Thread: Compilation of Important Information for Prospective and Current Students

Why Lublin?

This is the Medical Campus. You should use Google's Street View to get a feel for the school's substantial infrastructure.

Main Medical Campus:
Collegium Pharmaceuticum: at about: 4 Doktor Witolda Chodźki, Lublin, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=4+Dok...ed=0CA4Q8gEwAA
Collegium Universum: at about : 1 Doktor Witolda Chodźki, Lublin, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=1+Dok...ed=0CBgQ8gEwAA
Collegium Anatomicum: at about: 4 Doktor Kazimierza Jaczewskiego, Lublin, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=4+Dok...ed=0CAsQ8gEwAA
Collegium Medicum: at about: 11 Radziwiłłowska, Lublin, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=11+Ra...ed=0CAsQ8gEwAA
PSK-4(aka: Samodzielny Publiczny Szpital Kliniczny nr 4): at about: Doktor Kazimierza Jaczewskiego 8 Lublin, Poland
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Dokto...ed=0CAsQ8gEwAA

Dean's Office and Administration: at about: Aleje Racławickie 1, Lublin, Poland
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Aleje...ed=0CAsQ8gEwAA

The Medical University of Lublin is one of 2 schools in all of Europe that allow and have organized all of years 3 and 4 of your medical education to be completed (at the hospitals listed below) in the United States.
--- So what does this mean? This means that after your second year of medical school, after you take and pass the USMLE step 1 exam, you can leave Poland and return to the USA. Students then complete all of years 3 and 4 in America and then they graduate. I thought this was self explanatory, but apparently it is not.

Going to school at Lublin is a great option that is best used once you exhaust your chances with the osteopathic and big 4 in the Caribbean (St. George, AUC, Ross, SABA).

I just recently started my rotations in the states, and I can tell you that everyone is on the same level when they get here. There will always be gunners who try to make their peers look bad, but ultimately the knowledge from step 1 keeps everyone in the same game.

About the Lublin 4 year program:

Nobody is going to MAKE you do anything. If you are alright with just getting by under the radar, Lublin is not for you. The majority of your education will come from you choosing to take the material seriously, finding study groups to keep focussed, and deciding not to cheat yourself even when the opportunity is there.
One of the biggest differentiators of Lublin to Carib schools, is the final exam policies. In most european schools (including the polish program at Lublin) it is customary to have up two 2 retakes for final exams. The retakes dont get any easier, and, in fact, they are almost always more difficult than the first exam, but they give you a chance. There is no serious threat of "failing out" of Lublin. That being said, about half of my class did not graduate on time- meaning that they repeated enough classes to have to stay longer in Lublin.

Lectures and Labs:
The material covered is all very relevant and important for practicing medicine. If you pay attention, all the high yield items on step 1 are covered in depth. The only, substantial, problem with classes here are the types of questions on the tests. The current format is alot like undergrad type questions (shorter fact based questions and less differentials) and not so much the clinical vignettes that are needed to be comfortable with Step 1.

It is because of this lack of comfort with the test that most MUL students take about 4-6 months off after year 2 to do Kaplan and prep for the step.
Take this into account when scheduling your education.

Rotations:
MUL actually does a pretty great job with setting up rotation schedules. Many Caribbean schools will schedule rotations one at a time at distant hospitals as dictated by availability. This is typically not the case with Hope. For the vast majority, rotation schedules are scheduled for the entire year with little to no discontinuity between rotations. For example, I was just given my 3rd year rotation schedule. I am scheduled to do all of my core electives at Wyckoff Heights MC. Each of my core electives are scheduled back to back for an entire year. The stability that this provides is invaluable, because it allows an active student the opportunity to be very active at the hospital (outreach, research, connections, etc).

Having said all of that, Hope currently only has active rotation spots in the suburbs of Chicago (Adventist Hospital systems in Hinsdale and La Grange), WHMC in NYC, Niagra Falls (only for Family med right now), and they are just about to open spots with Kalieda Health Systems in Buffalo (For electives only).

One must also realize that Lublin and Silesia students are FAR outnumbered by the class sizes at Ross, AUC, AUA, and SABA. All Hope students put together at WHMC make up maybe 15-20 percent of the medical student population (most Hope students are rotating at WHMC), which is dominated by Ross and AUA.

Residency options:

From what I've seen and researched, there is not an additional stigma attached to students coming from Lublin as compared to any other FMG.
In my opinion, scores on Step 1 and 2 are the only significant differentiator between Polish and Caribbean residency applicants.




Biggest Benefits of choosing Lublin:

1) GradPlus Loans - This is a luxury that most Caribbean Medical Schools can not offer. This puts you in the same financial boat as most American Medical Students

2) European Union Certification- By graduating from an EU accredited facility you add an additional layer of confidence that your school is legitimate. In addition, graduates of MUL can practice anywhere in the EU without having to take additional certification exams.

3) Accreditation in all 50 States.

4) Normal sized classes (Typically about 30-40 per year. Vs. the ridiculous 300-400 per class at Ross, AUA, etc.)

5) All students must pass NBME shelf exams (1st year) and BOTH the NBME Step1 (2nd year) and Step2ck (3rd year) comp exams before being allowed to continue on. NO OTHER EUROPEAN SCHOOL IS THIS STRICT yet. (updated as of july 2011)
Note: If students can not pass the nbme step 1 comp exam after their 3rd attempt, they must start clinical rotations in Poland. MULublin will not allow you to sit for the Step 1 exam until you pass the NBME Step 1 comp (the same goes for step 2ck, except that you can continue rotations in the states without worry)



Biggest Disadvantages of choosing Lublin:

1) Not all of your peers will be as serious about their medical education as you think they should be.

2) Cultural and Language barriers- There are some classes (mostly in your first year) where the professor's english skills will not be great. Having said that, it is no different than having a foreign TA teach you chemistry. (Its annoying but not insurmountable).
Ironically, the cultural barrier I speak of in this situation is not Polish, but rather Indian. The vast majority of the American students at Lublin are of Indian-American descent. There can be alot of 'high-school' level drama that may keep you from finding the ideal study group situation (again its annoying but not insurmountable).

3) Poland is cold.

4) Poland is 5000 miles away from your family.






Bottom Line:

If you:
1) have a strong background in Science (Bachelors in Biology etc.)
2) are self motivated and do not require alot of guidance to read and learn material
3) are mentally capable of living 5000 miles away from home
4) WANT TO BE A PHYSICIAN

then Lublin is a smart and very reasonable choice.

Hey there, sorry for the delayed response.

It should not take very long to set up an apartment for renting, but it really depends on what is available. When I was in Lublin, I stayed in an apartment off of Chodzki street, right across from the grocery store. My apartment was basically on the medical campus. They have recently built a ton of new apartments and a huge new Pharmacuticum building which is gorgeous. I wish it was there when I was doing Basic Sci.
Anyway, I would suggest calling TBV. This is the website Domy Studenckie Alfa i Delta przy ul. Chod

Basically any of the apartments in that area will be great for medical students. BTW, if anyone was wondering what the school buildings look like i'll post links to google map's street view of the medical campus on the first post.

Main Medical Campus:
Collegium Universum: at about : 1 Doktor Witolda Chodźki, Lublin, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=1+Dok...ed=0CBgQ8gEwAA
Collegium Anatomicum: at about: 4 Doktor Kazimierza Jaczewskiego, Lublin, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=4+Dok...ed=0CAsQ8gEwAA
Collegium Pharmaceuticum: at about: 2 Doktor Witolda Chodźki, Lublin, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=2+Dok...ed=0CBcQ8gEwAA
Collegium Medicum: at about: 11 Radziwiłłowska, Lublin, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=11+Ra...ed=0CAsQ8gEwAA
PSK-4(aka: Samodzielny Publiczny Szpital Kliniczny nr 4): at about: Doktor Kazimierza Jaczewskiego 8 Lublin, Poland
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Dokto...ed=0CAsQ8gEwAA
Dean's Office and Administration: at about: Aleje Racławickie 1, Lublin, Poland
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Aleje...ed=0CAsQ8gEwAA

I dont think that it is necessary to get to poland any earlier. I would contact tbv.pl Domy Studenckie ALFA, DELTA i OMEGA przy ul. Chod

They have a ton of apartments that are in the heart of the medical campus. Be aware that you may be able to get a better deal by hiring an agent in Lublin.

I am also not sure how the Uni handles 1st year dorms these days.

Oh and Federal Loans have been reinstated. I also got the email from our school.

That's great news, Hokie... congrats!

You stated that around 50% do not graduate on time, do the people who go back one year end up graduating in the end?
'That being said, about half of my class did not graduate on time- meaning that they repeated enough classes to have to stay longer in Lublin. '
How do they go about 'repeating the classes'? Are these people those that fail more than twice?

What I have seen happen is that people who fail the first semester of pathology, for example, have to retake that semester before they can take the second semester of pathology. So what ends up happening, is these folks end up in Poland for at least part of their "clinical years" finishing pathology. If you fail more than one class, the logistics of staying on track become very difficult. It is important to note, that if you depend on Federal Loans to finance your education, students must be enrolled "Full-time". I am not exactly sure of how it works for those that fail many classes, or classes more than twice.

I hope that was helpful.

Originally Posted by DrHokie.

What I have seen happen is that people who fail the first semester of pathology, for example, have to retake that semester before they can take the second semester of pathology. So what ends up happening, is these folks end up in Poland for at least part of their "clinical years" finishing pathology. If you fail more than one class, the logistics of staying on track become very difficult. It is important to note, that if you depend on Federal Loans to finance your education, students must be enrolled "Full-time". I am not exactly sure of how it works for those that fail many classes, or classes more than twice.

I hope that was helpful.

Thanks a lot, DrHokie
Ah I guess failing more than one will mean you should be resitting the year rather than trying to take those failed modules whilst moving onto the next academic year?
Why is it that a huge 50% of them fail?

I am from UK, so I'd have to self-fund myself unfortunately.

The way I defined "not graduating on time" was a little inaccurate. I meant, not graduating from Basic Sciences and moving onto rotations in the states. Of that half that I spoke of, some spent more time studying for the step, or opted to study for the step and rotate in PL. Attrition rates from the school per cohort aren't that high

edit:
Where can I get this information on greenbook and other color books from?
Not sure where to get information for rotation. HMIs website has been down for a few days.
@DrHokie you listed a preferred order for rotations. Do we get to choose which we'd like to complete first?

When I complete my Step 1 in december (1st week) am I going to be able to start rotations in January.

Reason I ask is because if it takes long I can start signing up now for thing in order to boost up my resume (medical missions, research) while I await for rotations to start.