Medical School in India for an NRI or nah?

Hi, everyone!

So I’m a senior in a Texas high school that is ready for my 4-year college career. But I have been hearing from people that it is better to attend college in India with a pre-med background so that I would be a certified medical professional in 4-5 years, as compared to 4 years of college & 4 years of med school & 2-3 years of residency in the U.S (11-12 years). Obviously the better option would def be medical school in India, but my question was that since you have to choose your career path (MBBS) from the 10th grade and have to pass exams to go to college, how would that work out for a 12th grade NRI student that has just completed high school. (I have taken many science courses but am not on any sort of “science or MBBS” pathway, there is not such thing as that in the US)

Also, if I do plan to go to India, my preference is New Delhi, and I’ve been hearing a lot about AIIMS medical college. Is that the best and do they accept international students or is there something better in New Delhi?

I would REALLY appreciate if someone with some experience could help me out and tell me if it is actually worth it. thanks thanks thanks!

Only worth it if your plan is to permanently move to India - otherwise you’re just torpedoing your chances of a career in medicine in the USA.

I would consider St.George’s in West Indies first.

The Caribbean is another great way to tank your american medical career. If you want a career in the USA, you go to an American college and an American medical school. Preferably MD, but DO is fine if you can’t get into an American MD program. The hierarchy for residency placement is American MD>DO>>>>Foreign MD where each > represents a 10% decrease in your odds of landing a residency position.

OP, if you want to return to the US to become a licensed doctor, You will be classified into the group of US-IMG, where US citizens went to Medical Schools outside of US and earned a Medical Degree. First of all the med school you went to must be recognized by US (AMCAS?) to qualify. Secondly, the chances for US-IMG to become an MD in the US is about 50% right now, but since the number of planned new US MD/DO schools and added the number of competitors for residency seats, your chances are greatly reduced from the 50%mark when you are graduating.

Just as a point of reference: Yesterday I was working with a resident who was an attending physician in her home country for 15 years. She didn’t switch fields upon coming to the US. The specialty just requires a US residency to sit for the board exam so here she is working 80 hours a week for ~60k, not allowed to do things she’s done hundreds of times before unless an attending is supervising her.

I have a physician friend who came to the US from Hong Kong when it returned to China in 1996, he had a successful cosmetic surgery operation in HK with three offices and several surgeon worked for him. Income must be around $1M USD to $2M per year. After arriving to USA, he could not get into his specialty and had to take a residency in Family Doctor field working 80 hours for $40-50K. After completed his residency, he opened his own practice, judging from the home he lives, he is not making much as to compare to another US trained physician friend who had three offices and a 23 BED room house on 40 acres, in the center of a NJ medium city. The "house " was a school. One time, he invited me to a “party” and it turned out the Governor of NJ was one of the guests.