Stay Home or go Foreign

[canpol]

Hello,

I graduated high school last year and attended University of Toronto for the past year under the life sciences program. I achieved an 3.7 average with chemistry, physics, biology, calculus, statistics, and sociology. I applied to Poznan University and am waiting for the interview. If you were to put yourself in my shoes, would you stay and continue the studies at University of Toronto, or go to Polska and continue the education there but under a different enviroment. Also I speak polish very well and have a lot of my family there. Please let me know of your opinions as I'm having second thoughts about this whole process. As well I plan on returning to Canada after I graduate in Polska. I know it's a long and hard process but i'll do it if need be. ......................thanks

[devildoc8404]

Coming back to Canada from overseas is not automatic. Review that subject at length in this (and other) forums before you decide to bail on your education in North America.

[canpol]

I've heard somewhat of the path back to canada. I heard it was either one year to three years of clinical rotations or so. But that information is very vague to me.

I'm having some trouble finding those threads, can you please provide me with a link to one of those threads? It would be much appreciated.......................thanks

[Szymonsays]

Hey canpol, i also went to U of T for life sciences (i finished my first year back in April), and i applied to Jagiellonski. I got accepted and i'm going there in September. I'm also Polish and i wanted to go last year, but my parents wanted me to stay home so i could mature an extra year (I would have been 17 for most of the school year due to my late birthday). I heard Jagiellonski and Poznan are the top two medical schools in Poland, but i chose Jagiellonski because i know two girls that went there. One finished a 4 year program and is doing residency here in Ontario. the other one is still in the 6 year program.

Based on what they've told me, getting back to Canada won't be easy but it is doable. The girl in the 4 year program completed the USMLE exams and did two years of residency in the US before applying here. She didn't have to write the MCEEE (sp?) exam that would allow her to gain licensure in Canada because her USMLE scores passed over (but its not the same for every Province), and she decided to try another route in medicine so she's doing an extra year or two in residency.

I'm told the program is great at Jagiellonski, but to come back to North America you will have to PREPARE yourself for the USMLE exams. The profs are pretty good for the most part, but it is a lot of self-learning.

I made my decision to go to Jagiellonski because Krakow is my favourite city in all of Poland, and i have family that live near there.

Good luck with your decision man :)

[AG06]

Hello,

I graduated high school last year and attended University of Toronto for the past year under the life sciences program. I achieved an 3.7 average with chemistry, physics, biology, calculus, statistics, and sociology. I applied to Poznan University and am waiting for the interview. If you were to put yourself in my shoes, would you stay and continue the studies at University of Toronto, or go to Polska and continue the education there but under a different enviroment. Also I speak polish very well and have a lot of my family there. Please let me know of your opinions as I'm having second thoughts about this whole process. As well I plan on returning to Canada after I graduate in Polska. I know it's a long and hard process but i'll do it if need be. ......................thanks

It seems like your first year in college went well. I would recommend staying in Toronto and finishing up your college degree. After that you would have more options. You can even try to get into a med school in Canada. Keep in mind that if you don't get in, you can always start the 4 year MD in Poland.

[Eternalstudent]

Dude stay at U of T all the way. You'll get an MD only one year faster in Poland (1 @ U of T + 6 in Poland, vs 4 x 4) but what are you gong to do after that? stay in Poland and make 700$/month ?? Getting back to Canada is possible but the road is long and all uphill with no guarantees of success. The education system there is also far from perfect. Expect a rude awakening if your used to Canadian style education at U of T. If you have a 3.7 GPA that's good enough to get you in somewhere. keep that up, do well on the MCAT and get some volunteering over the next 3 years and your set to go. Poland should be a last resort, furthermore expect to stay in Europe (ie UK) after the studies since thats the most likely place you'll get job. US is also possible but harder, and then lastly come Canada which is near impossible.

Oh and as the previous poster mentioned you can also do your undergrad at U of T and then do a 4 year medical school in Poland for a grand total of 8 years vs 7 should you leave now. The same negatives apply but you'd have a Canadian B.Sc which is a very good thing to have. Saving a year simply isn't worth all the trouble

[AG06]

Dude stay at U of T all the way. You'll get an MD only one year faster in Poland (1 @ U of T + 6 in Poland, vs 4 x 4) but what are you gong to do after that? stay in Poland and make 700$/month ?? Getting back to Canada is possible but the road is long and all uphill with no guarantees of success. The education system there is also far from perfect. Expect a rude awakening if your used to Canadian style education at U of T. If you have a 3.7 GPA that's good enough to get you in somewhere. keep that up, do well on the MCAT and get some volunteering over the next 3 years and your set to go. Poland should be a last resort, furthermore expect to stay in Europe (ie UK) after the studies since thats the most likely place you'll get job. US is also possible but harder, and then lastly come Canada which is near impossible.

Oh and as the previous poster mentioned you can also do your undergrad at U of T and then do a 4 year medical school in Poland for a grand total of 8 years vs 7 should you leave now. The same negatives apply but you'd have a Canadian B.Sc which is a very good thing to have. Saving a year simply isn't worth all the trouble

Agree all the way !!

[canpol]

well i learn very much easily by myself, but that main point here is that if i go this year to Poznan, when i get accepted:D, then the uncertainty factor would be eliminated and the goal of obtaining that MD would be reached, after years of hard studying. If i were to stay here another three years, get my B.Sc., then go to Poznan, if i don't get accepted here, i would be in the same place as i would be going into the 6 year program but with a canadian B.Sc and a year later. Would a canadian B.Sc. really be that beneficial? In what ways could it help someone with a Polish MD degree?

[Eternalstudent]

The point is that with a Polish MD it is very hard to get back into Canada and it isn't just a function of how well you study. IIRC there are 20 residency spots for IMG's anually in Canada. You'd be competing against 100's if not thousands of applicant's and even then you need the qualifing exams year of supervised residency ect. To put it in perspecive, it is much much harder getting back to Canada than it is getting in to medical school here.

Polish schools are farly easy to get into especially if you have a 3.7 GPA. The selection process occurs during the first 3 years where they weed out 50% of the class easly. A north american MD get's you a highly paid JOB which is the critical piece of the puzzle that's missing from the Polish MD even though the skills of an IMG are on par with that of a north american graduate

The point is that after finishing your undergrad you will have a very easy time getting into either warsaw krakow or Poznan you can pretty much call that a constant. this route will only take you a year longer than if you went right now. On the other hand graduating with a B.Sc gives you the option of going to medical school in Canada which would be the best option by far. Especially since your stats so far are competitive. Should you not get in then you go to Poland and bring all the disadvantages that come with it.

I don't think I can explain this any more clearly. Do what you think is best but seriously consider the consequences and learn the in's and out's of getting back to Canada before you jump ship.

[amoghadam]

Hi EternalStudnet and others;

I've been reading some of your messages and comments regarding getting back to Canada after the Poznan MD program. I am from Canada also, and am hoping that I would be able to get back to Canada for residency. it seems that you have quite a bit of knowledge about this, I'm wondering if you also know about doing the residency in U.S, is that any easier?? or is it even possible if i'm not a U.S resident???


tnx much

[Eternalstudent]

I did some basic research on how to get back to Canada and it's a long process involving several exams and a supervised clerkship to get you "up to speed" and then your allowed to apply for residency. The problem is that they have very few spots for residency. even if you jump all the pre-residency hoops your competing against a whole world of IMG's who also want a piece of the pie. I knew Chinese M.D.'s who were T.A's in some of my courses in undergrad, because they couldn't break into the system.

This is a slightly paradoxical situation because there is a shortage of M.D's in Canada. The only way into Canada is basically to do the USMLE's, finish residency in the US and then come to Canada. The thing is once your out of residency in the US there is no reason to go to Canada. You'll enjoy a much better pay in the US.

The US is alot more relaxed and while the more competitive specialties are hard to get into doing something like IM is relatively easy. As long as you work for it you will get in. The trick is to do really well on step 1 (first try) that will make you or break you