Question for Students in International Med Schools

1.) I chose to attend med school in Pakistan because of two reasons -- first of all, they do not require applicants to have a 4 year bachelors degree, and second of all, they are very cost effective and affordable to the point where most people do not have to take loans to pay for their education. If you have a 4 year bachelors degree, you may want to take a serious look at the Carribean schools -- there's some good ones out there.

2.) Foreign Medical Grads (FMGs) do have a shot at competitive residencies but they have to work harder to obtain those positions. This means having high USMLE Step scores, showing a track record of having research and clinical experience, and having strong letters of recommendations (LORs) from doctors in the field they wish to pursue. This is by no means impossible, however it at the same time is not very easy. Of course, they usually have no problems at all (besides visa problems, if that applies to you) in securing positions in internal medicine -- the field in which a majority of physicians in the US and abroad go into.

As far as how much time it takes an FMG compared to a US grad in completing their training and starting practice -- its exactly the same. There is no special training or additional time commitment that an FMG must complete before being able to practice

Hope this helps, and welcome to Med Studentz #happy

1. Main reason internationally, we didnt finish our bachelors degrees, didnt want to go through the whole process, take the mcats, get loans, etc, get rejected possibly, then have to apply to carribean etc. Basically we are Pakistanis so why would we go to other places? Who says we go to another country just for the school? If that was the case many foreigners wouldnt come to pakistan. Anyway if you have a bachelors degree and dont know what your plans are by now ie have you taken the mcats yet or not or even applied anywhere? Well your going to have to for the carribean anyway, that would be my first resort. Pakistan at the end of the list.

2. If everytime someone said something was difficult then I doubt I would be accomplishing anything. Nothing is difficult until you do it and thats not something you should be worrying about at this time. Plenty of Pakistani doctors are practicing in usa, their specialists of all kinds. Its all about how hard you work. Just because you graduate from an american med school and your mediocre, you'll end up doing what most carribean grads specialize in... Psychiatry!!

Sorry it took so long!

Alright, alright, alright...lol. Sorry, I am ashamed to admit that I did see this post a while ago but I kinda hesitated to respond (don't ask me why).


Well, to answer your question, I am a carribean medical student, studying in la UASD also know as "Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo". It is a spanish speaking university but it is well know and recognized by all 50 states (to my knowledge).
It is not the only one, there are others such as; Unibe (which is very well know because it teaches english as well in spanish, but not recognized by the state of california), Uce, Unphu, Utesa, Intec, Poccamaima (not sure of the spelling for this one) and others that I'm not too familiar with. These are all school located in the Dominican Republic.

I have heard good things about Saba but I wouldnt really know because it wasnt something I looked into when I was starting out.

Mexico has some good schools as well but I'm not sure of there name, except for UNAM and Universidad del Oeste.

#1I chose to go to my school because of economical reasons and it's recognition. Not to mention the fact that I'm not the only one in my family who has gone to this school. You have to decide what's important for you in order to decide what school you want to attend.

#2 Getting a residency does not depend on whether or not you are an US graduate or an International graduate. It soley depends on how well you do on you USMLE, how well you interview and what other things you can add to impress the facutly of the hospital you will be applying to (doing electives, for example can make a difference). It takes the same time for and IMG (International Medical Graduate) as an USMG or AMG (U.S. Medical Grad. or American Medical Grad.) to complete a residency. #angry

I hope this was helpful!!! #eek

Thankssss

Why, THANK YOU NATACHA! #yes I am glad you broke through your hesitation and finally gave me some input on caribbean schools. Thanks, I really do appreciate you taking the time#cool

If theres anyone else from the Caribbean and are attending ENGLISH schools, Please don't be shy to offer me some input/advice! Thanks!

Also, I heard that Caribbean schools are getting competitive....but then I also heard that Caribbean schools will accept "anyone"...can anyone offer any feedback on this?

Okay.......thanks a bunch......

TOODLES!#laugh