Do doctors from foreign countries have to pass a test to practice medicine in the USA.

Question

Are foreign medical schools as demanding as those in the USA?

Answer 1

Yes, thank god!  I've seen some really great foreign docs, who worked hard to get where they are.  On the flip side, I've seen some really crappy foreign (and domestic, for that matter) docs, who make you wonder how they even graduated high school, let alone med school.  Think about it, would you want someone from Iraq, who says they have a medical license there, but probably no real way to verify it, to come here & be automatically signed on as a doc??

Answer 2

They have to usually pass very intense tests. That is why there are so many doctors from other countries working at jobs that are way below them

Answer 3

they must complete a residency and pass the tests

Answer 4

Yes. First they have to have attended a medical school somewhere in the world that is on this list: http://imed.ecfmg.org/search.asp . That is because only these schools comply with U.S. equivalency standards for the necessary education to become an M.D. Then they have to take what is called the USMLE examination. You can find out all about this exam here: http://www.usmle.org/

Answer 5

For Gato de Barrio- my internship in Ohio scheduled us on 36,off 12 all year long.  Mexico is not the only place with tough internships.  Further, if you had a last minute admission, you could not go home until the workup was under way- Dreaded the auto accident that always seemed to hit the ER at my 35th hour.  

The other answers are correct- additional training and an exam.

Answer 6

Depends on the word: demanding.

I'm a med student in Mexico City and Mexican medicine is what I know. Entering at least a private university like the one I go to isn't really hard. You don't need a perfect 10 average in HS, or extracurricular voluntary activities and in Mexico we don't have SAT tests. Entering a public med school university does demand insanely good HS grades or at least good contacts because it's so competitive.

But still, staying in the career is another thing. It's d**n tough. Most of the people I started out with have dropped out. Add in that in the clinical years you have to go up to 3 different hospitals in 1 day with the most hideous traffic ever and it physically drains you.

Mexico is known for having one of the most brutal internships in the world. It's perfectly well-known you'll be working 32-36 hour shifts with no sleep at all. You could even work more hours if you p**s off a doctor for whatever reason you can imagine (many doctors are punctuality creeps which is a bit annoying considering Mexico City has hideous traffic).

The degree of work depends on the hospital you end up in (public hospitals tend to mke you work to the degree of psychotic nervous breakdowns but you learn more clinical medicine). I'm personally aiming for a private base hospital; I'd love the clinical experience, but I could never survive that life for an entire year.

Other countries either have optional internships (like Chile) or virtually no internship at all (Spain). Dunno what the degree is work in like in a US internship, though I do know the US demands an intern to go home after 24 hours of work.

After the internship year, you do a social service year to get the full degree in Mexico. The service can be either very light or you're working all day depending on your own choice. I'm personally wishing to do the tough social service that's 24 hours straight in a remote village.

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I almost forgot; if you do medicine in most countries and wish to legally practise in the US, You must pass the USMLE exams. I'm personally planning on doing that when I graduate.

Answer 7

When a doctor or surgeon from another country comes to the USA he can't practice until he completes a five year residency program. I've worked with two Russian surgeons who had to do that.  

Answer 8

Yes, and sometimes they have to redo their schooling if they want to practice in the US.