<p>I am currently looking at a foreign 4.5 year med school. Basically, that means you COMPLETELY skip premed, residency would add up to the same. You save 4 years right there, a good portion of which would be spent doing english, math, physics, and subjects med students dont need as much as anatomy and courses like that. </p>
<p>I'm currently in the country right now, and im hearing from everyone (relatives, doctors in the foundation im working at here), that americans and UK students who are almost done with their med school come here all the time and make a complete fool of themselves. I mean...seriously...they come here and know NOTHING. The education here, i have heard, is so much better, and you learn SO much more in that 4.5 years than you would in the 8 years you would in US, mainly because of a lot less legal restrictions, as well as a wider variety of cases.</p>
<p>So my question to you, med students, is Did you ever consider doing med school abroad? If you did and chose the US school, why did you do it? For the college experience? Because it would have been too hard? </p>
<p>Unfortunately I havnt heard much negative about it, so I'm hearing quite biased opinions
Anything would be helpful :)</p>
<p>well i don’t see what the issue is. there are plenty of doctors in the US who did their schooling abroad and then did residency here and they have no problems. i think the tough part is actually getting a residency in the US.</p>
<p>yeah i’m definitely considering it. it seems like a great choice, but if you’re doing it in a place like india, be prepared for cut throat competition.</p>
<p>ironicallyunsure - uk might not be as good of an option; apparently uk students finishing med school are just as clueless as us students finishing med school</p>
<p>rharan5930 - cut throat competition in what sense? USMLE is difficult of course, but it seems that there are two ways to get in: To pay or to take the entrance exam. Entrance exam is not an option for me because i am considered part of the forward class (caste system) and would not get in. But paying the way in realy isnt bad; its about 26,000 per year including donations.</p>
<p>I have heard, however, that the flunk rate is really high, is that what you mean? Everyone i talk to says i should be fine if i study. Is the problem that people fail a year?</p>
<p>if you’re fluent in another language, maybe look into schools there. otherwise, if your stats are competitive, maybe apply to some combined degree programs here</p>
<p>well acceptance usually isn’t tough for foreigners, it’s keeping up with the curriculum. the level of competition in most public schools & some colleges isn’t like the competition in places like india. and yes, flunk out rates are pretty high. you might get done with a medical degree in a foreign country quicker, but it’s definitely much tougher & more competitive. there would be a person with a 99.9% at the top of the class and about 30 spots down would be a person with a 99.7%. that’s how it was in my cousin’s medical school in india. </p>
<p>i’m not saying that you can’t do it though, it just requires a certain level of self-discipline to study that hard.</p>
<p>I’m no med student or anything… but I have a few friends from high school that went abroad for med school and they have very positive freedback. The best abroad place I’ve heard (that’s really cheap and great academics) is Cuba. After that, I’ve hear Mexico is top notch and well, my friends went to Bolivia (although their feedback is great, and I know it’s very cheap there, I don’t really know about the academics).</p>
<p>I’m actually considering india.
I speak ZERO of the language though, but I found a school that takes a lot of NRI stidents. Of course, because it has NRI’s, and is run on donations it is definately not as competitive or academicaly good, but its still MUCH better than american schools, i heard.
I do have a lot of connections and help here; If i just mention my cousins name everyone treats me like royalty (which isnt neccecarily a good thing, but its gotten me into operation theatres and such already, which is great considering im just a highschool student). But when I’m done with college, med school, I dont want to come out as some half baked person who doesnt know crap but has a degree, but actually knows their stuff inside out. Which is why im thinking of doing it abroad.
Just one more question – what happens if I cant keep up? Do I redo the year until I pass?
Thanks everyone for the help :)</p>