Thread: SGU vs Technion

Hey guys, I'm having this dilemma of deciding which school is better St. George's University or Technion Medical Institute of Technology in Israel. I got accepted to SGU for their Global Scholars program where I would study my first year at Northumbria in Newcastle, England and the 2nd year in Grenada and the 3 and 4th years in the states. Technion is all 4 years in Israel. I think Technion is the better choice slightly but not sure. What you guys think. SGU and come back to states after 2 years or Israel for 4?

Take technion, hands down. If I am not mistaken you'll have one or two Nobel prize laureates at your disposal if not teaching you. At least that is what they told me during my interview and my research on them.

If you want additional information you can PM me.

Originally Posted by spishan1

Hey guys, I'm having this dilemma of deciding which school is better St. George's University or Technion Medical Institute of Technology in Israel. I got accepted to SGU for their Global Scholars program where I would study my first year at Northumbria in Newcastle, England and the 2nd year in Grenada and the 3 and 4th years in the states. Technion is all 4 years in Israel. I think Technion is the better choice slightly but not sure. What you guys think. SGU and come back to states after 2 years or Israel for 4?

where do u plan on practicing? It doesnt matter if two nobel laurettes are teaching you...basic sciences is nearly the same everywhere...my two cents

I would check out the technion forum too - its under Israeli med schools.

if you plan on getting a US residency and want to practice in the US go to SGU. doing clinicals in the US is a huge advantage. Israel has a totally different health care system, and PD's want to see that you have experience with the US health care system. No one gives a crap who taught you basic sciences and coming from a foreign school they won't even really look at your basic science grades, they will only care about your step1 scores. Plus don't they teach you in hebrew? or at least you'll have to learn hebrew for the clinical years, not too many Israelis speak english.

So bottom line if you want to practice in the US, you want to have as much exposure to the US healthcare system as possible and do as much of your training in the US as possible. That being said out of foreign med schools only caribbean schools offer that exposure.

I do want to end up in the US health system but the courses in Technion are taught in English.

But what about clinicals? Will you be rotating through Israeli hospitals? I think that is what RJ was talking about - you would not be able to understand your patients.

As long as you can practice in the states, which I'm almost positive you can as I have friends who went to technion, go with technion...

Originally Posted by EpiJunky

As long as you can practice in the states, which I'm almost positive you can as I have friends who went to technion, go with technion...

so why do foreign grads try to do observerships and try to do rotations in the US.

I think doing rotations in the US is a huge advantage for SGU students, you get US attendings to write you letters or rec, and if the pd's know those attendings it's a lot more meaningful then dr. so and so from isreal. Also if you're familiar with the way US doc's write progress notes and the way things are done in the US you won't need time to adjust.

in isreal you have to write your progress notes in hebrew( the national language) good luck passing step2cs if u have never written a note in english before, or if you have never taken a history in english before. Also it's most likely too late to learn all the acronyms when you're already a resident.

SGU trains doctors for the US, does technion? I don't think so. I think technion trains docs for isreal.

plus another big issue is that isreal is in constant threat from the Muslim countries that surround it. residents of the country get issued gas masks, I know cause i have family members living there. Car bombs and suicide bombers are a constant and a real threat, that's why you get searched every time you enter a public place like a mall.

on the other hand SGU has hurricanes, but I would rather take the chance that a natural disaster like a hurricane strikes then some guy blowing up the bus that I am riding or the restaurant that I am eating lunch in.