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Originally Posted by AmreekiMultani
Thanks a lot for the advice!
Here's another question I'd like to throw at ya...
Being in an international medical school what should I put emphasis on? What do you notice is lacking in foreign students? Over here they stress the minute details...we spend 2 whole years on anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry! Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't believe that much time is spent on these topics in US med schools.
They say Snell's Anatomy "isn't detailed enough"... I swear they make you memorize Gray's and KLM by heart.
Are such details important in the US system, or is the general broad concept what they are looking for?
We spend very little time on the clincal aspects...I'm sure the opposite pretains in the US
My dilemma is first I gotta pass here and then I gotta pass there....2 entirely different systems to master. Phew...my heart is sinking just thinking about it haha.
In the end all I want to be is a good doctor, someone show me the way!
Humza Dasti
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Studying for step 1 like your life depended on it will help; that will get you past the first screen. Get a hold of the Step 1 first aid book, BRS physiology, pathology, etc., and the Kaplan Q-bank. Practice, practice, practice. With preparation, you'll do well. International medical schools (exluding the Caribbean) do not emphasize some of the minutia on Step 1 like U.S. school and they do not 'teach to the exam'. We literally have nasty multiple choice exams every four weeks here--often on minutia--and they're taken under the conditions of the USMLE (no calculators, no talking etc.) and they're written in the USMLE format. I was actually educated in the British system (undergraduate) which is similar to your medical system and so the different thought processes required really are striking.
Keep in mind that all U.S. graduates have a Bachelors degree and many have graduate degrees. Everyone has studied organic chemistry, chemistry, and biology before medical school, and many incoming students have a working knowledge of biochemistry and physiology so they don't spend as much time on it in medical school. Also, classes are condensed into the first two years of the four-year M.D. (classes last all day at my school) and we have exams every four weeks. Contrast that to the rest of the world where a medical degree is usually 5-6 years from high school, so I think what you're seeing is another system catering to that system and working well.
Will you have elective time? If so, can you do some rotations in the U.S.? This will help you substantially - especially if you can secure a reference from a U.S. physician or two and get your name known.
You'll be fine - whatever you decide; you've come this far. Take one day at a time and focus on your immediate goal. It's not impossible to get back to the U.S., so believe it will happen. Good luck!