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Foreign Medical Schools?
If your first-choice medical school passes you up,
it's their loss,
right? Well, what if your second and third choices don't accept you
either? Now it
starts to feel more like your loss. Then you remember all those other
medical schools
elsewhere on the planet. Suddenly you have, quite literally, a world
of options.
Yes, it is true that foreign medical schools are easier to get into.
They take pride
in accepting students not placed in U.S. medical schools and
providing an educational
enviornment that produces many excellent M.D's that are subsequently
successful as
practicing physicians within the United States. These medical schools
can offer students
an excellent alternative to U.S. medical schools. Currently U.S.
medical schools
are highly competitive and with limited number of seats, they readily
admit that
they turn away many highly qualified applicants simply because they
do not have enough
seats in the medical school class. Some of these foreign medical
schools have graduated
thousands of students who are now licensed and practicing throughout
the United States.
The popular ones are in Mexico and the Caribbean. But attending
medical school overseas
isn't just an extended spring break, from which you'll walk away with
a diploma and
move to a rewarding practice back home. Studying medicine overseas,
you'll discover,
may be less enticing than it sounds. It requires extra money, effort,
sacrfice, and
dedication, to be successful.
First, and most important, you won't have the same assurance of
finding a job in
the U.S. once you've finished your studies as is almost always the
case if you are
accepted into a U.S. medical school. You must pass the USMLE before
you can obtain
clinical training for the last two years of your medical training.
Secondly, you
must do well in order to obtain a residency in the U.S. after you
obtain your MD
degree. So even if you go to medical school in another country, there
is no guarantee
that you will be able to find a residency back home afterward. The
quality of your
program and your performance will determine whether you will be able
to find a residency
program in the U.S and ultimately practice medicine in the U.S.
Second, while studying in the Caribbean may sound like fun, it is
not. For two years
it will be a sacrifice. You are in class or studying from 8 am to
10:30 pm each day,
and weekends is time for catching up on sleep and more studying. If
you are a good
student you can expect to have very little time to get a tan or enjoy
the water,
or what the island has to offer the tourists. Also while it may seem
like a neat
place to study the charm of the area soon fades. It is hot and humid
most of the
year, and the poverty that you will see on the island can be rather
depressing. Also
while the school itself may seem nice, you may not be able to afford
the luxury of
living in a really nice apartment like you would find in the states.
There are no
shopping malls or movie theaters in the carribean. However, there is
cable TV to
U.S. stations, at least in Dominica. Most students only get to return
home twice
a year and separation from family and friends is a big problem for
many students.
Using the telephone is very expensive. Keeping in contact with family
via e-mail
helps but it is not the same as being in the United States. Only
highly motivated
and mature students will endure this program in a foreign country.
The good side
is that it only lasts for two years, all students are in the same
boat, and it is
very easy to form friendships within your class. The clinical
training is done in
the US if you choose the right school, and assuming you have passed
your classes
and did well on the USMLE.
Not all the foreign medical schools are the same. At St. George's,
the medical school
class is international in composition. All classes are taught in
English, but not
all students are planning to take the USMLE pathway that will allow
them to do their
clinical years in the United States. This means that there will be a
mix of academic
performance levels within the class. This is also true at Universidad Autonmoa de Guadalajara in Guadalajara, Mexico,
but here you
have the added requirement of being fluent in Spanish. The initial
classes are in
English, but the upper level classes, and pre-clinical training are
in Spanish. Ross
University in Dominica appears to be the only foreign medical school
that restricts
its class to residents of the United States and Canada. It will also
accept a few
residents of Dominica, but there are very few students from that
country. For most
U.S. students, this would appear to provide an advantage since all
students are from
the states, are required to pass the USMLE, and academic standards
are the same for
all students in the program. While you may be the only one in the
class from your
undergraduate school you are likely to find someone else in the class
from your home
state.
Well, how about attending a foreign program to start with, then
switching to an American
university to finish your schooling? Not so fast: only a few students
are successful
in transferring back each year. Most likely, if you begin your
medical education
in another country, you will complete it there as well.
Finally, if you're looking to save money by attending a foreign
school, forget about
it. The cost of a medical education costs about the same in most
other countries
as it does in the U.S. And with travel costs, you'll probably incur
about the same
amount of debt if you were to attend a private medical school or
attend a state supported
medical school as a non-resident.
The bottom line? Some foreign medical schools have been very
successful in graduating
students that are now successful physicians in the United States.
They are giving
U.S. students that have problems achieving A's or above average MCAT
scores a chance
to become successful phyicians. While being smart is definitly
important, there is
little difference in performance between an A and a B student in
terms of doing well
in medical school. Most everyone knows an outstanding physician that
did well in
undergraduate school, but was not an A student. Just don't forget
that choosing to
enter medicine via a foreign medical school should only be pursued by
very determined
students. Only apply to these schools if you are certain you can meet
the demands
of the medical education, you are confident that you can become an
excellent physician,
and that reapplication to a U.S. medical school (MD or DO) is
unlikely to result
in an acceptance. Entering a foreign medical school will force you to
work that much
harder to ensure that your career as a doctor is essentially an
American journey.
Finally, while there are many successful physicians that are
practicing in the United
States that are graduates of a foreign medical school, it is not
without criticism,
that this is the case. For a critical view of foreign medical schools
as a way of
entering the medical profession you may want to look at the following
article in
the New England Journal of Medicine (Vol 342, numb. 21, May 25,
2000): Foreign
Medical Education :
Corey Welford/ D.F. Wilson
Questions Related to this topic
1. Should I apply to Foreign Medical Schools? Investigate this
option with
caution. This is an option that you might consider if
you have tried
twice, but failed to obtain an acceptance to a medical school in
the U.S.or you
are convinced that you are very capable of succeeding in medical
school but your
scores are unlikely to place you in medical school. Certainly this is
an avenue to
consider if your heart is set on becoming a physician and U.S medical
schools are
discouraging you, not because you don't have the ability but because
they say they
only have limited space and they have too many applicants with higher
scores. If
they are conveying that message to you, it does not mean you are not
good enough
to become a physician, it only means they must take the high
achievers first. I think
it is fair to say that no student should ever go to a foreign medical
school with
the expectation that he/she will transfer into a U.S. school after
one or two years.
Although it is true that some students are successful in doing this,
the overwhelming
majority of students who attempt to transfer are not successful.
Additionally,the
number of third year spaces available for such transfers has been
shrinking during
the past few years making it even more unlikely that future transfer
applicants will
be successful. Never assume that you will be able to transfer. If it
turns out that
you do, so much the better, but to make such an assumption is a very
risky business.
Unfortunately, many students faced with this advice will nonetheless
assume that
they will be one of the fortunate few. I always advise students who
are contemplating
enrolling in any foreign school (excluding Canada) that they should
assume that the
school they enroll in is the school they will graduate from.
Remember, the last two
years of the program are conducted at teaching hospitals within the
U.S.and this
makes it bearable for most students. A concern expressed by some is
that there is
no guarantee that you will be able to obtain a residency in the U.S.
after completing
the M.D. degree. While this is possible, it appears unlikely that
graduates of the
more popular offshore medical schools would encounter this problem,
so I am not convinced
that possibility should discourage you.
2. If I want to apply to Foreign Medical School, which ones should I consider? Not all foreign medical schools are the same and the experience of students at these schools will vary. You need to make sure the program is strong. Ask the medical school for a list of physicians that are currently practicing medicine in your state. The medical school should be willing to give you the names of at least a few physicians that you can talk with. They should also be willing to put you in contact with a few medical students from your state so you can get their perspective on the positive and negative aspects of their medical school. You need to carefully check out the school BEFORE you apply. Since these schools are not as selective, you are very likely to be accepted if you apply (assuming you are a good student). While you can receive a good education at some of these schools, the facilities and standards will vary from school to school, and many appear to be below standard in comparison with most U.S. medical schools. Most of these programs are run for profit, but some invest more into their programs than others. It is important to carefully look into the quality of the program, its facilities,faculty, and its success rate in placing MDs in the United States. There are only three foreign medcial schools that I (DFW) would recommend. Universidad Autonmoa de Guadalajara in Guadalajara, Mexico ,Ross University in Dominica and St. George's University in Grenada. I have visited each of these schools and they appear to have very strong programs. Ross University appears to be the best offshore medical school and for most Miami U. students applying to an offshore medical school, this is probably your best choice however you need to do your own research into these school, and contact alumni from these schools that are now practicing medicine. These medical schools should be willing to put you in contact with their graduates that are now practicing medicine in Ohio and also their alumni that graduated from Miami University. If they are not willing to do so thaen you may want to reconsider the value of attending the medical school. Currently Ross and St George's University appears to be the best equipped medical schools in the carribean. They have an abundance of computers and audiovisual equipment that can easily compete with at least some US medical schools, and it provides some clinical experience and service to the community in which it is located. St. George's University is similar to Ross in terms of physical facilities, and for some students their may be a preference for one versus another. Both have well equipped and new facilities. Universidad Autonmoa de Guadalajara has many successful physicians practicing in the US but this program requires that you become proficient in spanish. Keep in mind that you are unlikely to be able to transfer from a foreign medical school to a US medical school once you start the program. Each of these medical schools have agreements with hospitals in the United States so that the clinical training for the last two years is done within the United States. Clinical training in the United States is essential if you hope to return to the US to practice medicine.
Unlike U.S. medical schools, if you apply you are VERY likely to be accepted to that medical school as long as you express a strong interest in attending their school. In general these medical schools will seriously consider applicants with a GPA of 2.8 or higher, and they may not require the MCAT or if they do, they do not deny students admission on the basis of a low score. This means that being admitted and finishing the program are very different matters. Because of the lower academic requirements for admission, attrition rates of students leaving the program after one or two semesters are quite high. Some class sizes may decrease by as much as 50% by the end of the second semester. Assuming you have achieved at least a 3.1 at Miami and you are a strong science major, then there is no real reason to question whether you have the ability to succeed in their program, assuming you remain highly motivated. The students failing the classes are usually ones not really prepared for the rigors demanded of science classes in medical school or lack the commitment to put in the number of study hours needed to succeed. The material is not difficult, it is the shear volume of material that you will need to learn that is the problem. An analogy has been given that medical education: is 1 inch deep and 1 mile wide, while a graduate program in neurophysiology is 6 feet deep and 100 yards wide.
It is strongly recommended that you view these schools with caution and that you actually visit the medical schools and talk with several students in the program and especially those that have returned to the states and are in a teaching hospital or are currently practicing medicine in the US before you actually commit to attending that school. You do not want to start the program and drop out.
3. Why are the "off-shore" medical schools that
matriculate mostly U.S.
students "off-shore" to begin with? In other words, why
haven't main
campuses, let alone branch campuses, of unaccredited medical schools
been built here
before? An unaccredited full medical school education is not possible
in the 50 states
and Puerto Rico at least in part because any medical school in those
jurisdictions
have to be LCME accredited. In the US the LCME is the only source of
accreditation.
To establish any educational institution in any state, permission has
to be obtained
from the state. While Ross and St. Georges (and some other offshore
medical schools)
may be able to offer clinical training under certain circumstances in
the US, for
a graduate to meet licensing requirements the medical degree has to
come from a recognized
(by the appropriate authorities) medical school in the country where
it is chartered.
Ross for example is not "recognized" (LCME accredited) in
the US, but is
recognized by the government of Dominica. The degree from Ross is
therefore not a
US medical degree even if the entire medical education were to be
done in the US.
5. What is the rating of the Foreign Medical
Schools? This
is next to impossible to determine. St. George's (Grenada) has
announced that the
U.S. Dept. of Education reviewed the accreditation process for
medical schools in
30 countries whose medical schools enroll U.S. students. The
announcement stated
that Grenada was the only country besides Australia, Canada, and the
U.K. in which
medical training of U.S. students would be supported by U.S.
government-sponsored
loans. Given the paucity of other data, this alone might make one
more comfortable
with St. George's than other "off-shore" schools. Ross
University in Dominica
makes a similar claim. It is advised that you should not rely too
heavily on this
one U.S. Dept. of Education decision. Do others consider St. Georges
or Ross University
student acceptance for U.S. student loans to be a significant measure
of overall
quality? That is a matter of debate. St. George's and Ross University
have a good
reputation which can probably be accepted at face value. They appear
to be the most
demanding and selective in admissions of all the Caribbean schools.
Take in better
students (GPA, MCAT) and you are likely to produce graduates who do
better on USMLE
and getting residencies. Sackler in Tel Aviv, and maybe the Technion
in Haifa, are
on the list, but they are also very selective. Checking with
those in charge
of U.S. Residency Programs may be the best way to determine some of
this. Some agencies
may claim they have the authority to rate offshore medical schools,
but these agencies
are suspect, namely they may be paid by the overseas schools and not
really represent
an independent evaulation.
6. Where can I obtain additional infomation about overseas medical schools? Check out the following website links to foreign medical schools:
Ross University in Dominica: Ross
University Medical School:
St. George's University in Grenada: St.
George's Medical School:
Universidad Autonomoa de Guadalajara in Mexico: :Universidad
Autononoma Medical School
For a current listing of other overseas medical schools that have web sites consult:Med School Links: