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URGENT: does it matter where you do your clinical years?

Hi,
Could I get some advice on this issue- I'm doing my pre-clinical years of medicine (years 1-3) at a UK uni, but I'll be transferring to a US uni for the final 2 years. The US uni isn't that great, but does it really matter where I do those two years?

I hope to eventually practice in the UK. Please let me know what you guys think.

Reply 1

seaholme

Well you probably know more about this than I do as I've never even heard of it but... is it even possible to do your clinical medicine in the US in that fashion? In the UK it's a final 3 years of clinical medicine, not just two, and the course structure is quite different to the US as medical school is entirely post-graduate for them (from my own understanding) and not undergraduate at all.

Technically I doubt it matters where you do it but you'd have to be doing something equivalent which that doesn't necessarily sound like. Why do you want to go to the US for those two years?

Reply 2

mariananoma

Hi,
Thanks for the reply.
It's not recognized in all 50 states for that reason.
Sorry I think I might have been confusing- what I meant was the first 3 years of the course (which is 2 pre clinical and 1 clinical like in most UK unis) is done in the UK and the rest of the course (years 4 and 5) are done in the USA.
Do you think the UK would still take me despite doing the last 2 years abroad?
Also, if the clinical years don't turn out to be that great in the USA will that affect my job opportunities?

Reply 3

junior.doctor

I have never heard of this before (and I am surprised that it is possible, given that the standard medicine degree in the UK is an undergraduate degree and in the US it is a graduate degree).
I freely admit that I therefore don't know much about it at all.
I would assume though that you would graduate with a degree from a US university?
And I wonder therefore whether you would be expected to do PLAB seeing as you are coming from a non-EU university?

Reply 4

#whatever

Hi!
It shouldn't affect your carrer.

Will you be back to graduate in the UK? I'm asking because you'll need to be ranked among your collegues' class to get the points assigned to the academic part during the access to the foundation programme.
Otherwise, if your universities - due to this exchange programm - can't calculate your decile, you risk to lose many points!

Reply 5

Lionheartat20

More of a concern (in my opinion) is that the vast majority of medical schools - espeically UK ones - will not accept you onto their degree if you have already studied medicine elsewhere. If you have already arranged study elsewhere, I would count your situtation in this too.
Furthermore the UK government subsidies each medical student a lot, so I imagine the universities would only be able to accept you with the anticipation you would qualify as a medical student within the UK. Are you paying international fees or are you a UK student? I ask partly because home students would obviously only pay £9,000 here, but the US course is much more.

Anyway, i've never heard of this happening at all. Why would you want to do your clinical years in the country where you are not planning to work anyway?

Southampton university does a course where German students study for 2 years in the UK, and 3 years in Germany but the students obtain a UK degree and have to fly back to the UK to sit all the exams. This was agreed between the 2 universities; not an individual student.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 6

Brachioradialis

It sounds as though you are going to one of the Caribbean medical schools (just because you mention it's a school not licensed by US states).

If you are intending to return to the UK, be warned that the GMC has not provided full qualification status to practice here in the UK to all of those schools. I'd check very carefully before going.

So, yes, it could matter where you're going. I'm not really sure of the benefit of going to practice in the U.S. if you want to work with British patients?

Reply 7

Zorg

This is the closest thing I can find which the OP speaks of. http://www.intohigher.com/uk/en-gb/our-centres/into-st-georges-university-of-london/study/courses/course-list/international-medicine-bsc-mbbs6.aspx

This course trains individuals with the aim of practicing in the US. It doesn't matter if the US medical degree is completed after a first degree. USA recognises medical degrees obtained outside of the USA, you simply need to take the USMLE.

OP note, the degree linked above if it is what you are talking about, will not get you GMC accreditation and is primarily targeted to individuals aiming to practice in the US.

EDIT: If you google around you'll find a forum which details entering the medical profession in USA as an international medical graduate; IMG. It has apparently become much more difficult.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 8

Okorange

Zorg is correct, I believe the OP is referring to the St. George's program. Essentially you graduate with a SGUL degree from that program so I wouldn't be too concerned if that is what you are referring to. You should be eligible to practice in both the UK and US (US if you did the USMLE and got a residency spot).

Reply 9

Brachioradialis

Huh, TIL. I had no idea there was a British medical degree that incorporated the USMLE.

Reply 10

AnonymousPenguin

Original post by Okorange

You should be eligible to practice in both the UK and US (US if you did the USMLE and got a residency spot).

If the degree is not EU/GMC accredited (probably) you would have to sit the PLAB to practice in the UK and if you did not have an EU passport, you would not be exempt from the resident labour market test. That would make training in the UK rather difficult.

Reply 11

Okorange

Original post by AnonymousPenguin

From the brochure it seems to be GMC accredited as its a SGUL MBBS degree. If you don't hold a EU passport but graduate from a UK medical school you are exempt from the RLMT.

Reply 12

AnonymousPenguin

Original post by Okorange

From the brochure it seems to be GMC accredited as its a SGUL MBBS degree. If you don't hold a EU passport but graduate from a UK medical school you are exempt from the RLMT.

I agree, it's just something that should be checked. AFAIK not only the uni but also the programme has to be accredited - I can't find if that's the case after a quick google.