Is studying medicine abroad a bad idea?

Hi,

I was wondering whether anyone within the TSR community is studying Medicine abroad. I am from the UK and found that other European universities could be a good option if I fail to get into medical school in the UK this year as an alternative to a gap year.


From what I can see the pros:

- Still get a GMC approved medical degree so after 6years you can apply to finish training in the UK.
- Get to experience a new culture
- The medical school takes a lot of international students every year

Cons:

- i'm not sure how finance works, it will probably be much harder without student finance.
- although the course is taught in English I am worried about the quality of english/ teaching

(There probably more pros and cons I haven't thought about)
Could people help me either evaluate this is an option, or if anyone can help me by giving me information about their experience doing a degree abroad, that would be great

I think it is great idea and after doing a lot of research I am applying to Czech Republic. The facilities at the Czech universities are fantastic and I am looking forward to the experience of really living in other country.

Plus if i graduate I will have a degree that is recognised all over the world.

True, are you worried about the language barrier and quality of teaching etc?

The idea that the quality of teaching is going to be lower just because it is not the UK could be seen as rather demeaning to those professors who are not from anglophone countries. The father of heredity genetics (Mendel) was in fact Czech. I am certain there are a lot of UK academics who look rather ordinary to some of the professors in the likes of Charles University (which is higher ranked than many UK universities despite only some of their research being published in English).

I have been to Czech before and there was no language barrier as everyone spoke great English. All the academics are fully fluent in English. They have been teaching medicine in English for well over twenty years now.

To be honest I am looking forward to learning Czech especially as it might make me popular with the local ladies

Apologies if I sounded as though I was undermining the professors. That wasn't at all my intention.

I have spoken to a friend who did her medical degree in English abroad (not Czech so I can't compare) and she told me *some* of the professors quality of English wasn't as good as she had initially anticipated. This of course doesn't make them bad teachers, it was just in reference to their restricted vocabulary. Therefore, it is a worry for me in regards to whether I will be able to communicate my ideas properly to all members of staff.

I wish you the best of luck applying and I hope you enjoy your studies there

Where is she studying? I think there has been too much of a view that all European universities are the same. There are some diploma mills in Bulgaria and Romania accepting students with really poor grades and you just have to look at some of those agencies charging an arm and a leg to see clearly that there is something fishy going on.

I have decided to go for those in the latest world rankings as I want to go to a university where my degree is not laughed at when I put it on my cv.

Italy.

Hi,

I was wondering whether anyone within the TSR community is studying Medicine abroad. I am from the UK and found that other European universities could be a good option if I fail to get into medical school in the UK this year as an alternative to a gap year.


From what I can see the pros:

- Still get a GMC approved medical degree so after 6years you can apply to finish training in the UK.
- Get to experience a new culture
- The medical school takes a lot of international students every year

Cons:

- i'm not sure how finance works, it will probably be much harder without student finance.
- although the course is taught in English I am worried about the quality of english/ teaching

(There probably more pros and cons I haven't thought about)
Could people help me either evaluate this is an option, or if anyone can help me by giving me information about their experience doing a degree abroad, that would be great

I have been to Czech before and there was no language barrier as everyone spoke great English. All the academics are fully fluent in English. They have been teaching medicine in English for well over twenty years now.

Its different talking to people as a tourist and different to talk to them as a doctor. Most of them speak English well enough to explain directions or chat over a cup of tea, but bear in mind that hospital setting is much, much different.
I am not trying to put you off by any means, but you have to bear in mind that you will have to learn Czech and you will have to be more or less quite good at it.

Also, facilities may be quite good, but unfortunately the mentality in Eastern Europe is different to the one you are used to. I recently heard quite a lot of good things about Czech doctors, so maybe that country finally decided to step out of Middle Age, but overall don't expect to learn too much about empathy, communication skills and well, respect for the patient.

Hi,

I was wondering whether anyone within the TSR community is studying Medicine abroad. I am from the UK and found that other European universities could be a good option if I fail to get into medical school in the UK this year as an alternative to a gap year.


From what I can see the pros:

- Still get a GMC approved medical degree so after 6years you can apply to finish training in the UK.
- Get to experience a new culture
- The medical school takes a lot of international students every year

Cons:

- i'm not sure how finance works, it will probably be much harder without student finance.
- although the course is taught in English I am worried about the quality of english/ teaching

(There probably more pros and cons I haven't thought about)
Could people help me either evaluate this is an option, or if anyone can help me by giving me information about their experience doing a degree abroad, that would be great

I know this is an old thread but I was wondering if anyone else was considering an option like this. I have received an offer to study medicine, however, if results day goes wrong this doesn't seem like a terrible idea.

Has anyone looked into this? Or are there any people who were originally from the UK and are currently studying internationally? It would be great to hear of peoples experiences and more ideas on it.

I'm from the UK and studying at Charles University. If you have any questions I'd be happy to answer. I also have friends in other Czech Universities too.

Hi!

Did you apply through an agency or directly? I'm really confused as to how to filter through universities as there are so many.

I'm assuming you take the medicine course in English, do you find there are lots of international people on the course or is it predominantly people from Czech?
Is it easy to get around and communicate with people? Are you expected to learn Czech for the clinical years and how much support do you get for this?

Also, as another member mentioned above- do you know how BREXIT will affect the GMC approved degree?

Hi!

Did you apply through an agency or directly? I'm really confused as to how to filter through universities as there are so many.

I'm assuming you take the medicine course in English, do you find there are lots of international people on the course or is it predominantly people from Czech?
Is it easy to get around and communicate with people? Are you expected to learn Czech for the clinical years and how much support do you get for this?

Also, as another member mentioned above- do you know how BREXIT will affect the GMC approved degree?