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?

Is only the 1st faculty CA approved or all three?

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?

Are there different teaching styles as in PBL and traditional between the three?

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.

Is the 1st really more prestigious? Not that I really care for that sort of thing.

I'm from the UK if that matters at all regarding the suitability of the faculties.

Any help is appreciated.

__________________
Going back to school Sep08 after many years away to do A-levels.

Quite fancy going to the Charles University as I have lived in Prague for 3 years and love the place. Just need to find £60,000 from
somewhere

Welcome to the forum.

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.)

Only the third faculty follows the PBL approach whereas the 1st and 2nd facs. follow the traditional approach.

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.)

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).

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.)

Hi shrey

Thanks alot for taking the time out to answer my questions in such detail. I'm sure you don't have that much spare time if what I read on someones blog relating to the workload at Charles is anything to go by.

Yes I live on Stepanska, near the Irish pub, which I thought was near the majority of the 1st Fac. buildings. There are certainly a lot of hospitals and medical establishments near by.

I would very much like to keep as many options open as possible in relation to working in the UK/USA after graduating so the first Fac probably seems the best option. I will probably apply to all three though and who knows, the other two might get certified by the time I'm there anyway.

Is it at all possible to do rotations in the Motol hospital, or at least a few, even though you're in the 1st faculty as I keep hearing how great the facilities are there?

I am returning to the UK in September to attend college to get my A-levels, but I was planning on applying to TCU during my AS levels as I've been studying at home for the last 6 months and am quite confident that I'll be able to pass the entrance exam this time next year so if get in I won't bother doing my A2s unless they say it's a requirement.

Any advice on subjects I should get a head start in. My Czechs ok, but I have never studied Latin in my life and I've been having browse through anatomy for a little while. Perhaps histology or something?

Thanks

__________________
Going back to school Sep08 after many years away to do A-levels.

Quite fancy going to the Charles University as I have lived in Prague for 3 years and love the place. Just need to find £60,000 from
somewhere

Stepanska st brings back memories! I lived on Mala Stepanska (the little alley up by the chinese restaruant, on the way to the school and the tram stop), and on Stepanska up at that busy intersection above the bank, across from the shoe store...

Man I miss Prague!

I actually do live on Mala Stepanska and the chinese restaraunt is now an Erotic Video Store No kidding!

__________________
Going back to school Sep08 after many years away to do A-levels.

Quite fancy going to the Charles University as I have lived in Prague for 3 years and love the place. Just need to find £60,000 from
somewhere

An erotic video store? As if that town doesn't have enough of those.

I lived off of that chinese food, I don't know what I would do there now. Still, I had a blast in that town, and would love to visit again. Enjoy it while you are there

I think you can do your rotations in Motol hospital in the 5th or 6th year. I met a 5th year student who's doing something like that...

yes stepanska is quite close to the faculty buildings....i live in Vysehrad (which is a metro stop away from IP but i prefer the trams for some reason...it's just 5 stops away from Karlovo Namesti)....so if you don't mind me asking, how come you're in prague? as in are/were you doing any other course?

That's good news that it's possible to do the rotations at Motol.

I know Vysehrad quite well as I used to take my A-level books up there in the Summer and just sit on a bench overlooking the city to do some studying which was nice. Apparently that long bridge that has the metro in it is a real popular place for people to jump off which is a bit depressing.

I moved over here 3 years ago as my girlfriends Czech and I can do my job anywhere as long as I have internet access as I'm a professional gambler and a horse racing tipster believe it or not

I'm not enrolled on any courses at the moment. I started thinking about medicine alot again last year year and I thought I would get the A-level books in Chemistry, Biology and Physics to see if I thought there was a realistic chance of getting top grades in them and just to get back in the habit of studying as if I couldn't dedicate enough time to them then was little chance of me getting through med school. Especially a heavily theory based course with a lot of oral exams like at Charles.

I am actually going back to the UK tomorrow for a month or two to see my family and talk to the college I went to a few years ago about doing my A-levels. Ideally I want to do them all in one year, but I don't think they offer that option for Chemistry so I might end up there for either 2 years, or if it's possible to, I'll see if Charles will take me with only AS levels. I know the entrance exam is based on A2s, but I'll be upto that level without a problem anyway this time next year with home studying hopefully.

I might need a little while anyway to get the tuition fees together, but I'm now completely determined to get to medical school and I really don't fancy Poland that much although there med schools are quality and there is no way that I'm spending 6 years in Hungary. The girlfriend wouldn't move there anyway as she's a teacher here and she's also studying for her PhD at Charles as well.

__________________
Going back to school Sep08 after many years away to do A-levels.

Quite fancy going to the Charles University as I have lived in Prague for 3 years and love the place. Just need to find £60,000 from
somewhere

Wow that's quite a story. I don't exactly know how the british system works, but most of my friends tell me that the entrance acc. to them is based on the Standard A levels. In fact, almost all my british friends only did A1 (or something like that). It's very basic chem., bio., and phys. (or math). If you take math for an option, it's a joke coz it's just a bunch of algebra, algebra 2 (american standard) and a bit of geometry, sequences, and probability here and there.

Anyway the best advice I can give you is to take the entrance exam as soon as possible as you have a much better chance of getting through. And applying through an agency is another advantage (although it is quite expensive and not the best alternative). The reason I didn't choose Hungary and Poland for my medical education is mainly due to the language. Learning those languages is actually quite worse (as Polish is one of the hardest European languages and Hungarian...well it's just limited to that one country and isn't related to any other except probably to turkish and finnish).

Emphasis on language shouldn't be a top priority in med school (although there are many who can balance out both) as med school is quite intensive (i'm sure you know that already). So I was pretty much left out with the CR and Slovakia and the CR has a much better economic standing and a world-wide reputation for their high academic standards.

Good luck (hodně štěstí)with your choice!

I see that yall are talking about Charles University and I have a question about the faculty in Hradec Kralove. I know that only the first faculty is CA-approved but is Hradec Kralove seeking approval? Is it accredited in any or all of the other states?

Thanks?