Studying medicine in Thailand

[Gulfsailor]

My Thai stepdaughter would like to become a surgeon. She is now in year 9 at an international school. Although she is a bit lazy, she is quite bright and her grades reflect this. 

what is the best course of action after her IGCSE? Do Her A levels for two years? Get an IB, or pass the Matayom 6 exams and take the extra saved year to prepare for the entrance exams which are in place for studying medicine? She would also like to study medicine abroad, but I worry about the cost of such venture, plus her job prospects in a foreign country. If she is to move back to Thailand after 8 years or so if studying, I can imagine that one still needs to get Thai accreditation before a foreign trained doctor can practice in Thailand. So it's probably better to just do the first couple of years in Bangkok, and then specialize abroad if that opportunity presents itself. 

Ps. Only interested in the top universities, such as Chula or Mahidon. 

Thank you for any advice!

[Morakot]

Mobility of medical practitioners is not very high in comparison to other professions.

 

From what I understand your daughter is on an international programme; this means she cannot study medicine in Thailand, unless she additionally passes the relvant Matayom exams.

 

If she were to study abroad she will need to get Thai accreditation afterwards. If she studies in Thailand, she cannot practice outside ASEAN countries without additional accreditation.

 

If she studies in Thailand, she might have the opportunity of a few exchange semesters abroad as a part of her study here.

[LolaS]

if she is thai, I suggest you apply for medical scholarship oversea of Queen scholarship fund. of course only if she study regular schools in thailand

[Trembly]

Having IGCSE+ A-Levels, IB, K12 or any other widely recognised foreign qualification is no barrier to attending Thai university. The admissions departments of top flight Thai universities are well versed in the qualifications granted at international schools (whose student bodies have been mostly Thai since regulations were relaxed about 20 years ago), but in any case the Ministry of Education has an equivalency matching service that will issue you a certificate of Thai equivalency for any institution that requires one from your child. 

Plenty of my Thai classmates at international school walked into Thai undergraduate studies in universities such as Mahidol and Assumption with nothing higher than IGCSEs (they couldn't do that with Chula though, which only accepts undergraduate applicants with 12 years of schooling or equivalent). 

Regarding medical training, please have a look at this post (since I wrote that post I now know that surgeons tend to do very well in Thailand regardless of the type of procedure, but those who are chasing money nevertheless tend to stick to cosmetics). The general rule of thumb is that you should qualify where you intend practice, but it does vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. It is difficult but not impossible to train abroad and qualify in Thailand. In Canada and the USA it is nigh on impossible to get your foot in the door with a residency without local training, whereas the UK's NHS is much less of a closed shop for foreign-qualified doctors.

The SWJ + Nottingham University joint MD programme has been operating successfully for many years. The Thammasat International Doctor of Medicine (English programme) is a much newer course from a well respected university in Thailand, but being brand new there is no track-record save for that of the long-standing Thai language sister course and there are certainly no practicing alumni at present. 

Edited May 31, 2017 by Trembly

[Morakot]

1 hour ago, Trembly said:

Plenty of my Thai classmates at international school walked into Thai undergraduate studies in universities such as Mahidol and Assumption with nothing higher than IGCSEs (they couldn't do that with Chula though, which only accepts undergraduate applicants with 12 years of schooling or equivalent).

 

Sure that not a problem providing they enrol on international programmes. Medicine as an international programme in Thailand that's new to me.

 

What entrance qualifications are required for Thammasat's English MD programme? What accreditation is possible afterwards? 

Edited May 31, 2017 by Morakot

[Trembly]

22 minutes ago, Morakot said:

 

Sure that not a problem providing they enrol on international programmes. Medicine as an international programme of in Thailand that's new to me.

 

What entrance qualifications are required for Thammasat's English MD programme? What accreditation is possible afterwards? 

Nope, they didn't do international bachelor's degrees either. Back then ABAC didn't even have an international BBA programme. Leaving aside the MoE certificate of equivalency, what makes you think that Thai universities don't recognise foreign qualifications?

 

As far as I know, graduates of the Thammasat English MD programme do the same course as their Thai programme friends, they just go through the course in English. They still have to sit their medical council exams in Thai for a Thai medical license though. 

For the sake of brevity I'll just point out that all students must speak, read and write Thai to a good standard and fulfil all of the basic prerequisites for Thai civil service entry (whether they intend to work for the Ministry of Public Health or not) to be admitted to the Thammasat English MD programme. For the academic requirements see 3.2 - 3.4 of this PDF. 

Edited May 31, 2017 by Trembly

[Morakot]

25 minutes ago, Trembly said:

Nope, they didn't do international bachelor's degrees either. Back then ABAC didn't even have an international BBA programme. Leaving aside the MoE certificate of equivalency, what makes you think that Thai universities don't recognise foreign qualifications?

 

Currently you need Matthayom 6 to study at public universities.  You'll be either admitted directly to a state university where you applied or via the National Institute of Education Testing Service based on your listed/ranked choices of universities.

 

However, all this is usually not required for degree programmes that are offered as so-called international programmes at state universities and other qualifications (including foreign ones) may be acceptable. Private universities, like ABAC, usually don't have any such strict requirement and you can study on a Thai programme with any relevant qualification (MoE certified) providing you have the language skills.

Edited May 31, 2017 by Morakot

[Trembly]

Quote

So it's probably better to just do the first couple of years in Bangkok, and then specialize abroad if that opportunity presents itself. 

If you mean doing post-graduate study abroad then yes, that's possible. If you mean doing the foundational training years in Thailand and then completing her specialisations abroad then sorry, that's just not feasible. The medical training pipelines of each country are geared towards producing doctors who know how to work the respective health systems of that country, so chopping and changing  mid-flight tends to be frowned upon. Lateral movement mid-pipeline between such neighbours as the USA and Canada would raise eyebrows, never mind from Thailand ... 

 

Your daughter has to decide where she intends to practice in order to decide what step 1 of her medical training is going to be.

[Trembly]

5 minutes ago, Morakot said:

 

Currently you need Matthayom 6 to study at public universities.  You'll be either admitted directly to a state university where you applied or via the National Institute of Education Testing Service based on your listed/ranked choices of universities.

 

However, all this is usually not required for degree programmes that are offered as so-called international programmes at state universities and other qualifications (including foreign ones) may be acceptable. Private universities, like ABAC, usually don't have any such strict requirement and you can study on a Thai programme with any relevant qualification (MoE certified) providing you have the language skills.

Mattayom 6 or equivalent as accepted by the MoE (which to wit includes the UK, US and IB curricula). Ergo the certificate of equivalency, provided by the MoE. 

Edited May 31, 2017 by Trembly

[Morakot]

The OP is trying to get his child onto an MD programme at Chula or Mahidol.

 

With an IB qualification the child would need to apply via the direct application route to one of these two universities and cannot go via NITES's central allocation. All I can say to that: Good luck to that... Of course if the child has top-of-the-top IB grades and the dad knows key people at the chosen institution it might not be a problem...

Edited May 31, 2017 by Morakot

[Trembly]

30 minutes ago, Morakot said:

The OP is trying to get his child onto an MD programme at Chula or Mahidol.

 

With an IB qualification the child would need to apply via the direct application route to one of these two universities and cannot go via NITES's central allocation. All I can say to that: Good luck to that... Of course if the child has top-of-the-top IB grades and the dad knows key people at the chosen institution it might not be a problem...

Or the child who has IGCSE / A Levels / IB / K12 certificates can go to NIETS to get them converted and then go to university admissions with the M6 certificate issued by NIETS. 

Edited May 31, 2017 by Trembly

[Gulfsailor]

2 minutes ago, Trembly said:

Or the child who has IGCSE / A Levels / IB / K12 certificates can go to NIETS and get them converted and then go to the university admissions with their M6 certificate issued by NIETS. 

I think that's a good comment. I'll check with Niets first what international high school degree they equate to M6.  (Full A levels or just AS or even IGCSE). MD and dentistry course admission at chula, mahidon and some others are different from the regular university entrance procedures, in that entrance exams need to be taken (in amongst other medical knowledge!). In that case it would be best if she spends a year preparing for these.

thanks you all for your comments and remarks so far. 

[Trembly]

Just now, Gulfsailor said:

I think that's a good comment. I'll check with Niets first what international high school degree they equate to M6.  (Full A levels or just AS or even IGCSE). MD and dentistry course admission at chula, mahidon and some others are different from the regular university entrance procedures, in that entrance exams need to be taken (in amongst other medical knowledge!). In that case it would be best if she spends a year preparing for these.

thanks you all for your comments and remarks so far. 

If she knows A-level (or equivalent) Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics to a good standard she'll be fine with the entrance exams. There are plenty of medical entrance exam prep places if you need further insurance or validation. Good luck to the young lady! 

[Morakot]

10 minutes ago, Gulfsailor said:

I think that's a good comment. I'll check with Niets first what international high school degree they equate to M6.  (Full A levels or just AS or even IGCSE). MD and dentistry course admission at chula, mahidon and some others are different from the regular university entrance procedures, in that entrance exams need to be taken (in amongst other medical knowledge!). In that case it would be best if she spends a year preparing for these.

thanks you all for your comments and remarks so far. 

 

Yes, that would be good.

 

I'd be surprised she can sit the Advanced National Educational Test (A-NET) without having completed Matthayom 6. I'd be even more surprised if she enter the NIETS application path without A-NET.

 

It'd be nice if you could let us know what they say.