questions? I really need to make a decision in my life and it is quite distressing to do so without much info.

I hope to hear from you soon. Thanks so much...

DreamD7

 

[HM3FMF]

On their website, UZMS has now posted that they are approved for Canadian medical school loans. (Not sure how that plays in with licensing, but it looks promising).

On another medical school forum, a British student in the UZMS English program has listed her pros-and-cons list about studying there, it's well worth a peek. S/he seems happy there, overall. I don't think it is appropriate for me to link directly to that site, but you can find it at valuemd dot com. The British student posts under the name "msucby." I am interested in finding out more about UZMS, myself. This is what I have learned so far, based on your questions:

1) Is there anyone ( especially Americans or Canadians) at UZMS doing the English program?
Yes.

a) How are the Professors & teaching quality at UZMS English medium medical program?
Some are great, and some aren't. Just like in the US, from my experience.

b) what is the attrition rate for foreign students?
It is a relatively new program, and I haven't seen info on this.

c) Are exams given as viva voce (orals) only ?
No. Most are paper exams, although there are exceptions.

d) Are subjects graded as pass or fail ? Or indicated as A,B,C,etc?
Grading is 1-5, with 5 as the highest grade.

e) Does UZMS allow students in their clinical years ( 4th - 6th year ) to really work with patients or just take down patient history?
I don't know!

2) Does UK and Canada recognize the UZMS English medium program?
Canada seems to. The UK does, but not as an official EU partner. The nice thing for British students is that Croatia is expected to join the EU in 2009, and they will have licensing rights throughout the Union.

3) Which USA body can I check with, to find out if UZMS English med degree is accredited in other states of the USA?
The only two states that do it that way (it's not accreditation, although I know what you mean), as far as I know, are CA and NY. UZMS is not yet CA approved. Not a huge deal to me, as I don't have plans to live in CA... although it would be nice. I am not sure about NY.

4) How can a university gain accredition for their English med program in the US and Canada? ie. procedures?
They have to apply for it, and it takes a while for approval. I don't know what the procedure is, but I hope UZMS does it soon.

That's what I've got so far -- also do check out what msucby has to say about UZMS on that other site. It's helpful.

You may also want to note that Jagiellonian University, in Krakow, Poland, HAS received California approval for their English language medical program.