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Originally Posted by Back_To_School
Hi all.
This is my first post after finding this great forum 
Are there any CU students about that can answer a few questions please? |
Welcome to the forum.
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Is only the 1st faculty CA approved or all three?
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Yes, only the 1st faculty is CA-approved.
[quote]I know this question has popped up at least once before, but I didn't see a definitive answer. How do the faculties differ apart from offering slightly different subjects and being based at different hospitals? [/quote/
Well the main differences you've answered yourself. Also the First faculty is quite spread out unlike the other two (where classes are conducted in a single building). The primary difference is that they offer slightly different subjects. It's something like the Oxford schools of medicine or the University of California schools (UCSD, UCB, UCLA,UCSC etc.)
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Are there different teaching styles as in PBL and traditional between the three?
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Only the third faculty follows the PBL approach whereas the 1st and 2nd facs. follow the traditional approach.
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I like the look of the 2nd faculty Motol hospital, but I only live round the corner from the 1st faculty so i was just wondering are the faculties geared up towards different nationalites like the 1st for Americans, so more USLE Orientated and the 2nd more for UK students or does it really not matter.
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Well the 1st faculty probably has the most diversity (from malaysians, to botswanians, to british, to americans). The 2nd fac. in general has a majority of british students. And the 3rd. fac. has a majority of scandinavian and portuguese students. None of the faculties are USMLE oriented (as they're geared towards the European medical exams). But I would recommend the 1st fac. if you're interested in preparing for the USMLEs (as they are quite a few americans in the fac.)
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Is the 1st really more prestigious? Not that I really care for that sort of thing.
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The 1st is known as "more" prestigious amongst the three due to it's early existence (645 years ago). Also the 1st fac. has a lot more subjects in the first three years than the other two faculties. From the third year on, all the faculties pretty much have the same classes (but again there might be minute differences such as more classes). The 1st and 2nd faculties are said to be quite "stringent" in almost everything (it's more in the 1st fac. as it has a lot more students than any other faculty). I don't know about the other faculties, but the First Fac. also has a lot of bilateral agreements with many other countries (US, Australia, and in Europe) in terms of research and clinical in some (for eg. it's affiliation with the Mayo clinic in the US; University of Liverpool in UK etc).
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I'm from the UK if that matters at all regarding the suitability of the faculties.
Any help is appreciated.
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Well it all ultimately depends on you and your future goals. If you want to return to the UK for sure after you medical education, then you can go to the 2nd fac. But if you're not sure, i.e. if you want to keep your options open (Whether you want to go to the US or UK), then I would recommend the 1st fac. as it's is recognized by almost every country. The only primary criteria you should consider is where you want to practice. If you want to practice in Europe, then all three faculties are very good; if in the US (then only the 1st fac.)
Good luck with your decision, and if you have any more questions I'd be more than happy to answer them. And if you don't mind me asking, do you actually live in Prague? (because you mentioned that you live around the corner from the first fac.)