Becoming a Plastic Surgeon in Mexico STEPS?

[anonnnnnnnnn123]

Hey, I'm a Canadian university student looking into UAG (the international med school in Guadalajara, Mexico). The thing is, I don't want to return to Canada-- I'd like to (ideally) become a plastic surgeon and work in Mexico. It seems to be pretty tough to find information on how to do this, as the program seems pretty US-oriented... I assume you become fluent in Spanish while you're there (I'm not fluent, currently). Does anyone know the process? Getting permanent residency in Mexico doesn't seem to be an issue, as my dad did it pretty easily (I've spent a lot of time there, and it's always been a dream of mine to live there).
Anyone know about the salary for plastic surgeons or dermatologists down there, as well as how competitive it is to become one compared to the states or canada? I wouldn't expect the same salary, but it's always good to know that I could live comfortably for all the schooling/money put into it.

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[canquito]

From what I've gathered, the UAG program caters to students to become US physicians. It has dubious success in this regard. To become a licensed Mexican physician, you need to complete medical school there (typically 6 years) plus a 1 year internship (not the same as an intern year) working in a designated setting based on academic merit. In total, this process takes 7 years since they begin medical school right after high school. Due to the sheer cost difference of UAG's international program >60k/year vs much cheaper albeit traditional Mexican program, it would not be in your favor to graduate with north of 250k of debt with hopes to practice in Mexico where physician compensation is much lower than in US and Canada. Remember, medical tourism is a thing. Conversely, undertaking the traditional 6-yr curriculum even as an international student would cost a fraction of US/Canadian medical education's price tag.

Assuming you complete your studies there and graduate, you would become a general physician (medico particular) and would then need to take the national exam for aspiring resident physicians (Examen Nacional de Aspirantes a Residencias Médicas). You would then compete against ALL physicians across the country taking this exam. Many of whom re-take the exam. In 2016, >30,000 took the exam for just shy of 8,000 residencies. I could not find data on derm, but ENT appears to be bundled with facial and neck surgery, and because this specialty has the highest score cut-off, I will assume that is facial plastic surg. I have heard Mexican physicians say that the Steps are more difficult than the ENARM, but my sample size is limited to 3 acquaintances.

In theory, you could go there and become a plastic surgeon, but the time and effort to do so is something you have to seriously consider (11 years of training minimum) as well as the possibility that you may not 'match' into your intended specialty. Also it is unfortunate that in many respects Mexico is a developing country, and the general respect once-held towards physicians has eroded.

Source: I visit Mexico regularly, have family who have studied/are studying medicine there, and contemplated studying there myself.