Foreign medical school?

Question

I was researching foreign medical schools for my nephew who has now been waiting for three years to get in to a med school in the US. He has excellent grades and MCAT scores but there just is not enough space in US med schools. I know Americans have been going to foreign countries to study medicine since the 1950s. I kind of wanted to ask people if they know about what it is like to live and study abroad. My nephew has a wife and a one year old.

Answer 1

If he needs any help with medical spanish, I recommend the free resource

http://www.practicingspanish.com

Answer 2

He needs to be quite careful. Not all states allow doctors who trained abroad to practice - so he must know the rules for the states where he hopes to work. And no matter what, if he goes to a foreign med school, he's going to need to jump through some hoops in order to practice in the US. I'll link you to a very good site on this very subject, below.

Answer 3

A few countries are now offering 4 year medical schools, but the majority are still taking students out of high school and using six to eight years programs to educate and train physicians.  He would encounter difficulty coming back to the US to try to get into a residency training program because of this difference in programs.  Another big disadvantage is that any foreign trained physician has to pass the US Medical Licensing Exam and the first exam, Step 1, is all science and very difficult.  Many foreign schools do not emphasize the sciences as much as the US and even a delay of one year since completing the study of the basic sciences results in a significant increase in failure rates.

Many people in your nephew's circumstance attend one of the Caribbean medical schools.  These schools follow the US curricula and students are able to take the licensing exams, participate in US residencies and obtain licenses to practice in the US.  Most have rolling admissions, meaning he could start school in January, May or September.

In choosing a Caribbean medical school, he needs to be very careful.  There are 4-5 good ones that are comparable to US med schools.  There are several 'okay' schools and a number to avoid at all cost.

Regardless of which Caribbean school he might choose, all are located on islands.  Islands are fun for the first three or four months--but eventually the realization that you are living on a rock sinks in.  Everything has to be imported, so everything is expensive and frequently unavailable.  Power outages, interruptions in Internet and telephone access are common.

Many students are married and have their spouses and children with them.  However, some islands do not allow students' families, especially the Dutch islands.  

If you got to www.ValueMD.com or www.StudentDoctor.net you can communicate directly with students who are attending these schools.  You'll also read a lot of negative comments about each school.  Some of it is true and a lot of it is created by unscrupulous representatives of the lesser quality schools.  Each site allows you to review the history of posts and within a few minutes you learn which schools are considered good and which ones are not.

Answer 4

I am an FMG aka foreign medical graduate. I went to med school in the Dominican Republic in the early 80s. The place has gotten better and there where a lot of students that brought their families there. I would not recommend it because the government there is very corrupt besides nickel and dimeing you for your documents they hate you and you can feel it in their breath they hate you for being an American and knowing you are going to leave their country with degree that will enable you to earn a lot of money. Mind you not all of them hate you like this but the one in charge most certainly do.

There is a newly established school one mile  south of the US Mex border. You nephew can live in the US and drive over to his classes every day. The school was established by American doctors with an American curriculum.  The classes are taught in English by American doctors that also drive one mile south just to teach and come home every night.

I don't have their website link but their number is pasted below. I was asked to check out the school for a friend's son who wants to attend. I checked it out and I like it. I wish they had it when I was a med student. By the way if you do your residency in either PA or CA as an FMG you have the option of practicing in over 38 states automatically so being an FMG doesn't mean you have to jump through so many hoops. If you have language skill issues it could be whole other thing.

good luck.

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