Hey guys so I’m currently a senior in high school who’s a non citizen studying in an international school. I’m going to theU states for college and plan on going on the pre med track as I aspire to get in med school. I understand that there might be some difficulty for non citizens like me in getting into med school so does anyone know how difficult it might be? Are there any stats or articles that you guys might have seen? Thank you.
Unless you are a US citizen or green card holder, it is extremely difficult for an international student to gain an acceptance to a US medical school.
AAMC tracks the number of applicants and matriculants by residency status.
[Table A-3: Applicants to U.S. Medical Schools by State of Legal Residence, 2006-2007 through 2015-2016](https://www.aamc.org/download/321460/data/factstablea3.pdf) and [Table A-4: Matriculants to U.S. Medical Schools by State of Legal Residence, 2006-2007 through 2015-2016](https://www.aamc.org/download/321462/data/factstablea4.pdf)
In 2015, 1351 internationals applied to medical school in the US and 140 matriculated.
The number of international students enrolled in US medical schools is declining and will likely continue to decline as more and more medical school refuse to consider internationals for admission. (This is due to the difficulty placing internationals into medical residencies–which are required to obtain a medical license. )
There are several obstacles that international students must face when applying to medical school.
The first is that only 60 or so US medical schools will consider applications from internationals. Most of these are private schools.
The second is that internationals are not eligible for US federal loans–which is how most US med students pay for med school. Additionally there is little or no merit aid available to pay for med school. International applicants must prove they have the financial means to pay for their medical education. Internationals are required to deposit anywhere from 1-4 years tuition & fees into a escrow account prior to matriculation. Some schools also require depositing living expenses in addition to tuition. You will need somewhere between $250-$350K to pay for med school.
Lastly, issues faced by internationals do not end with a med school admission. Internationals are severely disadvantaged during the residency match process since most residency programs will not sponsor internationals for visas. And only 32 states will issue medical licenses to internationals.
[Keys for International Students Considering U.S. Medical Schools](http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/medical-school-admissions-doctor/2015/02/10/keys-for-international-students-considering-us-medical-schools)
@WayOutWestMom Dang that seems pretty tough. Guess I’ll try my best and see how it turns out. Thank you so much for the comprehensive and detailed reply! I really appreciate it !!!
WOWM has a comprehensive coverage of US MD schools admissions policy.
However, the standards of admission maybe different in DO, PA or other kinds of Healthcare schools. There are Caribbean medical schools to be considered, but that is even more difficult for an international to be matched into US Residency.
A DO works side by side with MD without discrimination once you are matched into a Residency program. Of course the matching and HB1 sponsorship will still be a problem for all non resident aliens. The financial requirements are the same as well, because internationals are not eligible for FAs and there are no scholarship for advanced Health Care studies, unless it is a research oriented institution. A MD/PHD will get scholarships and TA sponsorship in the PHD program, but not in the MD part.
Here is a link to a DO school’s international student admission policy.
Sorry, the above Touro COM example is not correct, here is the correct policy which clearly indicated that internationals are not accepted. But I believe other DO schools may.
Here is a list of DO schools that accept non-resident aliens
https://www.aacom.org/docs/default-source/for-advisors/intlstudents_factsheet_final.pdf?sfvrsn=8
Yes, some osteopathic medical school accept international applicants; however, it’ still extremely difficult for an applicant international to be accepted.
http://www.aacom.org/docs/default-source/data-and-trends/2012-15-app-report.pdf?sfvrsn=10
According AOA data, in 2015, only 46 non-Canadian internationals matriculated into all US osteopathic med schools combined. (0.02% of matriculating students)