Willing to relocated from US to UK for Education!!

Hello All,

I am from the US, San Francisco, California to be specific. It has been my dream to study and enter the medical field in the UK. Thus far I have quite a few college credits. But after some research I have read that US credits don't transfer quite well to the UK. So I am very willing to start over! Therefore I have a few questions.

1. If I study in the UK full time will I need both my passport and visa?
2. Should I just use my high school transcript (Since It has not been that long since I graduated form high school) or attempt to use some of my college credits when applying to universities? 
3. Are the university's difficult to get accepted into?

or any other general information that can be offered.

Thanks a bunch

1. If I study in the UK full time will I need both my passport and visa?

Yes: http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/visas-immigration/studying/adult-students/

2. Should I just use my high school transcript (Since It has not been that long since I graduated form high school) or attempt to use some of my college credits when applying to universities?  

You'll need to submit both even though it is unlikely that you higher ed credits will transfer over.

3. Are the university's difficult to get accepted into?

Depends on how high you are aiming and your own academic record.

Thank you so much!

It is a vastly different system. 

I guess the main concern will be that you go through all the training, but there is no guarantee that by the time you graduate they will need entry level GPs. 

Which means you wouldn't be able to stay in the UK, which means you will have a TON of debt, a medical degree and you won't be qualified in the US.   

Medical school in the US cost TONS as well so the cost might be a wash in the end?  I would want to figure that out.  Also she is likely to be able to start medical school there earlier than in the US so she will have more years of earning potential. 

I don't know who medical degrees transfer to the US, but my friend got her MD in Germany and she just had to take some tests for her degree to be recognized in the US. 

Why don't you check out studentdoctor.net.  I am sure they have people on there who have done, are doing or are thinking about doing medical school in the UK.  They will likely be able to better answer your questions. 

How old was your friend in Germany though?  If he was already a licensed doctor in Germany that is a different story.

You don't just get your medical degree and become a doctor you have to do placements and take more tests.

No right to work=no placements=no "doctor"=major pita to go to any other country to work.

But why wouldn't get be able to get licensed at the end of her training?  You don't need a job to be able to get licensed as an MD and a lot of times you need to get licensed to get a job.  

I did tell her that she would have to take more tests at the end.  She would have to do an internship, residency and then board certification etc.  Are you saying if she doesn't get a residency in the UK?  I don't understand why she would have to do a residency in the UK.  She should be able to do an internship in the US if she wants as long as she took the USMLE. 

My friend did her MD, then PhD and Post doc in the US.  She never practiced medicine and had to take the USMLE (three part exam) to be a doctor in the US.  Granted she would still need to do an internship and residency as well, which she hasn't done at this point because she wasn't sure if she wanted to study to take the tests.  

There are a LOT of international MDs and MD residents in the US.  I can't imagine it is that hard to go from the UK to the US.  But she should actually talk to other people who have done this before.  

People go to the UK, Austrailia, Ross University for other medical degrees all the time and don't have a problem coming to the US to do their residency or get a job.  I believe it is possible, may not be super easy, and I think Mariah should look into it more if she is interested.    

Here is the link for the UK and Ireland MD forum on SDN:  http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=142

We had a doctor (American) here who had qualifications from Univ. of Bahrain and College of Surgeons in Dublin. So, it's certainly common enough.

And did he transfer as a fully qualified doctor?

I'm not saying it can't be done, it is just more difficult.  The US loves taking fully qualified doctors who are willing to spend a few years working in under served communities.

The OP stated she wanted to "enter the medical field in the UK."  But by the time she graduates, she might not be able to do that. 

So if her goal is to work for the NHS then coming here to do medical school might not get her a job here.  It is not an automatic "in" to the country. 

Right now it looks like post-doc medical doctors can get an extra three years to undertake a foundation programme, but after that it appears as if you aren't able to stay unless you can get a Tier 2 sponsor.  And who knows if this will stay or go?

Hi MariahS

It's not clear from your posts as to if you've researched more into this and further to what bookgrl mentions, you may well find there isn't an 'automatic' job at the end of your study. Many of my family are medical professionals in India, UK, USA and Canada and certainly on this forum I've mentioned about the way some of my cousins and their friends have been treated and what they've observed as well as their experiences. The NHS will 'prefer' Doctors that are already qualified and with plenty of experience so that shortfalls in numbers from domestic UK candidates can be filled. I think it's the same with Nurses as well too. I'm not saying this is the 'only' thing they do, but it is prevalent.

Can I ask what the reason is you'd want to study Medicine here as opposed to the US? As you are a foreign student, I'm fairly sure you'd not have access to public funds/grants etc like a UK candidate would potentially be, so you'd need to take out loans etc to pay for the course and your living costs. Also, overall, medical knowledge isn't as advanced as it is in the US.

Rubydamselfly - You are right in that medical people do transfer between countries etc, however it's much more difficult than you appear to know of! My cousins friends who were fully qualified and with 5+ or 10+ years experience, came to the UK in search of work and were asked to work for free and then not given jobs at the end of their time here and thus they returned back to India. My cousins were lucky, one was offered work right away as the UK at the time had a dire shortage of anesthetists, and his wife who is a pathologist, didn't get paid work for around a year or so - she worked for a year unpaid. They've now both left the UK and are now in the US where they'll remain after sitting tough US examinations to satisfy the USA medical requirements that they're worthy. The public sector is getting squeezed in terms of investment and funding and the NHS isn't immune. Jobs will be more scarce etc whilst over the medium to long term future the UK fixes it's debt problem.

MariahS - overall, I'd suggest either staying within the US to study for medicine, or, look to other countries where you could train and have better chances of securing a job at the end of your training / course. Do research more into the UK though, I know the above sounds doom and gloom, but perhaps if you were to choose a field of medicine in strong demand etc, it may be easier etc.

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

Yes, Dennis and Bookgrl,

I did miss the part in Mariah's post about wanting to practice in the UK.  I thought she meant to just study in the UK.  My experience and knowledge is about Americans who study elsewhere and then come back to the United States to practice or do residencies. 

There is a ton of information for her out there that will help her make a decision. 

I don't know what field you are looking into but I do know that when I inquired about nursing school in the UK I was informed this "NHS legislation means that we can only accept students who are UK/EU citizens or have lived in the UK for at least 3 years and have indefinite leave to remain here". I don't know if that is all schools, and I don't know if that is all medical fields but it's worth looking in to.
Best of luck!

I don't know what field you are looking into but I do know that when I inquired about nursing school in the UK I was informed this "NHS legislation means that we can only accept students who are UK/EU citizens or have lived in the UK for at least 3 years and have indefinite leave to remain here". I don't know if that is all schools, and I don't know if that is all medical fields but it's worth looking in to.
Best of luck!

I think it's because NHS nursing students get funding from the government for their training, but non-UK/EU citizens do not qualify for the funding unless they have ILR and have been in the UK/EU for 3 years (same as for qualifying for home fees), therefore they may not be able to accept non-UK/EEA students.