Should I mention that I want to practice in another country on my apps?

[canarywing]

As background, I am a first-gen student that is preparing to apply to medical schools. My parents immigrated to the US from a 3rd-world country. My entire desire to pursue medical school and become a doctor is based on my dream to return to my home country and serve my community there. This is something I have wanted for many years and it has shaped my entire academic career from high school through college. In addition to more typical premed extracurriculars, I have also dedicated a lot of time and energy to serving my particular community both in the US and back home. It is a big part of who I am and it is difficult to talk about why I want to be a doctor without talking about this.

My question is -- is it wise to be upfront about this? Do med schools care about where I want to practice? Would I be disadvantaged by being upfront about wanting to serve non-American communities? Should I downplay it and make it seem as if my long-term goals are in the US?

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[KnightDoc]

I'm very confused! Doesn't your home country have medical schools?

US MD schools are ridiculously expensive and notoriously difficult to get into. The payback for all that effort is the ability to earn US wages after training. If you don't want to do that, going to the effort and expense of training in the US seems like a waste.

Beyond that, your question is very niche, so I will leave the answer up the the experts, but I don't think telling adcoms that you expect to take your training and use it overseas is going to help an applicant when the goal of US programs is to train US physicians, given the vast number of under served communities in the US.

 

[canarywing]

I'm very confused! Doesn't your home country have medical schools?

US MD schools are ridiculously expensive and notoriously difficult to get into. The payback for all that effort is the ability to earn US wages after training. If you don't want to do that, going to the effort and expense of training in the US seems like a waste.

Beyond that, your question is very niche, so I will leave the answer up the the experts, but I don't think telling adcoms that you expect to take your training and use it overseas is going to help an applicant when the goal of US programs is to train US physicians, given the vast number of under served communities in the US.

The education system in my home country is a disaster. Degrees are bought, not earned. I want to use the opportunity to get a quality education abroad and take it home.

Your point about US medical education being expensive is valid, but unfortunately doing medical school in Western Europe is not a viable route. I don’t benefit from EU citizen tuition prices, would probably need to spend time to learn another language, and I would not be able to practice in the US if I ever need to. I now really regret not going to Europe immediately after high school, but I am way past that. I am near the end of my bachelor’s at a top American university and have been on-track with all my premed requirements. An American medical degree would give me flexibility and stability (this is what I have been fed, at least). I do plan on practicing in the US for at least a couple years. My future will probably be somewhat split between the two places (using US wages to support what I want to do back home).

Thank you for your input regarding how adcoms might perceive this!

 

[Bwesternn]

I think you can talk about your passion for serving disadvantaged people without explicitly saying your goal is to practice in a different country. I can't imagine an adcom wanting to take their time and resources to accept you, train you, graduate you all the while knowing that you're going to use the skills you learned to practice abroad.

I could be wrong, so I'm curious what the experts will say on this topic.

 

[canarywing]

I think you can talk about your passion for serving disadvantaged people without explicitly saying your goal is to practice in a different country. I can't imagine an adcom wanting to take their time and resources to accept you, train you, graduate you all the while knowing that you're going to use the skills you learned to practice abroad.

I could be wrong, so I'm curious what the experts will say on this topic.

Thanks for your input, I definitely need to think about reframing my story if this is the case.

 

[KnightDoc]

The education system in my home country is a disaster. Degrees are bought, not earned. I want to use the opportunity to get a quality education abroad and take it home.

Your point about US medical education being expensive is valid, but unfortunately doing medical school in Western Europe is not a viable route. I don’t benefit from EU citizen tuition prices, would probably need to spend time to learn another language, and I would not be able to practice in the US if I ever need to. I now really regret not going to Europe immediately after high school, but I am way past that. I am near the end of my bachelor’s at a top American university and have been on-track with all my premed requirements. An American medical degree would give me flexibility and stability (this is what I have been fed, at least). I do plan on practicing in the US for at least a couple years. My future will probably be somewhat split between the two places (using US wages to support what I want to do back home).

Thank you for your input regarding how adcoms might perceive this!

Yeah -- your reasons for wanting to go to a US school are very valid. I don't think you'll have a problem drafting a compelling narrative that does not include practicing in your home country.

As interesting as that is, it will likely not advance your candidacy at a US school, and I don't think you need it to be a good candidate. As I said before though, I am very, very far from an expert in this area, so I'd defer to current med students and adcoms on this. Good luck!

 

[Goro]

Why should a medical school accept you, when their priority is to train clinicians who will work in their state?

I can't recommend mentioning this desire in your application

 

[canarywing]

Why should a medical school accept you, when their priority is to train clinicians who will work in their state?

I can't recommend mentioning this desire in your application

No. The mission of every medical school is to produce doctors for servicing their "communities." Practicing outside the USA would be directly opposite that mission. You may want to look at medical schools that "specialize" in international health such as

Medical School For International Health - Ben Gurion University

Thank you for your input! I will make sure to leave it out then.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

no.

But you also shouldn’t lie. So I would recommend examining alternative pathways to your goal.

 

[LizzyM]

Are there immigrants/refugees from your country who live here and perhaps underserved? You could highlight your desire to help them and your knowledge of language/culture. If at some point you are able to provide services in your parents' home country, that will be great. There are sometimes short-term (up to a year) opportunities for American physicians to serve abroad. There are also short-term (4-8 week) opportunities to provide in-service training to local physicians in underserved places. I know some American physicians who have served with Doctors Without Borders and similar organizations and who have done long-term mission trips sponsored by their faith community, or established clinics abroad that provide services to the local population and serve as a clinical training site for US trainees who can spend an elective month there. There are ways to engage in Global Health as an American-trained physician.

 

[canarywing]

Are there immigrants/refugees from your country who live here and perhaps underserved? You could highlight your desire to help them and your knowledge of language/culture. If at some point you are able to provide services in your parents' home country, that will be great. There are sometimes short-term (up to a year) opportunities for American physicians to serve abroad. There are also short-term (4-8 week) opportunities to provide in-service training to local physicians in underserved places. I know some American physicians who have served with Doctors Without Borders and similar organizations and who have done long-term mission trips sponsored by their faith community, or established clinics abroad that provide services to the local population and serve as a clinical training site for US trainees who can spend an elective month there. There are ways to engage in Global Health as an American-trained physician.

There are! I have done work via extracurriculars with the communities that are here in the US, so I can definitely emphasize that. I also really like the idea of pursuing more short-term opportunities and can definitely discuss that as well. Thank you for your input.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Adding to @LizzyM : If you can tie your goals with the mission of the school, you could mention it in secondaries. Do your research on the global health options or opportunities a school offers; how does the school describe them, and who are their partners (plus how does it count towards your clinical requirements)? Who are the faculty mentors and their credentials? Understand that your training as a doctor is the first step to your ultimate goal.