The Student Room Group

prague medical school

after doing a bit of resaerch im still a little confused at the policy of this school. i believe that although its taught in english you have to learn the language as you go along for you clinial years is this true ??

if so , how fluent do you have to be ???
if there are any people out there who are actually in their 4th / 5th years plz come forward, because ive heard that their is a big drop out rate at the third year.

if so its very risky to fo for english student , becase u''l be left with half a degree.

also is there any chance that you can transfer to a uk med school after third year ????

somebody clarify please!!

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Reply 1
You need to be fluent enough to take history from your patients (do not expect them to know English).

Czech language is difficult to learn (it is very very similar to Polish so that is how I can form an opinion). I would strongly advise you get yourself a book and some cds if you have not done so yet and familiarise yourself with it a bit so you can decide if you are willing to sweat learning it.
Reply 2
Well, Charles Prague Medical School is excellent, but I think you should spend a year there so that you learn a language, and then maybe even join the czech programme(where there is not a tuition fee) than the english one.
Reply 3
There are quite a few threads floating around about Prague, and the general consensus is that it is very expensive, if you can afford it go for it. But it's very difficult and most people would opt for reapplying to British medical schools as opposed to going to Prague.

Saying that though, I have a friend who is in Prague studying medicine and she's loving it. Although she can get homesick at times! Personally it isn't for me. I don't know about learning Czech but I imagine it makes sense doing if you're living in that country! Neither can I comment on the drop out rates.
Reply 4
ive heard alot of bad stories about prague.. students dropping out due to the difficulty of the course, being homesick etc. U get lessons in latin too i think and u have to be quite fluent in their language by the 3rd year. Im going to prague on the 13th to do the exam, if u want to apply there the deadline was august 15th. But if i were you i would quickly phone them up, and get all ur papers together if they ask for them. Check this website for more info :

http://www.lf2.cuni.cz/Studium/pr/entproc.htm
Reply 5
The course is extremely difficult, much harder than here so don't go expecting it to be an easy option. An ex of mine studied there for 2 years before deciding to come back here for medicine, he used to laugh at how easy it was here on a grad course compared to over there so that should give you an idea of the difficulty. He had to start from 1st year again though as there is no chance of a transfer at any point and he only got on a grad course because he had another degree already. Like others have said you have to be fluent by clinicals but you do get lessons in the language throughout pre-clinicals. I'm not sure about drop out rates but a lot of people end up repeating years, there is even a section in the prospectus about repeating because so many people do. You also have to consider job prospects after graduating as that kind of thing is changing quite a lot at the mo. Currently if you come from a non EU country even if you trained here you can't really get a job here after the foundation years. So, I wouldn't be that surprised if in a few years you couldn't get a job here if you had trained in another country.
Reply 6
but guys( in particular alkaeda ) that link 2 posts above says you should have applied by aug 15th - is that for entry this october or next october . if it is for 2007its quite early isnt it ??!!
Reply 7
The pass rate is about 50%, which worries me as I've got an offer there!
Reply 8
asjad_03
but guys( in particular alkaeda ) that link 2 posts above says you should have applied by aug 15th - is that for entry this october or next october . if it is for 2007its quite early isnt it ??!!


its for THIS october, if u wana go there this year i would get on the phone ASAP!
Reply 9
does anyone know the site for past papers for the admissions exam into prague? i had it but lost it :frown:
Reply 10
I smell a Medlink/Medsix student. I asked some final year medical students and SHOs after I thought I'd apply there and they basically said don't go because:
1. The degree isn't fully recognised over here, even if you do get an MD.
2. Czech is hard to learn and the dialects from patients make it difficult to understand, most of the nurses therefore view you as irrelevent and poo-poo you.
3. Prague is about as exciting as doing your laundry for a student.
4. Getting into the British healthcare system for employment is very difficult as you're not automatically employed by the NHS, so you have to join after doing your initial training in Prague.
5. The country is politically unstable.

If you want a good uni, find one here - you'll have to do the UKCAT for all of them and the BMAT for the London triangle unis.
Reply 11
lol ouch. Sounds about right though...

PS. Did you get in? ie. pass the admissions test?
Reply 12
exam is 12/13th sept
Reply 13
O right. There was an admissions test through medsim this year, though.
Reply 14
alkaeda - so if u pass the test well will u be starting and prague - is it octocber 2006 or oct 2007 - or do they even start in october ??
Reply 15
oct 2006, but i dont really wana go.
Reply 16
is the course for 7 years? and after you get a md do you get a job in the nhs back in england?
Reply 17
wasnt the exam to get in ages ago
Reply 18
Spacecam

1. The degree isn't fully recognised over here, even if you do get an MD.

4. Getting into the British healthcare system for employment is very difficult as you're not automatically employed by the NHS, so you have to join after doing your initial traini


As Spacejam mentions, you will have to ensure that the course you take in Prague is recognised over in the UK if you plan to return after medical school. Also, it's worth bearing in mind that although you may get an equivalent (some would argue better) medical education in Prague, many of your future colleagues may not regard you with the equivalent regard simply because you didn't follow the same training as them.

Financially speaking, I very much doubt that you will spend more in Prague than you do in the UK. The tuition fees are high but the cost of living is so low there so it will balance out.
Reply 19
can someone answer my question. If you go to prague from the uk and then finish the course there can you get a job back in the uk. Also how many years is the course.