Good and cheap medical education?

[Arsirocker]

Hello everyone!

My names's Arslan and I'm a US citizen but lived/studied all my life in Pakistan, my future plan being - becoming a doctor and then moving to US for residency and settling there.

I have just completed my A-levels with 2A's & 1 B. and now I'm thinking of getting medical education from outside Pakistan... because getting into public medical colleges is pretty hard here. Can the people with appropriate knowledge in this field guide me as to which countries give u good and reasonably priced medical education (or scholarships :P)! (keeping in view I will have to give USMLE too)
I've heard of china... but not sure if the medical education there is good.. if any1 can give me details as to which universities in China are good for MBBS?

thanks in advance for ur answers :P

[devildoc8404]

China would not be my first choice for USMLE prep or future practice in the US, simply because they don't have much of a track record at this point -- plus, you have to move to China. Fascinating place, but I wouldn't want to live there for 6 years. The 6-year programs in the E-EU will get you there, but they vary in cost and quality. I would recommend choosing an English-language program with 50-state approval (i.e. on the California Medical Board approved list). There is plenty of information listed here on VMD. Good luck...

[Arsirocker]

E-EU is quite costly... considering the forex rate of Pakistani Rupee
which countries have relatively lower cost in Europe?

[devildoc8404]

Well, if you start looking at the cheaper schools in E-EU (Bulgaria, Romania) you are also talking about no CA approval and relatively crappier organization in general. If you want to keep things on the cheaper end in Europe, you need to apply to programs in the W-EU (assuming you speak or learn the language). Not only are the W-EU countries offering better and more prestigious programs in general, but the cost of medical school in Germany, etc., is incredibly low.

If you don't speak the language, you can complete a language course in advance. That's what I would do in your shoes, quite frankly.

[bidiboom]

Out of Bulgaria/Romania options there is a Humanitas option as well (which the tuition may get down to 800Euros, but the living expenses are high), which I dont suggest as well.. just not to make the jugement in the name of you, I wanted to give the info.. but to graduate from that school may not mean to be a doctor.. again, I dont suggest..

[Arsirocker]

what about Germany.. is that a good option? and are there any universities in Germany that teach in English?

[Arsirocker]

and what is CA approval?

[devildoc8404]

German medical schools are outstanding and inexpensive, but they only teach in German. (That is why I said you need to take a language course first. I know people who have done it.)

CA = California. If you are wanting to practice in the US, the best schools to attend are those that are approved in all 50 states. The toughest state to get approval in is California, and some other states actually use the CA list, so CA-approval is generally quite important. The other English programs may be fine, but you will never be able to be licensed in CA or some of the other states that use its list.

[Arsirocker]

do u know when are the application deadlines for german schools?

[asclepius]

hi devildoc, now im curious! how inexpensive is it in germany?

i recently did a spreadsheet on carib med school prices and clocked Windsor as the cheapest at 50k