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Evaluating a foreign medical school is not always an easy task. Some schools are better than others, and you need to ask yourself questions that fall into two basic categories:

1) Could the school be considered to be a good, strong, reputable medical school in light of your career goals and where you ultimately want to practice medicine?

2) Is the school good for you personally? When you look at factors such as tuition, location, curriculum, and size does it seem like the school is a place where you will be relatively happy and receive the education you need to build your future?

• What is the class size?
• What percentage of the class is made up of US citizens or permanent residents?
• What is the school's pass rate on the USMLE? If the answer is that reporting USMLE scores to the medical school is done by students on a voluntary basis, you might ask what percentage of the class voluntarily reports their scores.
• You might ask about placement into residencies in the US--where and how many, and if the numbers apply to the total pool of graduates or to just one class.
• How does the school handle preparing its students for the USMLE?
• Can graduates practice medicine in the nation in which the medical school is located, or is this forbidden by law? Where could a US graduate practice medicine if return to the US proves impossible?
• You might ask about tuition and financial aid.
• How long has the school been in existence and what is its track record thus far?
• You might inquire about the availability of contact lists of alumni/alumnae who are practicing medicine in the US.
• What is the size of the faculty at the school? Does the teaching in a crucial subject area depend entirely on just one or two people? What if they leave or fall ill?

If it is, say, December 12th and you suddenly hear that you can start in the January class of some foreign medical school that you never heard of before, but only if you "sign on the dotted line" now, think twice before you plunge into the unknown. The decision you are making could affect you for the rest of your life and not in the way you intended.

There are a lot of foreign medical schools out there. You want to make sure that the school you decide to apply to is right for you, and in some cases this decision can hinge upon two considerations:how much of a risk-taker you are, and how well you could cope with a future practicing medicine abroad, not in the US.

In the end, if you can tell yourself with complete honesty that you are making your decisions out of strength and knowledge--not fear--this is a good omen.

Below, you will find a few links that should prove to be of some benefit in finding out about and evaluating various foreign medical schools.

• American Association of International Medical Graduates: The AAIMG website has virtually disappeared, vanished like the lost colony of Roanoke, except for a prefab page under construction featuring a small test pattern and a message to check back later. If you search, you will find numerous differing opinions about the AAIMG such as: the AAIMG was good, the AAIMG was bad, the AAIMG was based in Russia, or there is no evidence that the AAIMG visited the medical schools which it rated. If you are curious you can use the Wayback Machine of the Internet Archive to peruse the old pages of the American Association of International Medical Graduates.
• The Internet Medical School Directory: A comprehensive list of medical schools in the US and throughout the world. Keep in mind that many foreign medical schools do not welcome students coming from other countries. Be prepared to visit web sites that are not in English, and for the occasional broken link. This is a very useful site though.
• US Department of Education Federal School Code Search Page: This site will enable you to search and find out if a foreign medical school has a code to receive and disburse financial aid. If a school has a code, you might take it as a good sign as to the established reputability of the school. Keep in mind that not every single school that can receive financial aid is listed in this database. If the school that you are looking for does not show up, ask their financial aid officer--to double check, you could call the Department of Education at 800/801-0576/TTY: 800/511-5806 (Business hours are Monday - Friday, 7 a.m. - 10 p.m. (CST); Saturdays from February 3rd to March 31st, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. (CST); Sundays from February 18 to April 1st, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. (CST).) and ask if the school in question is eligible to receive Title IV aid but does not have a code.
• The Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates:This Organization evaluates graduates of foreign medical schools to determine if they can be permitted to pursue residency of fellowship training in the United States. This is a very important site to visit.
• National Resident Matching Program: Information about residency programs and links back to the AAMC, Association of American Medical Colleges.
• The Federation of Foreign Medical Schools : A true marketplace: you can find some golden nuggets of insight as well as the occasional lump of iron pyrite. If you are in a cynical mood, you might describe a forum as a place where many meet, much is discussed, and little is resolved. On the other hand, you could think of a forum as a valuable repository of insights and opinions to which you would otherwise have no access. You might wind up feeling a little ambivalent about some parts of this forum, but it has a good amount of feedback from students at foreign medical schools, faculty members at foreign medical schools, and links (be prepared for some broken ones) to information that foreign medical students should know about.

We have compiled a small list of foreign medical schools below. These are the ones which currently seem to be "strong players in the field." In a number of cases, admissions might be almost as competitive or just as competitive as admission to US allopathic or osteopathic medical schools--even though criteria could vary in subtle ways. Are there students who have studied at foreign medical schools that are not listed below who have gone on to become good doctors? Yes, absolutely! Are there students who regret rashly made decisions regarding their education? Yes, unfortunately: So, research all of your options carefully and make a decision that you are willing to live with, even if not everything goes according to plan.

Australia

Flinders

Queensland

Sydney

Caribbean

American University of the Caribbean

St. George's

Ross

Saba

Ireland

Royal College of Surgeons

Israel

Ben Gurion

MS/MD Touro College and Haifa Technion

Technion American Medical School Program

Sackler

Mexico

Guadalajara

Qatar

Cornell (very competitive, large percentage of the entering class are citizens of Qatar)

Some US Government publications that pertain to foreign medical school education :

General Accounting (now called Government Accountability) Office Reports:

• HRD-81-32 Policies On U.S. Citizens Studying Medicine Abroad Need Review and Reappraisal (published November 21, 1980)
• HRD-85-112 Federal, State, and Private Activities Pertaining to U.S. Graduates of Foreign Medical Schools. (published September 27, 1985)
• HEHS-94-28 Millions Loaned Inappropriately to U.S. Nationals at Foreign Medical Schools (published January, 1994)

Laws:

• Public Law 105-244 "Higher Education Amendments of 1998," 20 USC 1002.