Why one should study in Poland

[ginlolay]

As promised, I will now try to list the reasons for studying in Poland.
I invite everybody to contribute to expanding this list.

We should strive to broaden our intellectual horizon. Living in Poland will do it.
YouTube - Americans are NOT stupid - WITH SUBTITLES

One could learn Poland's history
YouTube - Polish History in 10 minutes

Polish food is great
YouTube - TVPL24 sonda: Polskie jedzenie

Jazz is still performed in Poland, unlike the US
YouTube - Big Band Katowice - Sorcerer

One could learn another foreign language, at least to be able to sing
YouTube - Anglik spiewa po Polsku budka suflera - jolka jolka

And understand Polish movies, which are great
YouTube - The Best Of Polish Films

Attend cultural events, like music concerts, including foreign
YouTube - Omega Gyongyhaju lany

Including American jazz
YouTube - Miles Davis - Warsaw 1988

And meet Polish girls, which are most beautiful
YouTube - Because I'm Polish

And perhaps fall in love there
YouTube - From Poland with love

[bigndude]

So the because I'm Polish video is representative of the country, and why one should study there? Uhuh. Not the quality of education? Or the price?

[ginlolay]

So the because I'm Polish video is representative of the country, and why one should study there? Uhuh. Not the quality of education? Or the price?

If you have access to a video better portraying Polish women, you are welcome to post it.
Quality of education: it will be self-study. But aren't the first 2 years in US schools self-study too? Regarding distractions, like classes, lectures, etc. in Poland- US schools have them too. To name a few: the newer, inefficient methods of education, such as problem-based learning, or the so-called organ systems; the increasing focus on unimportant areas such as anatomy and genetics.

[Eternalstudent]

Heh so you can become an MD and 10 years down the road laugh at all the people who did the rat race killed themselves volunteering, maintaing 4.0 GPA and doing research, while you sat in the center of a quaint European town sipping beer at the beer gardens, earning your MD in a slightly more relaxed fashion :D.

[ginlolay]

Not quite so simple, but true in a way.
In medical school there is a rather thin line or margin that separates an A student from a dropout. Therefore, not much is allowed in the way of sipping the beer or relaxing. Furthermore, when applying for residency, one is judged by the Step 1 score (which in my opinion is wrong). It is not very relaxing, I guess, trying to pass the local exams, tests, etc. while studying for Step 1. However, the availability of excellent, short books makes the task for studying for Step 1 equally difficult (or easy if you like) in the US as elsewhere. It does not matter whether local teachers teach you anything or not.

[Cetacea]

Ginolay in what world are areas such as anatomy and genetics unimportant to medicine?

Forgive me for saying but you seem to be answering 'Reasons to Study in Poland' with everything except your brain. You didn't once discuss academics, quality of teaching, clinical rotations, etc. Does it perhaps matter that in some schools the cadaver/student ratio is 1:20? Does the brain drain of Poland's most competent and skilled physicians to higher paying countries adversely effect the quality of medical training? Does it matter that some schools seem to be taking on an unusually large amount of students without consideration of the fact they've already reached their capacity? Does it also matter that large tuition increases can happen quite suddenly and students can't do anything about it? Is it maybe noteworthy to know that as a student wanting to come back to Canada or the U.S., it is completely up to you to find and secure clinical electives - you will receive zero help in this endeavor so transitioning home may not be very smooth.

I do agree with you though, Poland is what you make of it. It's a nice country with a rich history and culture. Oh yeah, and the girls are cute. But you have to ask yourself - are those really the things you should be focused on during medical school? If you have enough time to chat up the girls and hang out at jazz clubs, how well are you going to do on your USMLE? Your 'Reasons to Study in Poland' should have a thing or two about the actual studies to be undertaken, don't you think?

[ginlolay]

In the world as we know it.
Anatomy plus neuroanatomy should not take longer than 15 weeks together. If you choose specialties like ortho, surgery, ENT, neurology, and especially radiology, then you will really learn it as needed.
Want to look inside cadavers? Good idea. Help with the autopsies in pathology lab.
Studying genetics is in my opinion a waste of time. Read what lab tests it offers and know the basic principles, unless you want to do research in that field. Unfortunately, there is increased focus on genetics in US schools.
No, in med school you do not focus on girls, nation's history, or attending cultural events. But it is nice to know those things are there. It creates the atmosphere. Now think of spending 2 years in a dorm in a banana republic, or living in a place where every other female is a fatty boomba.

[bigndude]

I think the area around a med school, as ginlo says is sort of important. For once I agree with him, that its nice to have those things there. Talk to US med students and they will tell you its a bad idea to spend you days doing nothing except studying and being a med student, your a human being first and a med student second, some students like to say. You have to sometimes let yourself go out and have a good time, go shopping, do something not related to medicine. If you don't odds are you will suffer burn out. If one can study in a beer garden, why not do it? Its good to be able to have that type of focus. Going to jazz clubs is also not a bad thing once in a while. In med school as in life, its all about balance. For the 6 year program people who go out of high school, they may struggle with that. For 4 year program people after college, the balance should be easier to find.

You do raise some valid points though Cetacea, that some schools have problems, emphasis on some. Some schools have a brain drain issue, some schools have issues with cadavers and so on an so forth. In Poland you will largely be on your own to get a residency. However getting electives is another situation where some of the time the school does nothing, some of the time, they do help you (see UJ and their clinical 4th year in Cali).

The question with all of this thus becomes as ginlo said, 2 years in the Carib, in an impoverished area many times? Or 4 years in Europe? Each has its pluses and minuses and its every persons own decision where to go and what is best for them.

[Dilli6]

I havent yet met a single student who got into medicine in their respective countries down here and yet chose to study here (only been here 1 year). The bottom line is that we are all down here because we didnt get into med school back home.

[bckwood]

In the world as we know it.
Anatomy plus neuroanatomy should not take longer than 15 weeks together. If you choose specialties like ortho, surgery, ENT, neurology, and especially radiology, then you will really learn it as needed.
Want to look inside cadavers? Good idea. Help with the autopsies in pathology lab.
Studying genetics is in my opinion a waste of time. Read what lab tests it offers and know the basic principles, unless you want to do research in that field. Unfortunately, there is increased focus on genetics in US schools.
No, in med school you do not focus on girls, nation's history, or attending cultural events. But it is nice to know those things are there. It creates the atmosphere. Now think of spending 2 years in a dorm in a banana republic, or living in a place where every other female is a fatty boomba.

Didn't you quote Poznan as being one of the worst med schools in the world in another thread?

[Eternalstudent]

One of the worst in the world hell no. Are there plenty of better schools in western Europe, North America, Austraulia ect? - yes. If you look past the negatives ie expect to self study medicine, then Poland is not a bad choice due to the culture and surroundings you can have alot of fun in your free time.

[bckwood]

To name a few: the newer, inefficient methods of education, such as problem-based learning, or the so-called organ systems; the increasing focus on unimportant areas such as anatomy and genetics.


How are these methods inefficient?

[bckwood]

Not quite so simple, but true in a way.
In medical school there is a rather thin line or margin that separates an A student from a dropout. Therefore, not much is allowed in the way of sipping the beer or relaxing. Furthermore, when applying for residency, one is judged by the Step 1 score (which in my opinion is wrong). It is not very relaxing, I guess, trying to pass the local exams, tests, etc. while studying for Step 1. However, the availability of excellent, short books makes the task for studying for Step 1 equally difficult (or easy if you like) in the US as elsewhere. It does not matter whether local teachers teach you anything or not.

Those short books you mention are worthless unless you have some sort of base layer to understand the basics of the subject that your studying.