One should question the validity of a medical degree offered by a "medical school" who admits HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES! That's right! If you live in the Czech republic and graduated high school, you will be considered for admission into a full blown, graduate degree program in medicine! Also, the school has absolutely no pre-med course requirements for "foreigners" that the rest of us had to take prior to gaining admission to med school. A "foreign student" must simply take a written exam in biology, chemistry, and either

physics or mathematics – according to individual preference. This is straight from their website! I can see the conversation betwen the admissions director and the applicant. It might go something like this:

AD- "So, are you better at Math or physics?"
Applicant- "Hmmm.. well, I don't like math, so let's go with physics! I took a high school physics class that was pretty cool".

LOL!! What a joke! They also have to interview. Then, after all that rigorous pre-med preparation, they will consider accepting you.

It gets better! If you earned an A and some B's in any Biology, Chemistry, and either physics or math course, you don't have to take the written exam! I can only imagine the caliber of students who enter this program and are allowed to begin seeing patients THEIR FIRST YEAR! I am glad this school isn't in the US. That would be scary.

However, if you are looking for an easy way to get into med school without taking courses like organic chemistry and physics (which are the biggest "weed-out" pre-med undergrad courses in the US and even some carib schools!), you may want to consider Charles University. But, please do not come practice medicine in the US! State medical boards should really consider writing pre-medical education requirements in their regulations. It might prevent otherwise incompetent and lazy students from even being considered for medical licensure in the US. Old habits don't change. Check it out yourself!http://www.lfhk.cuni.cz/Data/files/d...ag/LF-BR-F.PDF

did you get rejected by charles university? well, try spartan university or SMU. they take idiots with degrees.

A very puerile post. (Though not too surprising after neil took you down a notch on the IUHS forum.)

For your elucidation, almost all of Europe (and a good chunk of the world) uses the 6 year medical education program to educate its physicians. The premed courses like o-chem and physics are part of the first year of studies. A large percentage of students fail out in the first several years of medical school, because the academic load is pretty demanding (not unlike US premed classes -- BTW, only the US and Canada use this model of education with the slim exception of a handful of British Graduate Entry Programs).

As far as recognition goes, Charles has been around since the early 14th century. I will barely mentioned that Czech standards of accreditation are considered equivalent to US standards or that hundreds of Czech educated physicians are practicing in the US. Nevermind the fact, that California reviewed the English program and approved it.

All that doesn't mean a thing to you, though, does it?

Those "idiots" have degrees though, gawtti! Many Charles U students only have HIGH SCHOOL diplomas! So, what are they? I wouldn't apply to Charles U. It's an old, otherwise respected university (largely because how old it is), but they have substandard admissions policies, and I suspect the caliber of student entering the Charles University medical program is also substandard for various reasons. Old habits usually don't change. So, there is reason for me to believe that the same substandard students who enter Charles U. , will be substandard physicians when graduating from Charles University. Granted there are probably a few students who completed their pre-med requirements, earned a Bachelor's degree at an accredited university, and decided to enroll at Charles University. These students meet US standards and will most likely be competent US physicians. Howeverm it is doubtlful the others will. That's not being an a**hole, that's just good, old fashioned logic. US schools have pre-med admissions criteria for a reason. If you don't accept that, then you must be a med student at Charles university who got in with a substandard pre-medical education. If that's the case, do the citizens of my country's great 50 states a favor, do not come practice medicine here. Stay in Prague!

For the record, Neil didn't "shut me down". Neil exemplifies why undergraduate education is so important. It is during undergrad years where a student learns the method of inquiry and scientific investigation. Neil finally got it, with much help from me, and began to actually collect data to help support his claims. I applaud his new found responsibility. However, I think it is reasonable to question the caliber of students a university has based on admission criteria. Why doesn't Charles U require a bachelor's degree + 1 yr of Bio, Inorgo, orgo, and physics w/ labs? Could it be because that would limit the number of applicants and people they admit? $$$$ I don't know. Many carib schools, like the one's mentioned above, use a US model for admissions, length of time to earn an MD, and curriculum. Why? Becuase many carib grads want to practice medicine in the US! So, they follow the same standards set forth by US medical schools. However, they are a bit more leniant on admissions. Charles University is not doing that in respect to their MD program. In addition, US citizens are enrolling in Charles U's medical program with the hope of one day practicing medicine in the US. As aresult, grads from Charles U are being considered for licensure in my country. That scares me! There is already a standard set in the US regarding medical education. Charles U is not following that standard in regards to their admissions criterion. However, it appears that their curiculum may be inline with US standards. In regards to other European schools w/ 6 year medical degree programs, that model may work in Europe. However, the US standard is different. Of note, some states do not require 4 years of undergrad education for licensure. This is most likely because there are grads from foreign country models applying for licensure here. However, good luck gaining admission to a US med school without atleast 4 years of undergrad. eduation. I am suggesting that states re-write their regulations for licensure, based on the current US model, and require 4 years of undergrad training, then 4 years of medical training for licensure. Maybe european programs like Charles U will then finally comply with the standard set forth by US medical schools.

Most US medical students have completed a min. of 8 years of post-secondary (high school) education before earning an MD. That is the standard. However, if you go to Charles u., you can do it in less than 6 years! Does anyone see that, at the least, it is unfair. More importantly, a student w/ 8 years education is most likely more competent and definitely more experienced than one w/ 6 years. However, they stand side by side in residency programs. I suppose 2 year and 4 year nursing grads w/ RNs also engage in this sort of discourse. Nevertheless, it is important and worthy of discussion.

the beautiful thing about this thread is that he is making himself look foolish. nobody even has to help him do it!

keep it up, we are all very, very impressed. it is this type of clear thinking that led you to that mecca of medical education, IUHS! bravo!!!

Fine. Let's discuss this.

1. Again, the U.S. model exists solely in North America (with the tiny exception of British Graduate Entry Programs). It seems to work just fine for most of the rest of the world.
2. The University of Missouri - Kansas City offers a track to get a BA/MD in six years. Surprisingly, it is an LCME school
3. The reason it and all the other schools worldwide are able to offer a medical degree in six years, is because it doesn't include a liberal undergraduate education. The medical course is completely focused on science and medicine. European schools, btw, assume that you have learned to read, write and reason by the time you are done with what Americans call "High School" -- actually called "Middle School" in much of Europe.
4. Even considering comparing IUHS to Charles is laughable.

just for the record, 99% of the americans studying in prague have undergrad degrees. i know of one girl that didn't, and she failed out.

but, i see where you are going with this...your assertation is that all 6 year med program grads are inferior to the US grads, right? well, i am sure the english, french, irish, german, australian, indian and swedish grads agree with you! they are woefully underprepared, thanks to not getting the extreme value that those undergrad non-western art history classes added to your education!

i do think it was very, very important in your situation to have an outstanding undergrad degree, however. it is the only degree that will be worth anything to you.

Address the point instead of defending Charles U. and making personal stabs at me and my school. I never mentioned IUHS on this thread. Stick to the topic. The majority of US med schools require 4 years of undergrad an 4 years of graduate training before awarding a MD. There must be a reason for that! Nevetheless, it is the standard. The US school that you cited is an exception. The question is- Should state licensing boards change their regualtions in respect to undergrad training in order to assure a consistent standard of medical education prior to approving licensure? If 6 years is enough education, and I am not saying it isn't, then why do the majority of US schools require 8? As an educator at the undergrad and grad level, I suspect that the US boards and medical schools want to assure that physicians have a strong well- rounded general education, in addition to a strong education in science. Interpersonal communication skills, general business knowledge, humanities, social sciences, and the like all serve to facilitate broad, well rounded critical and practical thinking skills. You may disagree, but I think that is an important component in medical education which culminates in a MD degree.