Given the extraordinary selectivity of many American medical schools, some aspiring doctors in the U.S. turn to international programs to earn their degrees.
Many med schools outside the U.S. are willing to consider applicants with lower GPAs and MCAT scores than those typically necessary for acceptance into a U.S. medical program, though this isn’t always the case and there are some highly selective foreign med schools.
A talented premed student, experts say, can benefit from an international medical education.
Hannah McGee, deputy vice chancellor for academic affairs at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, says that any student who is a good fit for med school in general is a compelling candidate for a good foreign med school. “Whether or not to study overseas is a decision dictated by the outlook and aspirations of the individual student,” she wrote in an email.
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Before applying to a foreign med program, students need to realistically assess whether they are prepared to become a doctor, says Dr. William W. Pinsky, president of the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates and CEO of Intealth, its parent organization.
“I have met students who were desperate to become doctors but really did not have the academic background to do it,” he says, adding that these students sometimes end up “with a lot of debt and no degree.”
Applicants should also investigate a foreign institution’s accreditation status, attrition rates and residency placement statistics, experts say. If you’re considering medical school abroad, here are a few things to know.
Research Attrition, Accreditation Carefully
There are nearly 3,800 international medical schools, and that number is rising rapidly, Pinsky says. “It’s difficult for students to discriminate among those.”
A good place to start is the World Directory of Medical Schools, which includes useful statistics from foreign med schools, such as the proportion of students who graduate with a medical degree. The “sponsor notes” for each school also specify whether a school’s students and graduates are eligible to apply for certification in the U.S. from ECFMG.
Some foreign medical schools have very lenient academic standards for applicants, and also high attrition rates, experts say.
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However, there are also some exceptional medical schools at well-respected global universities, and some nations have a solid track record of training doctors who eventually practice in the U.S., such as Australia, Canada, India, Ireland and Israel, Pinsky says. U.S. students should verify that a foreign med school is accredited and that its accreditation agency has been reviewed and recognized by an external quality assurance organization that, in turn, has been reviewed and approved by ECFMG, Pinsky says.
Beginning in 2024, the World Directory of Medical Schools will report when a school has achieved this “recognized accreditation” status. ECFMG also will work with the Association of American Medical Colleges to include this information in the ECFMG status reports provided to the Electronic Residency Application Service, or ERAS, for individuals seeking to obtain U.S. graduate medical education positions in the 2025 Main Residency Match, Pinsky explains.
Check Residency Placements, Training
When assessing and comparing foreign med schools, U.S. premeds should inquire about whether the schools have a history of placing students into U.S. residencies, Pinsky says. It’s also advisable to speak with schools’ current students and recent grads, and to find out what types of clinical training options are at these schools.
Premeds should also be aware that it’s challenging to transfer into a U.S. med school from one based outside of Canada, whose M.D. program accreditation system is closely aligned with that of the U.S. Experts explain that many U.S. med schools do not accept transfer applications from med schools that aren’t accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, which accredits M.D. programs in the U.S. and Canada only.
Nevertheless, U.S. med school hopefuls who are intrigued by the idea of attending school abroad can take comfort in the knowledge that there are highly prestigious programs outside the U.S. with impressive residency placement records.
McGee reports that 241 RCSI Dublin graduates have matched to U.S. residency programs over the last five years, obtaining posts at high-profile academic hospitals including Johns Hopkins Hospital, the Cleveland Clinic and the Mayo Clinic.
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Dr. David Latter, director of M.D. admissions and student finances at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto in Canada, says the school regularly places students into competitive U.S. residency programs.
Other Benefits of Med School Abroad
Dr. Rocio Salas-Whalen, a U.S. endocrinologist who earned her medical degree in Mexico, says a potential benefit of attending a non-U.S. medical school is lower tuition, since some international med schools cost less than comparable U.S. schools.
However, the process of taking and passing U.S. medical licensing exams can be a bit complex for foreign medical students. Preparing for and completing the exams is not an automatic feature of foreign medical schools’ curricula, whereas prep for the exams is built into the U.S. med school experience, observes Salas-Whalen.
On the plus side, experts say attending a foreign medical school offers the opportunity to gain cultural awareness, foreign language skills and even clinical experience with diseases and conditions that are rare in the U.S., such as tetanus and tuberculosis.
“Moving to a whole new country to study medicine can be a challenging but immensely rewarding experience,” Latter wrote in an email.
Texas-based pediatrician-turned life coach Dr. Uchenna Umeh, known as “Dr. Lulu,” says U.S. med school hopefuls who are interested in foreign med programs need to think carefully about whether they are prepared to spend several years immersed in another culture.
“You have to figure out, before you get all excited, do you want to go to a country with different food and different cultures?” she says, adding that U.S. foreign exchange students at the Nigerian school where she earned her medical degree often arrived without knowing much about the country. “People should learn about where they want to go.”
She emphasizes that there are some outstanding international medical schools and that students who choose one should understand that they will be learning lessons about both medicine and the host nation during their education.
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Considering Medical School Abroad? Here’s What to Know originally appeared on usnews.com
