Medical University of Warsaw

[smileygirl]

I have been trying to find out if the Medical University of Warsaw is an accredited school in the US. Does anyone have any information about this? Thanks so much!

[Miklos]

I have been trying to find out if the Medical University of Warsaw is an accredited school in the US. Does anyone have any information about this? Thanks so much!

Accredited in what sense?

No foreign school is accredited in the U.S. (Puerto Rico is an exception, depending on whether you consider it part of the U.S. or not; Canada's medical schools are accredited by the equivalent organization.)

[smileygirl]

I thought foreign schools had to be accredited in order to be able to go back to the US to practice. But I think I'm figuring out that as long as I pass the USMLE, I will be okay??? Is this correct?

[wolfvgang22]

There will be a regional accreditation body that accredits the med school in it's own country or region of countries. Accreditation is a good thing, and most states won't approve a school that is not accredited.

Your question pertains to the word "approved", as in approved for licensure, approved for clinicals, approved for residency in an individual state in the USA.

What you want to know is if this medical school is approved by individual state medical boards for licensure of the school's graduates. You may also want to know if you can do clinicals and then a residency in a certain state from this medical school.

The way you find out is:
1. Ask your school.
2. Get confirmation by looking at the licensure rules on individual state medical board websites. ( http://www.fsmb.org/ has a directory. Click on State Board info on the left, then click on the highlighted words "Board Directory" on the page that loads)

The state boards will have a list of schools that are banned, and schools that are ok, what a school needs to have to be ok if it's not listed either way in their licensure rules. You can also call the individual state medical board and ask them for info.

Whatever you do, do not neglect step 2. Even if somebody here tells you "yes, Warsaw is good to go in all 50 states!" Shady schools may not tell you the whole truth. Solid schools will. And sometimes solid schools will leave out important information you could have used yesterday.
Good luck!

[neilc]

I thought foreign schools had to be accredited in order to be able to go back to the US to practice. But I think I'm figuring out that as long as I pass the USMLE, I will be okay??? Is this correct?

each state has its own laws...the bare minimum for returning to the states is passing of USMLE steps 1 and 2, and a diploma from an IMED listed school (in other words, you need an ECFMG cert as the minimum).

however, this minimum level of certification means very little. after this point, it is up to the states to decide whether you are qualified or not to practice there.

so, the best bet is to stick with the standard, fully approved schools. fortunately, there is a large list...for english speaking students, it mainly consists of sgu, ross, auc and saba in the carib, the irish schools, the UK schools (pretty tough to get into), australian schools, isreal schools and select other programs in europe (ie malta and a few 6 year english programs in EE). if you are considering the english language programs in poland, they are NOT approved in all states. it is likely a far better bet to consider the other schools mentioned above, or tostick with a 6 year, fully approved program in EE if you are specifically interested in this area of the world.

the problem is that it is difficult to predict what will happen in the future, as far as licensing goes. the safe bet is to go to a school that is already well positioned, with licensed docs in all the states, and no barriers to licensure anywhere (or at least minimal barriers, as certain states will always be relatively hostile to us). another problem is that some states with less resources are considering the adoption of other larger states (ie. California) lists of approved schools. so, even if CA is not a state you want to work in, the state you like may very well adopt CA's list...

so, the bottom line....stick with the know, established entities that do not have ANY limitations. the other schools simply have too many risks, and too many limitations to be anything other than a last resort.