How long is UK medical education?

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MindCastle15

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Hey, I'm thinking of studying medicine in the UK, and I'd like to know more about the system. I'm interested in working in the US later on (more specifically, residency in the US). The only 2 reasons I'm considering UK are becus
1) Its shorter, less expensive than US
2) I want to be able to work in India as well (I completed high school in India, but I'm an US citizen)
I read in a few places that all UK medical graduates have to work for 2 years (foundation training) - is this necessary for me if I apply to residency in the US? Also, is it really very difficult to get a residency of your choice in the US, coming from the UK (or India?)
Any other info on the UK system will be greatly appreciated. Thanks! :)

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The foundation training is not necessary because you are a US citizen you can apply straight from medical school to residency. Even if you completed foundation training it doesn't cut off any time in residency, you have to still do the same number of years of residency in the US so theres basically no point in doing foundation training in the UK.

Its 5-6 years long normally.

It is faster if you are a high school student, pretty competitive to get in i'd say. If you want to practice in the US its still better to do medical school in the US, but if you aren't too picky on where you do residency, going to the UK isn't a major issue. It makes you less competitive when you apply back to the US for residency, you'll literally have to be significantly better than everyone else for the same position, but you'll probably match somewhere.
 
The foundation training is not necessary because you are a US citizen you can apply straight from medical school to residency. Even if you completed foundation training it doesn't cut off any time in residency, you have to still do the same number of years of residency in the US so theres basically no point in doing foundation training in the UK.

Its 5-6 years long normally.

It is faster if you are a high school student, pretty competitive to get in i'd say. If you want to practice in the US its still better to do medical school in the US, but if you aren't too picky on where you do residency, going to the UK isn't a major issue. It makes you less competitive when you apply back to the US for residency, you'll literally have to be significantly better than everyone else for the same position, but you'll probably match somewhere.
Thanks a lot! So it IS difficult to match into a residency? Because I've heard people having nightmares on the USMLE's. But being an US citizen, I will get preference? So I have little chances of Stanford/Hopkins/Yale? :(
Also, could anybody give me a proper list of the rankings of med colleges in uk?I know the good ones- UCL/Imperial/Cardiff not to menton Oxbridge, but I'd like to know the rankings of other colleges too.
 
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Thanks a lot! So it IS difficult to match into a residency? Because I've heard people having nightmares on the USMLE's. But being an US citizen, I will get preference? So I have little chances of Stanford/Hopkins/Yale? :(
Also, could anybody give me a proper list of the rankings of med colleges in uk?I know the good ones- UCL/Imperial/Cardiff not to menton Oxbridge, but I'd like to know the rankings of other colleges too.

There isn't a proper ranking list of medical schools in the UK. Don't look at the UK league tables, I know you have been because you put Cardiff as top. Last year it was 16th. The league tables are incredibly unreliable and often quite frankly inaccurate.

All UK medical schools are the same, its like in the US. The only ones with a bit of a distinction status are Oxford and Cambridge but the rest are all basically the same. If you really need a top 5 most people will consider that to include Oxbridge, UCL, Imperial and Edinburgh. Other honorable mentions would be Barts and King's, but this is mainly based on research more than anything else. https://www.timeshighereducation.co...ubject-ranking/clinical-pre-clinical-health#/ <- try this ranking. I'll say it a million times though this has nothing to do with whether or not you get residency with the possible exception of Oxbridge. My guess is if you go to Oxbridge, everyone in the US will "understand" why you went to the UK for medical school. If you don't, people will wonder why and they will question you because the US has some of the best medical schools in the world, its weird to leave that for another country unless the school you go to is significantly well known.

Yes you probably have little chance at Stanford, Hopkins or Yale. The competition level for those schools is so high already for residency that a PD isn't likely to take a risk on a international graduate who has had different training. Your board scores matter a lot in this case, but even with great board scores you might be just systematically turned down because you are an IMG. Being a US citizen eliminates the hassle of applying for a visa for you which does make it a bit easier for you. There was once a Manchester med student who got into a plastic surgery residency at a top 10 program in the US, but they did a MB PhD and had some great ECs and they weren't a US citizen either. So it is possible, but very difficult.

Its pretty rare for any US student to go to the UK for med school in the first place.
In all the pages i've looked at of residency lists, i've never seen a single UK medical school grad on a top US residency page for IM (top as in your Wash U, UCSF, Stanford, Harvard, Hopkins, Penn, Columbia).
 
If I'm a fully licensed U.S. doctor coming to the UK to practice, will I have to repeat internship/residency training in the UK?
 
If I'm a fully licensed U.S. doctor coming to the UK to practice, will I have to repeat internship/residency training in the UK?

Never heard of a US doctor coming to the UK to practice, not even sure its possible.
 
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