Med School Overseas

[Need Things]

Hello everyone

I am a grade 12 high school student in Canada and my goal is to become a surgeon. Lately, I've been thinking about applying to medical school abroad specifically in Poland, the reason is the competition is fierce in Canada and very few people can get into med school. Hypothetically speaking if I do all my training in Poland and become a fully qualified surgeon and practice in Canada or I decide to do my residency here in Canada. What would be my situation? Is it wise to study abroad? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in Advance

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[Medstart108]

Hi, I strongly recommend you don't go abroad. In all of Canada there are exactly 6 spots in Surgery for people who study abroad. There are easily 600 Canadians who study abroad and apply each year and on top of that thousands of graduated doctors/surgeons from all over the world applying for those spots. Out of these i'd say 15% want to become surgeons. A lot of them just give up before applying.

I wouldn't go abroad if you want to become a surgeon in Canada. I don't know how you would train as a surgeon completely in Poland, but its unlikely you will be able to come back. There aren't many surgical jobs in Canada and it is very much based on how they respect you. Unless you became world famous in Poland, they wouldn't respect someone who didn't do both medical school and residency in Canada. On top of that, there are multiple licensing rules to come into Canada.

I know someone who went to Poland many years ago and got into the US and became a cardiac surgeon in NY. This is basically no longer an option. Getting into medical school in Canada is not as hard as you might think. Often people who fail to get the grades speak louder than those who do get the grades. Thats why you hear a lot of rumours of how difficult it is. Many of my friends are in university and are doing very well, easily enough to meet the GPA requirement for medical school.

You should also consider the QuARMS program. I know its very competitive and probably only suitable if you are really outstanding, but if you get in, you are a Canadian M.D. in 6 years.

 

[MadHopsMD]

Only go abroad if you are interested in primary care. Even then that is becoming very difficult. If you want to be a surgeon I say its next to impossible to get a spot in Canada/US with a foreign degree. It is competitive in Canada/US to get into medical school, but at least you have to give it a try. You still in high school you are judging yourself to harshly. You could do very well in college.

If you want the highest odds of going to Surgery 8 years down the road... go to well known US college (well know in Canada): darmouth, cornell, any ivy really.

 

[Leforte]

While many overseas grads do go into primary care, many also go into anaesthesia, radiology and even surgery. In fact, WomanSurg did her training overseas (in Australia), followed by a US Gen Surg residency and Breast fellowship.

While opportunities may be more limited, plenty of overseas grads are able to get into other residencies than primary care.

Of course, some of the most difficult residencies (plastics, ENT, Urology, Derm, etc) will be a much bigger challenge.

 

[MadHopsMD]

It is going to be harder and harder and harder. The US is graduating more MD students than ever before (many new schools opening, not to mention many more DO schools), and unfortunately none of the residency spots have increased. If you are a high school students the best chance to practice medicine will be to go to a medical school in the US/Canada. Not OVERSEAS.

 

[Staryy]

Hello everyone

I am a grade 12 high school student in Canada and my goal is to become a surgeon. Lately, I've been thinking about applying to medical school abroad specifically in Poland, the reason is the competition is fierce in Canada and very few people can get into med school. Hypothetically speaking if I do all my training in Poland and become a fully qualified surgeon and practice in Canada or I decide to do my residency here in Canada. What would be my situation? Is it wise to study abroad? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in Advance

Go to medical school after completing at least an undergrad degree. If you can't get into medical school in North America after several attempts consider going abroad.

Check out this resident's CV. She completed medical school in Poland. Her other accomplishments include an undergraduate degree, several research projects leading to publications, and teaching at a university before being accepted into a residency program in Canada.

https://touch.www.linkedin.com/?sessionid=1070653845274624&as=false&rs=false#public-profile/http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/jagoda-gorka/61/50/58a

 

[Medstart108]

So I looked at that person's profile and a few others. Its still variable. Another example of someone who went to Jagiellonian is https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=66682723&authType=name&authToken=sJW_&trk=prof-sb-browse_map-name https://www.linkedin.com/profile/vi...me&authToken=_HYk&trk=prof-sb-browse_map-name

Canadian who got back to Manitoba straight from medical school, but don't know the specialty, likely FM or IM.
https://www.linkedin.com/profile/vi...me&authToken=vGEO&trk=prof-sb-browse_map-name
A good number have been able to get residencies straight out of medical school but again they applied to the US and probably had US citizenship. At the end of the day, IM and FM are certainly possible, but surgery is a long shot. If you told me you were sure you wanted a less competitive specialty and you didn't care where you did it then sure, but things change in medical school and it would surely suck if the specialty you really wanted to do was off limits.

 

[Staryy]

So I looked at that person's profile and a few others. Its still variable. Another example of someone who went to Jagiellonian is https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=66682723&authType=name&authToken=sJW_&trk=prof-sb-browse_map-name https://www.linkedin.com/profile/vi...me&authToken=_HYk&trk=prof-sb-browse_map-name

Canadian who got back to Manitoba straight from medical school, but don't know the specialty, likely FM or IM.
https://www.linkedin.com/profile/vi...me&authToken=vGEO&trk=prof-sb-browse_map-name
A good number have been able to get residencies straight out of medical school but again they applied to the US and probably had US citizenship. At the end of the day, IM and FM are certainly possible, but surgery is a long shot. If you told me you were sure you wanted a less competitive specialty and you didn't care where you did it then sure, but things change in medical school and it would surely suck if the specialty you really wanted to do was off limits.

Could you repost the links to the other Resident's Linkedin profiles. I do not have a Linkedin account and can't access the links you provided.

 

[wuzman]

Hello everyone

I am a grade 12 high school student in Canada and my goal is to become a surgeon. Lately, I've been thinking about applying to medical school abroad specifically in Poland, the reason is the competition is fierce in Canada and very few people can get into med school. Hypothetically speaking if I do all my training in Poland and become a fully qualified surgeon and practice in Canada or I decide to do my residency here in Canada. What would be my situation? Is it wise to study abroad? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in Advance

My friend's sister went to Poland for her medical school after completing a bachelor's degree in Canada. She's now a plastics residence at UT.
If you think the competition for medical school is high, wait until you finish medical school abroad and want to find a residency position back in Canada! I believe there were 5 international spots open for plastics in all of Canada...

My advice, get into a decent program after high school and get a solid GPA. Ace the MCAT and do some volunteering/research. Then apply to both Canadian and American schools. Just my 2cents

 

[MadHopsMD]

My friend's sister went to Poland for her medical school after completing a bachelor's degree in Canada. She's now a plastics residence at UT.
If you think the competition for medical school is high, wait until you finish medical school abroad and want to find a residency position back in Canada! I believe there were 5 international spots open for plastics in all of Canada...

My advice, get into a decent program after high school and get a solid GPA. Ace the MCAT and do some volunteering/research. Then apply to both Canadian and American schools. Just my 2cents

I completely agree. Very good advice.

 

[Medstart108]

My friend's sister went to Poland for her medical school after completing a bachelor's degree in Canada. She's now a plastics residence at UT.
If you think the competition for medical school is high, wait until you finish medical school abroad and want to find a residency position back in Canada! I believe there were 5 international spots open for plastics in all of Canada...

My advice, get into a decent program after high school and get a solid GPA. Ace the MCAT and do some volunteering/research. Then apply to both Canadian and American schools. Just my 2cents

By UT do you mean University of Toronto or University of Texas?

 

[wuzman]

By UT do you mean University of Toronto or University of Texas?

Sorry I meant the University of Toronto