What Does Med School Cost And How Long Does It Take To Get A Degree ?

[BKKdreaming]

Hi

I was wondering what it takes to be a Doctor in Thailand , just a GP , not a specialist ,

How many years of Uni , and then how many extra in Med school,

and then do they have to work in a Hospital for experience before getting their Doctors licence ?

And what is the cost ?

is there a list of the best Thai Med schools.......

a friends son says he wants to be a Doctor , he is only 15 now so I would like to show him what he needs to look at

Thanks for your thoughts

[Sheryl]

4 years medical school on top of 4 years of undergraduate study which needs to include a specific pre-med courses and be in a science major. So 8 years, not counting internship which is for 1 year and is mandatory.

Costs for a Thai citizen I don't know. There are scholarship opportunities for students from poorer families if they have the grades. In particular, there are Need very high grades even for full pay to get in and also to pass an entrance exam.

There are 17 medical schools in Thailand. Particulalry good ones IMO would be:

Mahidol

Chulalongkorn

Khon Khean Univ

Chiang Mai Univ

Prince of Songkhla Univ

But at this stage he need not think of which medical school. Juts focus on getting into university with a biology major and doing well at that.

[TommoPhysicist]

50k a term at CM I believe, two terms a year.

Needs a grade average of over 3.5 to get in.

Edited February 22, 2013 by TommoPhysicist

[TerryLH]

"4 years medical school on top of 4 years of undergraduate study which needs to include a specific pre-med courses and be in a science major. So 8 years..."

This is not correct as for how KKU works. I believe the other universities operate the same as KKU, but I don't have personal experience with any of them.

Students go straight into the Medical faculty. They study 6 years before graduating. They don't do a lot of stuff normally done in undergraduate studies. They are thrown in the deep end from the beginning.

At KKU the tuition fee is 12k per term, 2 terms a year. A smaller amount if they take classes in the summer session.

"Juts focus on getting into university with a biology major and doing well at that."

As far as I know, there is now no path at KKU that will lead from a Bio major to a medical doctor.

I agree though, that biology will be an important part of the curriculum to become a doctor.

The Medical Faculties at all the good schools are very difficult to get into. Many more applicants than spaces available.

Terry

[TommoPhysicist]

I gotta agree with Terry

No pre med, science stream at high school, then straight into doctor training at CM.

[Sheryl]

It used to be a 6 year program but my understanding is that the new system is 4 + 4.

possibly still being phased in some places?

I know for sure that undergrad bio majors in Mahidol are mainly planning on applying to med school. So that pathway is definitely there.

Internationally there are 2 main model I am familiar with. One is 4 + 4 = 8, the first 4 is a university undergrad course with a heavy science concentration ("pre med") but also including core liberal arts courses, the graduate gets an undergrad degree in Sciences prior to medical school. Typically the 1st 2 years are general required courses for the bacehlor's degre and the 2nd 2 years are courses in the major i.e. pre-med courses.

The other is 2 + 4 = 6, it is basically the same as the above minus the liberal arts and undergrad degree step. In other words, go straight to pre-med without first meeting general requirements of a bachelor's degree.

Both approaches deliver essentially the same medical education. They differ in the extent to which they also deliver a basic all-round college educ. The 4 + 4 arguably provides a more well-rounded education but has the disadvantage of taking longer/costing more.

[TerryLH]

"I know for sure that undergrad bio majors in Mahidol are mainly planning on applying to med school. So that pathway is definitely there."

Many students who apply for a medical faculty and don't make it get into a Pharmacy Faculty or a Science Faculty, with the intention of reapplying for a medical faculty in the future. Some are successful, most are not.

It's my understanding that students who are successful start at year one just like it was their first year at uni. The only courses they might be given credit for are courses they took that have the exact same course number as the class taken in the medical faculty, which turn out to be not many, if any.

Most students who reapply for a medical faculty do so after the first year, with a smaller number the second year after their original application.

It's still not a 'natural' path to becoming a doctor.

Terry

[peanut]

It used to be a 6 year program but my understanding is that the new system is 4 + 4.

possibly still being phased in some places?

I know for sure that undergrad bio majors in Mahidol are mainly planning on applying to med school. So that pathway is definitely there.

Internationally there are 2 main model I am familiar with. One is 4 + 4 = 8, the first 4 is a university undergrad course with a heavy science concentration ("pre med") but also including core liberal arts courses, the graduate gets an undergrad degree in Sciences prior to medical school. Typically the 1st 2 years are general required courses for the bacehlor's degre and the 2nd 2 years are courses in the major i.e. pre-med courses.

The other is 2 + 4 = 6, it is basically the same as the above minus the liberal arts and undergrad degree step. In other words, go straight to pre-med without first meeting general requirements of a bachelor's degree.

Both approaches deliver essentially the same medical education. They differ in the extent to which they also deliver a basic all-round college educ. The 4 + 4 arguably provides a more well-rounded education but has the disadvantage of taking longer/costing more.

Actually, in most countries, medical school is like any other undergraduate degree, but takes longer. No need to do any "pre-med" or anything like that. And I think it's only the US and Canada where medical school is after the undergraduate study.

[Sheryl]

"I know for sure that undergrad bio majors in Mahidol are mainly planning on applying to med school. So that pathway is definitely there."

Many students who apply for a medical faculty and don't make it get into a Pharmacy Faculty or a Science Faculty, with the intention of reapplying for a medical faculty in the future. Some are successful, most are not.

It's my understanding that students who are successful start at year one just like it was their first year at uni. The only courses they might be given credit for are courses they took that have the exact same course number as the class taken in the medical faculty, which turn out to be not many, if any.

Most students who reapply for a medical faculty do so after the first year, with a smaller number the second year after their original application.

It's still not a 'natural' path to becoming a doctor.

Terry

I am not referring to students who applied to medical school and did not get in, but to students who are pursuing the "new track" for medical education which Thailand does have, which is a 4 year program open to students who have an undergraduate degree in biomedical sciences.

The traditional 6 yr program was 2 years of science courses followed by 4 years of medicine. It is impossible, anywhere in the world, to start with medical courses immediately as one must have a foundational knowledge of biochemistry, anatomy and other sciences first.

These 2 years are analagous to what is called "pre med" content of an undergraduate degree in countries with the 4+4 approach.

Either way, it is 2 years of foundational science courses followed by 4 years of medical school. The difference lies in whether one does those 2 years of pre-med or "pre clinical" courses only over a 2 year period as part if a unified 6 year course or does them as part of a 4 year undergraduate degree program.

[TerryLH]

"...as one must have a foundational knowledge of biochemistry, anatomy and other sciences first.."

Students interested in medicine or science were in the 'science track' in high school.

Sheryl, You might find looking at the curriculum of one of the schools interesting. It works a lot differently here than I thought it did.

Terry

over and out

[culicine]

A recent high school student of mine just got into KKU this year. Straight into Med school; no other degree needed prior to this. He was my top student for that year, and spent many long hours also studying outside of school. That seems to be what it takes to get into med school here. It's not easy.

Another student qualified for this course: http://www.swu.ac.th/en/content/medicine.asp

But that works out to a cool 7 million baht! Despite that, it was still highly competitive.

[peanut]

It is impossible, anywhere in the world, to start with medical courses immediately as one must have a foundational knowledge of biochemistry, anatomy and other sciences first.

No, really, Sheryl, that's not true. In some countries (mine for sure) there is an entrance examination (quite difficult) where they test biology, chemistry, physics etc. You are supposed to get this knowledge from high school (usually plus extra tutoring). But there is no pre med and any high school graduate, no matter the background, can apply, the only requirement is to pass the examination. Don't know what it's like in Thailand but might be similar.

[Sheryl]

It is impossible, anywhere in the world, to start with medical courses immediately as one must have a foundational knowledge of biochemistry, anatomy and other sciences first.

No, really, Sheryl, that's not true. In some countries (mine for sure) there is an entrance examination (quite difficult) where they test biology, chemistry, physics etc. You are supposed to get this knowledge from high school (usually plus extra tutoring). But there is no pre med and any high school graduate, no matter the background, can apply, the only requirement is to pass the examination. Don't know what it's like in Thailand but might be similar.

By pre med I refer to the first two years of the university program. The science courses one gets at high school are not enough to go staright into clinical courses. There are additional science courses needed specific to the health sciences (bacteriology, parasitology, anatomy and physiology etc). In the 4 + 4 system these make up the last year of the first 4. In the 6 year system these comprise the first 2 years of the 6. I do not know of any system, anywhere, that starts high school graduates immediately into medical training.