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Studying Medicine Abroad
Have you ever considered
studying medicine
abroad as a postgraduate student? If the answer is yes we have got a handy guide on the benefits of studying abroad coming right up!
A recent study by Euromed has shown that studying abroad helps increase maturity, self-confidence, and has a lasting impact on students’ world views. Those surveyed also said they were still in touch with friends met whilst abroad, and that studying abroad had helped them develop a more sophisticated look at the world.
It’s clear then that there are huge advantages to studying medicine abroad in general, but why specifically should you come abroad to the UK? Well, the UK has a long history of studying and teaching medicine, and degrees from medicine colleges in the UK are respected worldwide – meaning that after you graduate, you could work almost anywhere.
Another big advantage to studying medicine abroad is the chance to perfect your language skills – it’s well known that immersing yourself in a country is a great way to work on speaking the language fluently. And today’s global perspective means that quite frankly the more languages you are fluent in – the better!
Medicine Colleges in the UK
The UK has 31 medical schools, two in Wales, five in Scotland, one in Northern Ireland and 23 in England. Wherever you end up, you will leave with the same qualification – although the abbreviations do vary from place to place. More details of the courses available at medical colleges in the UK can be found here .
There are a few things to consider when choosing where to study, especially when studying medicine abroad, and here we’ll go through some of the biggest considerations.
Firstly, what style of teaching/course structure would you prefer? There is a variety of styles and structures available at the different medicine colleges in the UK, and you should ensure you choose one that will work for you. Let’s have a look at the particulars.
Teaching Styles
Problem Based Learning (PBL) is focused around considering scenarios, and assessing the problems presented therein. Study is then based around the problems and solutions relevant to the scenario. The emphasis here is on self-study, and the student figuring things out. Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow are proponents of this style of study.
Lecture Based Learning (LBL) is the much more conventional style of teaching, focused on large lectures and seminars. There is less interaction, but each lecture covers certain areas, rather than it being as open as PBL.
Most medicine colleges in the UK will combine these two methods, but you should ensure that whilst applying you are aware which the university favours.
Course Structure
There is a variety of ways the course may be structured, including subject-based teaching (where surgery, anatomy, biochemistry are all separate areas) or systems-based teaching (where you look at the subjects as relevant to systems, ie the nervous system, or the heart and lungs).
Different universities will also split up the clinical/non-clinical sides differently – so at places like Oxford, St Andrews or London, you will find the first few years devoted to theoretical study, and then move into practice, whereas other colleges will have a split throughout the earlier years.
As you can see then, when studying medicine abroad, there are a variety of ways to study. Ideally, you’ll find the universities that best suit your preferred style, be it self-study or lectures, lots of hands-on practice, or getting the theory down first.
Is there a best or worst medical college in the UK? Not particularly! Obviously some are more prestigious and have better reputations and are higher ranked than others. But none of them have a bad reputation, and all of them are good for different reasons. Choosing your medical college in the UK is something you’ll have to research, and base on the things you are most interested in.
Once you graduate, the UK system is well adapted to getting you your first job. Should you decide to stay in the UK, you can enter paid employment within the NHS straight away, doing your foundation training. After a year of this, you’ll obtain full registration with the General Medical Council.
Studying medicine abroad can be slightly intimidating – not only is it well known to be one of the most demanding courses, but there’s the whole other side of things like living in a brand new country to think about. But don’t worry about this too much we have a whole guide on feeling at home as an international student, and UK universities usually have international student societies and special events aimed especially at combating this! A great example of this can be seen over here .
You can find more information on studying abroad here .
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