Are you aspiring to study MBBS in USA after 12th from India? Well, there is no MBBS course or any undergraduate program in Medicine in the US. In the US, you can study medicine only at the postgraduate level which is MD (Doctor of Medicine) or DO (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine). In this article, we have penned down all you need to know about pursuing MBBS in USA.
The total process in the US takes approximately 11 years:
Note: Most of the top-ranking universities of the USA do not specify a minimum MCAT score required for admission. Yet, students having scores of 510 or above have higher chances of admission. MCAT score should not be older than 4 years.
The medical degree is considered a second (postgraduate) degree in the USA. Hence, students are required to have a first degree ie. Bachelor of Science (BS) in biology, chemistry, or any other related field to apply for Doctor of Medicine (MD) in the USA. This BS degree is also referred to as a pre-medical course. After completion of MD, students have to apply for a residency program based on their choice of specialization.
This is considered a foundation course and teaches students the basics of medical science. Domestic students of the USA start pursuing this course after 10th class and the duration for them is 4 years.
However, since Indian students apply for MBBS in the USA after 10+2, they can study for a BS degree only for 4 trimesters or 16 months. Please be advised that this 16-month BS degree might not be recognized by all Medical schools.
If anyone is already having a BS degree in the medicine-related field or studied MBBS for 1 or 2 years in India, they might be exempted from enrolling in a pre-medical course in the USA. Although, this decision lies in the hands of the university to which you are applying.
Some of the subjects taught in pre-medical courses are: English, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Mathematics, Anatomy, Medical Terminology, and Sociology.
After completion of the pre-medical course, you are eligible to enroll in an MD program, that is a post-graduate degree. The program is divided into two stages, each requires 2 years to complete.
Theoretical Stage: It focuses on imparting an advanced level of theoretical knowledge about medical science to students. Some of the subjects that you study in the USA are Anatomy, Physiology, Histology, Medical Ethics, Biochemistry, Neuroanatomy, Pathology, Microbiology, and Clinical Science
Students have to appear for USMLE 1 (United States Medical Licensing Examination) to qualify for the second stage of this MD degree.
Practical Stage: It is also known as Clinical Rotation or Externship/Clerkship. The basics of operating in a hospital and treating patients are taught by doctors and professors. At the end of this stage, you must apply for USMLE 2.
USMLE 2 qualified students are eligible to apply for the residency program. The duration of this program ranges between 3 to 5 years depending upon the specialization chosen.
Students have to work in hospitals and become an expert in their respective fields. USMLE 3, also known as Licensee Exam, is the final exam that you have to appear for. After passing this exam, you can practice as a doctor in the USA or in any other country that approves the US education system.
There are several factors that play a major role at determining your admissions into a med school. Let’s start debunking them one at a time
Before you even get to applying, make sure that you have taken all the pre required courses for the program that you’re enrolling in, back at your pre meds or high school. Med schools are pretty strict about their pre requisite courses for different study/ specialization programs
Certain med schools are quite specific about what they are looking for in a candidate and therefore they have a set of requirements for students before they are even allowed to apply and i.e., their different score requirements at different academic levels and different subjects, so its important that you thoroughly go through the requirements of the institution and the program that you are applying to before making any plans
Unlike the Indian system, simply the MCAT scores won’t guarantee your admission into a med school, however, it does play a major role at determining if you’re even eligible to get in or not into a specific institution. Different med schools have different cut offs, so your MCAT scores are the first thing that puts you up for dabs at least, so do not take it lightly, at all.
After your MCAT scores, your essays are the ones that does the trick. In your essay, talk yourself out and do not be afraid to brag. However, make sure that you don’t sound cocky. That being said, just write an appealing essay for the institution explaining them why you chose the program you chose and how it’s going to help you in the future and also explain why it’s the most relevant one for you!
After your essays, your letters of recommendations are the ones that do a major trick. Everything beings said about you matters, and also whom it is coming from. So, make sure that you grab some LORs from really influential people and not just that, but from people who can really boast you up and make you look like an ideal candidate for the med school. In some cliché cases, LORs sometimes do in fact come from close family members who have nothing but good to say about their beloved.
Lastly, your extra curriculars. Do make sure that the extra curriculars you have selected are relevant to the program that you’re applying to and make it clear what you stand for through the different extracurriculars that you participate in.
The USA is considered a costly country for international students. Here are various types of expenses incurred while pursuing MBBS at USA universities:
International students have to bear these types of expenses before coming to the country for studying pre-medical courses.
Fees for MBBS in the USA have two components: the cost of pursuing BS degree and tuition fees of the MD program. Average tuition fees for both of them are provided below:
Overall, it would take INR 3 – 4 Crores to study Medicine (MBBS) in the USA.
The most generous ones are as follows:
Harvard Medical School – Harvard University
Stanford University School of Medicine
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
UCSF School of Medicine – University of California, San Francisco
Columbia University Medical Center
Duke University School of Medicine
Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis
University of Michigan Medical School
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle
Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University
Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
University of California San Diego School of Medicine
Mayo Clinic School of Medicine
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
One of the advantages of having a degree of MBBS at USA universities is that students are not required to appear for FMGE (Foreign Medical Graduate Examination) to practice in India. MCI (Medical Council of India) approves the MD degree of the USA if pursued from an accredited college or university.
You can either work in private/government hospitals or practice in your own clinic after completion of MD/Residency at USA universities. The average salary of physicians and surgeons in the USA is USD $223,000 (~ INR 1.5 Crore) per annum and is much higher than the national average.
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