Thread: please help me

hey guys,
im a senior in highschool going into college next year majoring in biology and hoping to go to med school. i really wanted to go to attend medical school in the uk. just wanted to know how to go about doing this and if anyone has any advice. im trying to get an early start and learn as much as i can. ive heard that medical school in europe is cheaper and shorter than the schools here in the usa. is this true? please help any adive is greatly appreciated! thanks

• I don't know the current cost of medical education in the U.S. In the U.K. an overseas student will pay in the region of $180,000 for a five year course: that's at the current unfavourable dollar: pound exchange rate. Additionally, the U.K. is generally considered to have a high cost of living - though that could also change by the time you need to worry about it.
• Medical school itself in Europe is not shorter than in the U.S. - usually it's longer, 5 or 6 years! However, most people here enter medical school straight after high school and not after a first degree; thus the total time taken may be 5/6 years and not 7/8. Comparatively recently the U.K. has introduced some graduate entry 4-year courses alongside the traditional 5-year ones; there are also 4-year courses in Poland, taught in English and aimed at the Nth. American market.
• Entry to either the 4 or 5-year programs in the U.K. is highly competitive; only a limited number of places are reserved for overseas students; there is still a tendency for a large portion of these to go to applicants from developing countries in the Commonwealth. You should expect to have GPA/MCAT every bit as high as that required for the U.S. - maybe even higher.
• Before you ask, there is to my knowledge no collated data on GPA/MCAT scores of successful applicants.
• Courses in Europe do not teach a USMLE-based syllabus; you will need to put in a bit of extra work to pass that exam with a competitive mark. I should add that many people do succeed in doing just that - it's not an impossible hurdle.
• You would be well advised to do electives/shadowing/observerships in the U.S. whenever possible to compensate for differences in clinical procedure and protocol. This would also, I think, give you an opportunity to network and get some LOR's.
• To further your application it would be a good idea to study the med. schools' websites; find out as much as you can about U.K. medicine and medical education; contact admissions tutors of some schools - I'm sure that some of them will be quite helpful.

What in particular attracts you to medical school in the U.K.?

My Medical school in the UK charge non-UK applicants £21,000 (about $42,000 USD) a year in tuition. Living costs will be as much as the more expensive US cities.

The UK model used to be 5 year courses for High School leavers but this is changing. Some places now have 4 year graduate programmes, for example Warwick. And some 5 year programmes will now take graduates.

The good news is no one wants to study medicine in the UK and you can get into even the best schools with really low grades.

That last sentence was a total lie, by the way. It is as competitive as anywhere - if you are a graduate they will want to see a good GPA just like in the US.

I am not sure if they will want MCAT from you, as they have their own tests - there are several, but the new UKCAT is better and worse than the MCAT. Better because you really can't prepare for more than about 2 weeks to take it, as it is NOT science/subject matter based. Worse, for the same reason - you can't work for 3 months to ensure an exceptional score, it won't help.

This is a VERY useful site for people wanting to do medicine in the UK:
Medschoolsonline - A Guide to Getting into Medical School in the UK

You might find these useful as well:
UKCAT: Home


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