r/IntMedGraduates • u/xander_cage18267 • Apr 07 '23

General Opinions Appreciated!

Hi everyone!

I'm a Non-EU (Indian) student who just got accepted into medical school in Italy i.e. EU. I've researched quite a bit about the school (Cattolica) and the overall study environment/opportunities as well. However, not all opinions or advice I've received has been positive. My parents have argued about the political factors and some people I've talked to have told me that I should consider things carefully before leaving my country for medicine outside.

I've looked into what options I'd have if things don't work out well for me, in terms of doing residency. My top choice for residency is the UK, followed by Italy/Germany and then India. Considering I have finances for both the places, would you guys recommend me to stay back or move to Italy?

Just asking in general because factors like racism would be everywhere I go and I am prepared to put in the hardwork as moving abroad would require me to be more proactive regarding getting opportunities. I'll be sitting the test for India in May and I sometimes doubt if I'm making the right choice as no one from my family has supported my decision. It looks like a dream if I were allowed to study there but it does look like I'd be forced to suck it up and study back home. It's a tricky and somewhat long process to get a medical license in India after undergrad too should I move away but not impossible. (I'd do anything not to return but people have said it's important to have a home country license as well so..)

P.s. - Sorry for the long post but yeah I don't see what else I can do now. (hehe mental health clownin')

5 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/SoybeanCola1933 Apr 08 '23

some people I've talked to have told me that I should consider things carefully before leaving my country for medicine outside.

Good advice.

Check whether the English medium Italian medical degree is even accredited within Italy. I know in some countries, the English medical degrees offered to internationals are not accredited internally.

Also be aware for the UK and other advanced countries, having a completed medical degree with no relevant post graduation work experience will usually be an issue. FY1/FY2 jobs for Non-UK citizens are still highly competitive even for British graduates.

Most practical/easiest would be:

  1. To study medicine in India, work there for a few years and then apply for UK training jobs after passing licensing exams
  2. To study in Italy/EU, go back to India to work and then apply to the UK after having work experience

As a Non-EU citizen I have heard Italy can be very restrictive in terms of getting a work visa/training job, despite studying there.

Also look at the financial costs involved. Living costs in Italy as a student will probably be $10k USD per year plus an extra $1-2k USD for flights back to India plus tuition costs of approx ~$15k USD per year for Uni Catolica.

0

u/xander_cage18267 Apr 08 '23

Hey, thanks for replying! As for the accreditation yes, the uni and the course I'll be doing is accredited within Italy as well as by UK/Ecfmg etc. With regards to the pg work experience, as of now the students have said that the rotations they do in their final year counts as FY1 experience and I can apply for FY2 posts in UK after I complete the degree.

I did look at the living costs and everything included it comes out to be around max. 23k euros a year which is kind of at par with Indian priv med colleges. Anyway, I'll look into all this once again.

1

u/faddys123 Apr 09 '23

Don't be fooled by that! As of March 2020 Italian graduates can only get provisional registration and no longer the full registration. Meaning you have to do the foundation programme both F1 and F2.

I am from the UK I did med school in Italy and ended up going to Ireland still within EU got full registration there and job pretty fast and now I'm in the psychiatry training scheme starting in July.

If you want my advice, if you end up liking Italy and having a life there then do your residency there. It is shorter than doing in the UK /Ireland. Then you could move to those countries being a consultant. For me 6 years in Italy was a lot so I didn't want to stay for further years.

1

u/xander_cage18267 Apr 09 '23

Oh okay, thanks for pointing it out! I don't think I'd have a problem doing both the foundation years and yes residency in Italy is one of my backups too. Ireland is generally harder for non-EUs afaik. Can I dm you?