What are the differences? I'm sorry if I come off sounding like I haven't attempted to do my research... but I'm sort of confused... I heard it sucks doing pre-med in college (harder to get to med). Also, do people still actually have time to unwind and have fun in med school?
Higher Education (University +) - 1 Answers
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In the US... You must attend a US accredited college or university. During this time you must complete a set of pre-medicine courses. Some schools allow you to just concentrate in pre-medicine, in this case you will not graduate with a degree but just a certificate of completion. Some schools require you to declare a major along with pre-medicine (like my school...). During this time you will apply to medical school and take your MCAT. Medical school is four years and in your third, you will apply for residency programs. Graduating from medical school gives you a Doctor of Medicine (MD). Residency programs range from 2 to 7 years depending on your speciality (neurology, general surgery, etc). For certification, you must complete the residency along with an internship (but this usually combined in your residency program). You will be an attending physician and can practice medicine but will be limited because you must pass a lot of tests that run continuously throughout your career in medicine. In the UK... (I am not entirely familiar with this..sorry :-/) You will apply for medical studies right after your graduate from high school. There are different tests for admission. The UK has a certain application and a certain number of universities that you can apply to, I believe it is four. The tests include United Kingdom Clinical Aptitude Test and BioMedical Admissions Test. If you are an international student, they have limited spots. The BioMedical test is offered in various places in the US and you can find them online. You will graduate with your Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery. You can practice medicine but it is supervised, called the Foundation Programme. You then apply for Foundation Schools which are ranking by your grades in medical school and answers to questions asked during the process. After completing the Foundation Programme...to work as a General Practitioner, you must complete two year of posts in a speciality as a Senior House Officer. There are several exams for promotion and I am not exactly sure how the rest of the system goes but you can look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_education_in_the_United_Kingdom I am a Civil Engineering and pre-medicine student in the United States. Engineering is a difficult major as it is and the two are not that related. It is difficult and I would say...that I probably do not have as much time to unwind as my friends who are not pre-med or who are who have a similar major to pre-med (like biology, biomedical engineering, chemistry). I went to high school in the US and during my 10th year I considered going to a school in the UK but decided not to because I wanted to practice medicine in the US. It is VERY difficult to practice medicine long-term in the US if you did not complete all of your medical education here. You can have temporary visa to practice medicine but if you want to practice long term, you must start your education over. If you decide to get your education here and then work in UK, I am not that familiar with it. I know you would need to get a work visa and it takes a very long time so I hear. (sorry this looks like a lot...but I copied and pasted alot of the UK information)
