Thinking Of Applying To Polish Medical Schools

[Edict]

The above advice is solid; here is a few other points from an insider's perspective to consider:

 

-based on your overall academic profile, you should not have any major issues landing FM (not necessarily at a top academic site though) in the US through Jag within the near future -- barring major adverse life events or personality flaws that would hinder you during rotations/interviews. The SoN changes will likely become a somewhat bigger issue going forward not just for residency but also fellowship training as Health Canada tries to manage healthcare expenditure. The problem is not just forecasts of decreasing SoNs for the future, but also the increasing number of Canadians studying abroad trying to snag one after matching in the States. The caps for FM and IM were not breached this year. As mentioned above, FM's high cap will provide a better buffer compared to e.g. Rads despite the different match rates.

 

-Dividing CMSPA numbers by four to evaluate Jag's stats is not the best approach: Jag takes far fewer students than other Polish schools (Warsaw, Poznan, Lublin, Silesia, etc.): a max of 40 people a year in the 4 year program; matriculating class sizes are usually in the low to mid 30's. Attrition/blockage is not near Caribbean (30-50%) rates, but since being approved for US DoE loans this year (=> the need to keep up USMLE pass rates >75%) the administration has signalled that they will be more strict about barring under-performing students from taking the Step without decent compNBME scores. I would guess 20-25% overall attrition+block going forward for the 4 year program. Moreover, the residency placement lists that you have seen in this thread or on the school website are not off the mark: traditionally, about half of the graduating class has ended up with a residency in the US/Canada, and another 20% get one in England/Poland/rest of Europe. The school does not provide miracles, but they do have linkages to select residency programs, helpful alumni/graduating classes, and a decent reputation with programs in the US. YMMV, of course

 

 

I have to just note that those who got residency positions in England were certainly EU citizens and likely the same for those who got positions in the rest of Europe.