What is the best route (re: med school), out of these?

Hello everyone :smile:

After conducting some research, I have essentially mapped out some paths. I was wondering which pathway you think would be the best, taking into consideration education quality and probability of getting a FY1/FY2 position. Also, if you feel the urge to add any information, pros/cons of any routes, or ask any questions, etc. please feel free to do so.

N.B.- The costs are pretty rough estimates I quickly conjured up, looking at tuition, and estimating cost of living and room+board. As previously stated, these are rough estimates (probably done in around 5 minutes) and could quite possibly be more (or less, though not likely considering inflation and all that).

Path A
Attend med school in my regional university in the Caribbean (GMC approved) and graduate debt free. (I know going this route is the hardest in terms of being able to specialize in the UK, but I guess the thought of graduating debt free is pretty alluring.)

Path B
Attend med school in Poland and graduate approximately £125,000 in debt.

Path C
Attend med school in Ireland and graduate approximately £225000 in debt.

Path D
Attend med school in the UK and graduate approximately £225000 in debt.

So, that's what I've come up with so far. Thanks for your time, and I look forward to your input. Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated. Once again, thank you so much.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 1

FuzzBuzz

It's funny how you have put $ for the UK when only UK has £!

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Reply 2

collegian

Original post by FuzzBuzz

It's funny how you have put $ for the UK when only UK has £!

That was a mistake, but it's fixed now.

Reply 3

Lionheartat20

Do you definitely meet all the entry requirements for e.g. UK entry academically in particular?
You also need to sit the UKCAT for UK entry for nearly all universities (A handful require the BMAT)

It's pretty competitive here (over 50% of applicants receive no offer) - How does that compare to the Carribbean?

Reply 4

Ronove

Original post by collegian

Hello everyone :smile:

After conducting some research, I have essentially mapped out some paths. I was wondering which pathway you think would be the best, taking into consideration education quality and probability of getting a FY1/FY2 position. Also, if you feel the urge to add any information, pros/cons of any routes, or ask any questions, etc. please feel free to do so.

N.B.- The costs are pretty rough estimates I quickly conjured up, looking at tuition, and estimating cost of living and room+board. As previously stated, these are rough estimates (probably done in around 5 minutes) and could quite possibly be more (or less, though not likely considering inflation and all that).

Path A
Attend med school in my regional university in the Caribbean (GMC approved) and graduate debt free. (I know going this route is the hardest in terms of being able to specialize in the UK, but I guess the thought of graduating debt free is pretty alluring.)

Path B
Attend med school in Czech Republic and graduate approximately £150,000 in debt.

Path C
Attend med school in Poland and graduate approximately £125,000 in debt.

Path D
Attend med school in Ireland and graduate approximately £225000 in debt.

Path E
Attend med school in the UK and graduate approximately £225000 in debt.

So, that's what I've come up with so far. Thanks for your time, and I look forward to your input. Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated. Once again, thank you so much.

This is probably a silly question but do you actually have access to that amount of money? You can't borrow it in the countries you're looking at.

Reply 5

collegian

Original post by Lionheartat20

Yes, the UK universities do in fact accept my Caribbean qualifications as direct equivalent academic qualifications to A levels (they are structured in exactly the same way)
[As you probably know, most of the Caribbean is comprised of former and current British colonies, so the educational system is Identical.]

In fact, the university which I'm referring to originally started out as an external college of the University of London in 1948. Interestingly enough, trained doctors from there were licensed by the GMC to immediately practice in the UK after graduation without having to sit any form of examination whatsoever until 2004, when the whole EU organization came along. Anyway, enough of the history lesson, but I just wanted to give some background info, to put the level of the school into perspective so that it could be more easily compared with schools from the other named regions.

In regards to the acceptance rate of the med school I'm referring to, it's about somewhere from 6-10% as it is the flagship med school for 18 countries (essentially, all English-speaking Caribbean countries).

I'm also well aware of the UKCAT and the BMAT, thank you for asking and ensuring that I was informed though :smile:

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 6

FuzzBuzz

Original post by collegian

That was a mistake, but it's fixed now.

haha.. no worries! btw Good luck with whatever you end up doing, i wannted to do medicine too but now i am sticking with Pharmacy ( that's :eek:

if i get the grades to get into university) xx

Reply 7

Hype en Ecosse

Original post by collegian

In regards to the acceptance rate of the med school I'm referring to, it's about somewhere from 6-10% as it is the flagship med school for 18 countries (essentially, all English-speaking Caribbean countries).

Ah, I've picked up enough from r/medicalschool to know what med school you're talking about!

IMO, it depends how much money you've got and what you want to do in the future. If you want to practice in the US, it would be significantly easier to go to a US med school, otherwise you'll count as an FMG, but obviously that's not one of the options you've put!

My first instinct would be to go for the Caribbean because of the lack of debt, and if the university is GMC accredited, you have the option of coming to practise in the UK like you said. I'm not sure how hard/easy it is to get into F1 as an FMG, though, I have no idea what it's like for an expat. Whereas if you went to a UK med school, then you'd have a bunch of debt, but stand in equal stead with the other UK graduates (you might do so graduating from the Caribbean, but like I said, I really don't know how it works!)