ladeeda Posted August 12, 2009 Report Share Posted August 12, 2009 So I was just talking to my brother's friend who is heading to England this Fall for med school straight out of high school. I hadn't realized that international med schools take students from high school. Do you think the doctors that come out of these systems are less educated than those of North America. I mean med school without an undergrad?! weird... Dang though kinda wish I had applied earlier! Save at least 4 years of your life...plus get this he is paying 3000 pounds/year which is less than 7000 dollars a year aka almost what im paying for my undergrad tuition Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeman101 Posted August 12, 2009 Report Share Posted August 12, 2009 Yes in the UK they go from high school to med school. Its the same in Germany too I believe. The difference is their med schools are longer. (I forgot how long) But other countries do the same too. In India you go from high school to med school (4yrs) and thats it. Specializing is optional. Hell if you really wanted to fast-track your medical career you could've went to the Caribbeans and did 2 years premed and 3 years med and be done with it. The difference with all these scenarios is that its harder to get back into Canada to do a residency program. Ex: My cousin who studied in the UK had to score >95 percentile on the USMLE to get a residency spot in Massachusetts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparkles3288 Posted August 12, 2009 Report Share Posted August 12, 2009 I dont think the doctors would be less educated. What does having an undergrad in say....physics really help with medicine? If anything, it sort of sucks to have to study something completely different just to get into medicine. The only thing I coud see if that they would be younger upon graduation, and perhaps lack the maturity and just life wisedom that is a good skill to have upon becoming a doctor. A 25 year old (in most cases, not always) will typically have a greater maturity level than an 18 year old fresh from high school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPJ Posted August 12, 2009 Report Share Posted August 12, 2009 Nope, definitely not less educated or competent. You'd be surprised how educational systems in some countries that are not as developed are often more rigorous than in North America. But as a poster mentioned earlier, the major consideration would be where you want to practice. If you want to practice here, chances are much higher if you complete medicine here. As for maturity, age is not always a good indicator of maturity. One could argue, for example, that given the hardships in some less developed countries, people gain more perspective and maturity at a younger age. But of course, there are exceptions to most generalizations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted August 12, 2009 Report Share Posted August 12, 2009 Some of those schools are in my home country (UK). I think it is probably important to note that these programs are often longer than ours as well - often 6 years for instance. So there isn't quite the radical time difference as it would first appear. Considering most canadian schools accept students regardless of what degree they took and have very limited prereq requirements, they cannot assume any real understanding of medicial or biological science prior to entry. They only assume that you are capable of learning such materials, and learning them fast So both our schools and theirs start at square one as it were, and we leave the respective programs with a similar level of understanding. Those countries with out of high school admissions often have most more involved and rigid high school grading systems which are designed to test for academic ability. Pretty brutal in some cases, and if you think out residency system is tough, some of theirs are just plain insane! It isn't like there is a guaranteed position anywhere in many cases for new grads. At least in Canada there is a closer relationship between med school spots and actual resisdency spots. Just my take on it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochi1543 Posted August 12, 2009 Report Share Posted August 12, 2009 Where I'm from, med school is straight out of high school, as well, but the actual med school takes up 5 years as opposed to 3 or 4 here. Plus you usually have to make a basic specialty choice right away (straight out of HS into pediatrics or for a more research-based track) and then after you graduate, you have to rotate through all the 50+ specialties (no idea how long it takes). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neuronix Posted August 12, 2009 Report Share Posted August 12, 2009 where are you from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w8kg6 Posted August 12, 2009 Report Share Posted August 12, 2009 where are you from? In Soviet Russia, med school pays you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
future_doc Posted August 12, 2009 Report Share Posted August 12, 2009 Caribbean med school is right out of high school too, although first you study for A Levels, now known as Cape. For advanced training after MD, they go to US and Canada and make excellent physicians. Only a handful of the very top students have a chance. Same applies to law school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMmd Posted August 13, 2009 Report Share Posted August 13, 2009 well in Quebec, you can go directly into med straight out of cegep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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