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Medical schools outside the United States offer some advantages for certain types of students. European medical schools, for example, bring students directly from high school for six-year doctoral program medical. Caribbean medical schools, on the other hand, serve post-baccalaureate students, and offer a cheaper education, four-year medical standards. Many foreign medical schools do not require MCAT for admission.

However, there are important issues to consider when looking at foreign medical schools. First, what medical school licensed? A diploma of some schools are treated as if it originated from a U.S. school, others require you to obtain such certification by the ECFMG. Still others are not certified at all – which means you will not be allowed to practice in the U.S. based on a specific diploma. Be very careful in researching the status of ECFMG certification of foreign medical schools that interest you.

Another warning is that the competition for residency positions may be more difficult. Many residency programs do not accept international medical graduates, which mean the pool of available residency slots is smaller than that available for graduates of U.S. school medical.

Regardless of where you do your medical training, to practice in the United States you must pass the USMLE Step 1, USMLE Step 2 and step 3 USMLE exams. This used to be the only foreign medical graduates must take the USMLE step 2 clinical skills but starting in the spring of 2005 all the people take two steps must be taken both clinical skills and clinical knowledge the second step.