Why are Filipino schools so much more expensive than Chinese med schools? For ex. Fatima costs $20,000 USD in tuition per year, whereas even the best Chinese schools only cost $5000, a fraction of the tuition.
Philipines is a much poorer country than China too, with a lot more problems in crime and corruption. Labor and infrastructure's got to be cheaper in the 'pines
Can't just be because possible to do some clinical rotation in USA, can it? I mean, for US citizens/greencard-holder, anyone can do some US CE.
And can't be because they shave off a year, w/ 4 year degree as opposed to China's 5-6 year MBBS, can it? Even saving 1 yr, Chinese schools are much cheaper, cheaper still to Chinese native HS grads.
4. It's very, very hard for Chinese doctors to get re-licensed because of language deficiencies. Unlike their Indian counterpart who have a much higher success rate of passing the USMLE, Chinese educated doctors grew up not learning English until high school. It is only in the last five years that China has stipulated all english be taught at the 3rd grade. Hence, the average Chinese doctor currently spend 2-4 years relearning all their medical terminology in english before trying for the USLME. And there is a low pass rate for matching. From what we have seen, most Chinese doctors here work at research facilities and their biggest frustration with the USMLE is they understand the sciences just fine, but it's the english that gets to them. In other words, it is not their technical education that is poor, but their English education.
5. There is a stigma attached to attending a foreign medical school in a nonWestern country. Even the best medical university in China (Beida Medical College) see graduates suffer in the US match. The Caribbeans are the exception because there has been such a long history of success Caribbeans grads coming back to the US to practice medicine. I would avoid going to a medical school in a developing country if possible (except for the Caribbeans). Go Caribbean or Western Europe.
My suggestion is to avoid going to China for a medical education, not because of any basic science deficiencies, but because of the poor English that will probably be used to teach you the basic sciences, the uncertain paths that you would need to take to get back to the US, and the stigma of going to a non-Western medical school (and there is a BIG one).
To address your ideas about PI vs China, consider this.
The Phillipine nation, although not as well-off economically, does provide good medical education, as does China. As NonTradMed posted in another thread, the quality decider falls on the quality of English spoken, and since the Phillipines has VERY close ties with the U.S., and is in a sense an extension of the United States, English is actually a main language there, along with tagalog. Most everyone in the Phillipines speaks English, and it is formally taught in every elementary school there.
Also, take a look at the schools from PI approved by Ca Med board, since you mentioned China's. That being said, China is a much larger nation that the PI, and there are way more med schools. Virtually ALL med schools, save for a few new ones, from the PI are approved.
I'd choose PI over China since they teach in English primarily (even if not a specific English program), and the citizens in PI generally speak English on top of tagalog anyway. This also should go without saying that, although both countries do not prepare you for the USMLE's, you'd probably be better off going to the one that teaches in English (better) to give you an advantage in terms of the MLEs.
I guess the only reason I would choose China, is if I myself speak chinese fluently, and/or I have a deep connection/interest in chinese culture and I'd want to immerse myself in it
, which I kind of did since I was semi-considering CMU.
