HOW
COST
USA vs. INTERNATIONAL MED SCHOOLS
There are only 10,000 or so spots available in US medical schools every year and 2000 DO spots. About 50,000 applications go out every year, so 38,000 people have to figure something else out. Some wait for the next application year, some do research to beef the resume, some retake the MCAT, some do Masters programs with the promise of an interview, and another some apply to international medical schools.
The internatinoal schools most attended by US citizens are found in the Caribbean and in Mexico. It is “easier” to get in to these schools because there are less applicants and their requirements for minimum MCAT and GPA requirements are lower than ALL US med schools. Here are some pro's and con's that I've experienced and heard about while going to an international university.
International Schools
- Pros
- If accepted you can start the journey toward an MD.
- You get to move to another country and experience the culture there (benefit for the adventurous).
- Clinical sites are located in the US in multiple states and you can usually pick where you want to go and for how long.
- You learn all the same stuff that US med students do and you take all the same licensing test
- Con's
- Accelerated doesn't mean you graduate sooner (Ross adds an extra semester of pre-clinical prep that pushes back the time line so you will finish clinicals when everyone else does that went to a "traditional" school.
- You don't get summers off at "accelerated" med schools.
- The price is more expensive than a state school like University of Arizona, but pretty average to the private schools.
- Some international schools are not accredited by the National Board of Education so you will have to pull out "private" student loans as opposed to government handled student loans. There are about 4 schools right now, whose students receive government loans; Ross, St. George, etc.
INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITIES
Click the picture below to see a pretty good list of international universities. The link takes you to valuemd.com. It is a website / forum for medical students. A lot of international med students post stuff on there. Be careful because there are some real bitter and negative comments from people on there. Some of it is super situational and doesn't relate to how everyone else views or experiences it. But for the most part it gives you a lot of good insight on choosing to study internationally.
