A good Ireland Post Grad story!

[Mike MacKinnon]

Ok

SO for those of you who do not know me ill give you a bit of backround for this story. Im an RN from Canada working in the USA. Been doing it for about 10 years. All Trauma teams, ICU ER and the last 3 years i have been a Flight Nurse on a helicopter here in AZ. I teach basically every class that exists and that is where this story begins.

In my ACLS calls friday i had the Head of Cardiology at a local Level 1 Cardiac center. Anywho, i noticed he had an Irish accent and so I HAD to ask. He is a grad from UCD! Surprise sursprise!! Anyway, he has been in the USA for over 20 years and had an EXCELLENT experience training and living in dublin. Hes a native after all! He still maintains a house in cork and loves visiting. He had nothing but excellent praise for the medical education he recieved. His only issue was the system he was working in (socialized medicine can be difficult at times when it comes to resource allocation).

He wanted me to tell all the people on this board that they will love the education and the trip. Sure the match is always an issue, but good students who work hard will always make it back. He has numerous friends who either went there for med school or came from Ireland to here post grad. All made it in residecies.

He did want me to warn everyone of one thing. the USMLE's. He suggested anyone going to Ireland who wants to come back do as MANY electives in the USA as possible and study for the USMLE's as a seprate thing from your med school. The reality is that though the info is the same, he said how to present it for the USMLE's is different and it is important to understand how the questions will be asked. (similar to studying for the MCAT).

Anyway, i thought you would all like to hear a cool story from an extremely successful Ireland Grad!

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[pks3211]

Good stuff!! thank you

 

[leorl]

Regarding the USMLE, i wrote a little bit about it in the other thread, Mike (the day in the life of...). I intend on making a sticky on a few issues like this when I have time. Your friend is exactly right. The USMLE format is not what we're used to, as we're taught in a different system. It's sort of hard to explain without you being at that level of being ready to take it yet. It does take a good amount of time. And even then, it's a bit iffy. Anyway, best of luck to all who're starting their med adventures here!

 

[lawrencepena]

has anyone ever thought of getting one of the companies that offer the USMLE prep classes to go to Dublin and teach a group of students there? I know many if not most students in the states take a prep course for it just like for the MCAT. Has anyone ever brought this up or tried talking to one of these companies about it?

 

[leorl]

to be perfectly honest...I'm not sure there would be all that much interest. It's something that we could look into... lots of kids do take Kaplan...but from what I hear, it's not worth it. Ultimately, the study has to come from you...Kaplan won't really make you score better just by virtue of taking it. Also, from previous experiences with Kaplan... all they do is suck your money away. The only thing that Kaplan could provide is more experience with the format of the exam...but really, you can do that yourself. There are several key resources which must be used: Kaplan Qbank (online bank of questions), First Aid, and probably the NBMS practice blocks (200 q, $45).

I'll talk more about it later, but the only advice I could give is to start early and find out the things which you're going to have to teach yourself. As you're going through college, periodically flip through the relevant sections and find out which parts of the course aren't taught in the same way (i.e. when you're doing biochem extracellular matrix/collagen stuff and come across something like Ehrlos-Danlos syndrome which you might not be taught in name), mark it and look it up. Then jot notes in it. The problem is that FA changes every year but the general concepts remain the same.

So short answer to your q, most people believe those companies are just a waste of time and money, and I don't think people (especially RCSI folk) are particularly willing to shell out even more money or be stuck in a useless "class" longer than necessary.

 

[LavenderLoraine]

You brought up some interesting points, Mike with your story.

I'd like to add that after reading some of the posts in the USMLE forum (yes, I know it's early to be thinking of this), I noticed a couple consistent pieces of advice from posters who both performed well and those who were disappointed in their performances:

1. There is no substitute for doing well during your pre-clinical years and actually LEARNING the material, rather than cramming to get by for the next set of tests.

2. Most suggested actually purchasing USMLE preparation materials such as First Aid, Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple, High-yield Anatomy, etc. to follow along in class during your pre-clinical years so you become familiar with USMLE-type material and questions presented in testing format. This also helps later after your 3rd med year when you actually start studying for the test and you've already read through the books once. Eases anxiety.

Anyway, now is a good time to look for these books on ebay or amazon b/c people have/are taking them this summer (as opposed to during the academic year) so you can purchase them more cheaply.

 

[leorl]

THat is very good advice. Wish I'd followed it . I wouldn't buy first aid because it changes every year, but I would peruse friends' FA's who are in years above you to get a gist of what you need.

Don't get micro now, you will study micro...except when you do get the micro course, study more in depth than what your exams need. The USMLE really like specifics, and we generally don't get taught helminths/viruses to the same degree as bacteriology. So just doing micro involved for your course isn't enough.

If you want to start with anything early, start with the subjects that we aren't taught in Ireland. So more behavioral sciences (BRS, HY), Molecular Cell Bio (HY) and Immunology. Study more embryology than we're taught in the course of the Anatomy class.

And the USMLE likes syndromes, the recognition of the signs and symptoms involved in certain syndromes. So as you go through things like biochemistry where the course you have may focus on the basics of say...glycolysis or something (which you Do have to know), pay attention and Learn the syndromes caused by deficiences of the specific enzymes.

And yes, it is definitely better to learn the material well the first time . Which is something that I did not do and am kicking myself for now. I've got a good handle of information now, but I'm postponing the date of my test because there's a lot more I need to do. So save yourself the hassle and do it right throughout.