<p>I've been accepted to both Cambridge and St. Andrew's to study medicine, but I really preferred St. Andrew's (less intense course load, it's in a much smaller town, and it's the only university in the UK to still do anatomical dissections). I'm aware that Cambridge has by far the better reputation of the two, but how much does that matter for doctors? I'd appreciate any advice.</p>
<p>Double check this, but there's some list of foreign med schools whose grads can take the US med boards and get licensed in the US without doing a 5th year. I know Cambridge is on the list; I'm not sure St. Andrews' is. If you want to practice in the US, you should check.</p>
<p>Obviously, this was written for foreign medical school grads who are not US citizens and want to know how to get a US residency. Nevertheless, I think it might be useful to you to understand that the route you have taken is not an easy one. </p>
<p>Residency</a> guide for Foreign Medical Graduates</p>
<p>Here is a more comprehensive site:</p>
<p>ECFMG</a> 2008 Information Booklet - Examination Requirements</p>
<p>If you already know all this stuff...my apologies. I'm just not sure you do.</p>
<p>This question depends a lot on if you are </p>
<p>A) Are you a US Citizen?
B) If not are you a permanent resident in the US?
C) Do you currently live in the US? If so, and you're a US Citizen, why are you wanting to go to the UK?
D) Do you want to complete a residency in the US? Do you want to practice in the US?</p>
<p>A)I've got dual citizenship
B)permanent US resident
C) I want to study in the UK for several reasons: it'd save me 2 years, there's an emphasis on diagnosing through patient histories rather than using tests (as opposed to what House would do), and the admissions criteria are far more generous to people like me who do well on standardized tests but have mediocre GPAs.
D)and I am well aware of what it takes to do residency and practice in the US (my mom did it), although I'm not entirely sure I would want to come back.</p>
<p>The degree isn't actually from St. Andrew's but from either Manchester or one of the Scottish medical schools, so that might explain why there isn't any information about doctor's graduating from there.</p>
<p>Anyway, my question was not whether I should study medicine in the UK but whether I should choose Cambridge or St. Andrew's.</p>
<p>Part of the answer to your question is dependent upon whether you want to do your residency in the US or the UK and/or practice medicine in the US or the UK. Part of it depends upon what kind of doctor you want to be--a GP/primary care physician or a specialist and, if a specialist, what kind.</p>
<p>If you want to get a specialist residency in the US, I suspect it will be better to have the Cambridge degree.If you would like to be a GP in the UK, it probably matters a LOT less.</p>
<p>Your decision to go to the UK matters though. In the US people likely won't care where you go except that you didn't go to school here. So it matters on what you want to do after your done.</p>
<p>Basing your decision on how House would do things is the most idiotic idea I've ever heard. As any US medical student would tell you, because they tell us it over and over again (and I've found it to be pretty true), you can make about 80% of your diagnoses on history alone, and about 90% with a physical exam thrown in. Unfortunately that doesn't make for very good television. Just because they show it there doesn't mean that's how US physicians run things. Further, the premise of house is in diagnosing the zebras (uncommon presentations of uncommon diseases), and at a certain point you need to utilize lab tests.</p>
<p>If you do want to come back to the US realize that, even from well recognized European medical schools, you'll be limiting your options in residency to at least some extent. Certainly you'll be better off than people going to Pakistan or Turkey, but there will be some residency programs that will flat out refuse to interview/rank you through the Match, simply because you aren't a US educated physician, and from what I can tell, this is something that has changed a lot in the last 8-10 years (becoming increasingly difficult for International Medical Grads). Things like the USMLE Step 2 Clinical Skills exam are set up primarily as a hurdle for IMG's to clear.</p>
<p>If you were 100% set on returning to the US to practice, I'd tell you to just avoid going abroad in the first place. Since you are not, and you're more likely to stay in the UK, I really don't have any specific advice about UK reputations. My guess, though, is that just like in the US, patients don't really care where you were educated, don't really care where you trained and will never ask about either. They care far more about how you care for them. As long as you're competent, compassionate, and nice about it, you'll be fine.</p>