Studying Medicine in Eastern Europe

BULLER

Are medical degree's from Eastern European universities (Hungary, Romania...) accepted when coming back home after 6 years to register to practise here in Ireland? I know they are only accepted in some US states and acceptable in the UK as far as I know. I'm just skeptical and I dont know where to check for Ireland!
Thanks in advance...

(If this is the wrong section move it, thanks)

eth0_

It would depend on the university but most would. However, you'd have to sit additional exams in Ireland before you would get a licence to practice medicine in Ireland.

And don't forget, those courses are only in English for the pre-med years - you will need to be fluent in their language by the time you are let loose on patients.

Chunky Monkey

Most are accredited by WHO. In Romania, one of the schools there at least (forget the name) requires you to pass a Romanian language exam at the end of second year or they won't let you go on to third year.

Just realised I said pretty much exactly what etho said

ZorbaTehZ

From what I can gather, as long as the medical institution is approved/certified whatever, by the WHO, then it is recognised internationally. The problem is regards getting a license to practice in whatever country you wish to (for example the USMLE is for the US) I'm not quite sure what the process would e in your case though.

tallaght01

When i worked int he Uk there were a few guys kicking about who had studied at Charles University in Prague.

I dind't work closely with any of them, so don't know what difficulties they faced. But a friend who knew several of them, said they all had difficulties getting places on more prestigious rotations as SHOs.

I don't know if that's true across the board, though.

Bison

There were forums about this on Student Doctor Network and New Media Medicine, I presume they are still going.

I think it is fair to say that it is best to get a degree from the country where you plan to work and develop your career, except for going to the UK and coming back here. Moving countries and getting accredited, sitting more exams etc is hassle and no one will know your referees.

If you are looking to Eastern Europe as a way of avoiding the leaving cert points or GAMSAT then you will just be deferring the pain. You will have enough on your plate with the pre-clinical workload without learning Czech to clinical standard.

Chunky Monkey

Did you see that thread on that private English school above a Pizza Hut on NMM Bison? Sadly funny.

ergo

ZorbaTehZ wrote: »

From what I can gather, as long as the medical institution is approved/certified whatever, by the WHO, then it is recognised internationally. The problem is regards getting a license to practice in whatever country you wish to (for example the USMLE is for the US) I'm not quite sure what the process would e in your case though.

In Ireland you have to get your degree approved by the Irish medical council and they will in turn grant medical registration for Ireland if the degree is approved. As far as I know for most EU countries it is quite straightforward to get Irish registration, for example I know a Slovakian girl who got full registration based on her home degree and didn't have to do an exam.

However, getting a job then here is a different story.

But, I also happen to know of an Irish guy who went to either Prague or Budapest and did his degree there, he happens to be well connected at home medically speaking and so managed to walk onto a highly competitive SHO training scheme ahead of Irish medical school graduates.

And a lot of these Eastern European med schools teach completely through English so that's not an issue

check out http://www.medicalcouncil.ie to find out the story with the recognition of each degree here. You may well have to call in or telephone the medical council yourself to find out because I'm not sure if it clearly lists on the website the status of each individual country/university.

BULLER

Bison wrote: »

If you are looking to Eastern Europe as a way of avoiding the leaving cert points or GAMSAT then you will just be deferring the pain.

How so? I wasn't under the impression one would have to pass exams to become registered in Ireland if they had obtained an MD from a WHO accredited university... I thought it would just be hard to get a place as most internship places are taken up by the Irish schools. I certainly wouldn't expect an exam akin to the difficulty of a GAMSAT anyway!

(Also cheers guys this is a big help!)

eth0_

ergo wrote: »

And a lot of these Eastern European med schools teach completely through English so that's not an issue

Yes, the LECTURES are in English. Don't forget you spend most of your senior years in a hospital, dealing with patients who DON'T speak English. They don't provide an interpreter :rolleyes: