Aga Khan University

<p>Also, I was considering AKU, but I haven't got the money</p>

<p>Yea, I want to apply to KE or AKU but everyone here is saying that it will only ruin your chances of coming to America and becoming a surgeon (my choice) or a first-rate doctor. I want to try the system over there but then I don't want to put my future in jeapordy. </p>

<p>One of my friends is taking the USMLE to come here to America. He finished from KE and in my opinion is a great person as well as doctor. I even visited KE several times and while their campus and funds aren't tremendous people learn A LOT over there. Plus the nearby Mayo Hospital is (I think) the biggest in Pakistan where a variety of cases are found.</p>

<p>It is VERY HOT though.</p>

<p>I heard that pretty much everyone gets into the Pakistani schools from here is who is willing to pay. I dont know if it's true but from what I've seen it's pretty much those kids who aren't good enough to go to a good American school that go to Pakistan.</p>

<p>Kiran, what are those several reasons to not go to Pakistan?</p>

<p>What are the admissions criteria for selecting its students? GPA, MCAT score etc, is it just like we have here in the US?</p>

<p>I dont want to be offensive but you know the crisis. It is just not safe, to me personally I would rather be with my own people and feel much more secure. I personally think that indian school are much more reputed and better. </p>

<p>Well for admissions to Kasturba Medical college, u will need sats, AP classes etc for high school but if u are already in college it wont be very difficult like 80% in. usually 80 students from USA apply and about 60 are given admission. Also try Ramachandra medical college in Madras, last year two students went to harvard for internship from there. In india it is expensive since u are a NRI. Those colleges I metioned are one of the best are extremely difficult for regular admissions but it should be easier for u. </p>

<p>Let me know if u want to know more. Basically u have to look into private schools becuase goverment schools like AIIMS, JIPMER are goverment. </p>

<p>Let me know if u need anything else</p>

<p>I have hired Interns from both Indian & Pakistani med schools. I've then worked with them closely for 1-3 years (day and night) and to tell you the truth, one is as good as the other.
In fact, I have worked with (from my med student levels to the year I was Chief Resident) young physicians from the US, Canada, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Columbia, Argentina, UK, France, Poland, Spain, Russia, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Egypt, Israel, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Australia, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria (ok....this is getting boring...basically, from everywhere!).</p>

<p>What's my point? In every case, the determining factor was the intelligence, dedication and compassion of the individual. All of the recognized schools prepare potentially good doctors. It's what one makes of their education that matters.</p>

<p>Very well stated :)</p>

<p>what kind of stats are required to get in those indian med schools from an american high school?</p>

<p>"I don't think that coming from any Pakistani Med-school would make you a second-class doctor or citizen.</p>

<p>I have a cousin who attended and graduated from Pindi medical college, which is not even comparable to Agha Khan or K.E. (Pindi medical college sucks). She came to the United States about 5 years ago, easily cleared the exams within one trial, and is now the second best doctor at Mount Sinai hospital in Chicago. Anything is possible."</p>

<p>Who ranks doctors?!?...i think you're full of it. Was this ranking of "great doctors in chicago" complied in the family room of your house with some cousins...and you guys randomly decided on the #2. Who earned the pretigious #1 rank...hahahahah....no one ranks doctors like that...what speciality...what criteria...lol....typical IMG justification bull. If you can't handle US med schools, why bother...ever heard of survival of the fittest</p>

<p>Well they require you to take Physics, Bio and Chem in highschool and AP preferable. All those must have grades of C or above. It depends on the competition of the year for what kind of stats. They also require SAT and SATII and AP scores.
I think if you have a 1200 3.5 and taken all those courses u can get in for sure. and its a 5 year program which does not include recidency over there so a total of 6 years. There are several doctors from that college in the USA. 5 students got residency to Harvard, John Hopkins, Stanford, UCLA, UCD from this university</p>

<p>Hmm..."too nasty"...ok</p>

<p>Well i just don't like the concept of going to a foreign med school because one could not obtain admission in a US med school. It is one thing to live in a foreign country and the migrate to the US for med school...but it is a completely different ballgame to live in the US, go to pakistan for med school, then come back to the US to practice. Maybe...just maybe...(crazy thought here)...you're not good enough to become a doctor and that's why every other US med student beat you. HMMM...lol. the profession is not for everyone and the system is designed to limit the number of doctors. If you really want to help people...find something that you're good at and find a creative way to contribute to society. If you're being out competed by every med student in the US, it might just mean something...lol. Anyway, if it's a money issue, then i can somewhat understand, but if you just think you're not going to get into a US med school...then, perhaps you should find another profession. you might be brilliant as an investment banker...who knows. Anyway, i don't see how one can learn everything in 5 years anyway...the cirriculum is poor, teachers are crappy, and cheating/bribes are common. Just think for a second. An ivy league student will spend over 7/8 years to get an MD. A pakistani med school student that could not cut it in the US will spend 5 years to learn the same material. You do the math...</p>

<p>I'm not sure if this was what xerxes was referring to, but there is indeed a magazine which ranks the top hospitals in the nation, and the top doctors within those hospitals (by specialty). I forgot the name of it.
Anyway I agree with you on the other point; people shouldn't try to find shortcuts and kind of "cheat the system."
It is for similar reasons that my parents want me to apply to 7 and 8 year programs, but I'm not sure that I want to be a doctor yet. Their justification is that it's easier because you don't have to take the MCAT and all that stuff, but I think that if you're good enough you should be able to get into a med school regardless--the same principle.</p>

<p>cspg-
Just to let you know that the indian system is far ahead than the american. In india a person writing the MCET(medical exam) learn far more advanced things in highschool than in American or Canadian schools. About the bribe, its like going up to your teacher and asking for an extra 2 percent. Thats most it goes. Its not like like the foreign system is bad its just that people are far more advanced than an average American student. I agree with you that if people dont get in the US maybe medicine is not right for them. I guess the only acceptable reason to go to a foreign school is if they dont get into BS/MD program here and they know for sure medicine is for them. I am not sure if medicine is for me so I am not considering foreign medical schools.</p>

<p>Well I am an American FMG from a Mexican school. My education was far more rigorous there than that of the students I teach at Tulane. There are many reasons to be accepting of multiple pathways; the best of these is simply to be open-minded, especially when your own knowledge of the subject is necessarily so limited.</p>

<p>kiran, if you read my post carefully, i am only talking about students that lived in the US during high school, went abroad for med school, and then came back to the US to practice. Therefore, even if the indian school system is ahead of US, those students did not enter the indian system till med school, so they will always be lacking in education. I am assuming that you mean the middle school and high school systems are more advanced. I very highly doubt that the med school system is more advanced than the US. As for the cheating/bribing issue, I know people who pay their teachers for attendance (so they don't get marked down for not attending class) and cheating is so widespread that it's considered stupid to not cheat. Anyway...how about issues like research? Can you really compare the research opportunities at US schools and third world countries? </p>

<p>Anyway, if you can give me a legit reason (besides financial issues) for going to carribean, india, pakistan, or some other third world country for medicine, i'll happily change my opinion...i'm open minded. Please speak in general terms...unique, isolated cases are obvious. I think the most common reason will always be "because i couldn't get into a US med school."</p>

<p>I'm thinking of going to India if I don't get accepted here in the U.S..That does not mean I'm not good enough to be accepted here (remember some students are better than others overall, but some are just plain rejected--thats a mystery! theres nothing you can do about it), rather it means I got rejected at one school so I'm trying elsewhere. Its like applying to Harvard and getting rejected, and applying to duke and getting accepted...not much of a difference in the quality of education. I don't consider Indian Med school to be any inferior to that of the U.S... Some of you might, and thats probably due to your lack of knowledge of outside world.</p>

<p>I guess if a person is extremely desperate to do medicine he/she can go to medicine in India. I meant that students can go to india for medicine if he doesnt get into a BS/MD program. And you probably know how competitive they are over here in the USA. About students who go after undergraduate I kind of agree with you, but its ok if they have time and dont mind. </p>

<p>About cheating, whats your gaurantee that students in small medical schools in USA, dont bribe teachers?? In top 50 schools in India for medicine these cases almost never happen. GEt your facts straight. </p>

<p>Have you ever thought why there is so much outsourcing to India. ITs the education they get!! Whats the great research that takes place here in regular medical schools?? DO you even know about the great research that takes place in India? I lived in India for 11 years of my life and I know!!!!!</p>

<p>csp- get your facts straight and think about what you dont know.</p>

<p>Holy crap kiran. Are you seriously going to compare US research to India. Are you out of your mind. Do have any idea how much money NSF, NIH, private companies, etc. invest in medical schools and university research in general. I'm not going to waste my time with this argument...get real buddy. Johns Hopkins alone gets about 1 billion dollars per year for research. I bet the amount of money that the top 30 school alone get for research is more than the entire medical industry in India. Why don't we just compare nobel prize winners in US and India...hahahhahahah....pick any catagory in research buddy....publications per year, impact factor for research journals, i can go on forever. </p>

<p>As for bribes, i was just talking about what i hear about pakistani med schools. </p>

<p>Outsourcing...buddy, what industry. It's the IT and computer industry that outsources a lot. Some other industries as well...but nobody is outsourcing for physicians and surgeons (snicker). Why do you think medical school applications go up during a poor economy...it's something that you will always have a demand for in the US..something you can't send abroad. SO...as you would probably say..."get your facts straight" (fobby accent) lol peace</p>

<p>csp- in the 1980's in the US imported thousands of indians to the United states who are doctors. Thats why you find so many indian doctors in the United states esp California. The invited these indians to come because in india the medical schools are excellent. You obviously dont know much about schools such as AIIMS, JIPMER and good they are. Rutgers is nothing in comparison! . Dude your an undergraduate. get broad minded or you will always have wrong thoughts. About the difference in money. The salaries in US are much more higher, and thus research will cost less in india. Dont underestimate</p>