Med School in the Philippines vs in the US (UP College of Medicine Grad)

Hey again! This video is the second video of the playlist I decided to make for fil-am pre-meds who are considering going to medical school in the Philippines. Please take my advice with a grain of salt, I am only speaking about the experiences I had.
I graduated med school in 2023, from the University of the Philippines College of Medicine. Some of this info might not apply to other med schools in the Philippines, but the stuff about applying to residency in the Philippines is true for all applicants in the Philippines.
Thanks so much for watching!
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Chapters:
00:00 - intro
00:30 - Structure of Medical Education (PH vs US)
4:58 - when do students take boards (PH vs US)
9:04 - Clerkship and Internship Years (PH vs US)
15:46 - Applying to Residency (in PH)
21:30 - Conclusion
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Music: Like that by Anno Domini Beats

[@Jasmineswifelife]

Chapters:
00:00 - intro
00:30 - Structure of Medical Education (PH vs US)
4:58 - when do students take boards (PH vs US)
9:04 - Clerkship and Internship Years (PH vs US)
15:46 - Applying to Residency (in PH)
21:30 - Conclusion

[@Step2andBeyond]

This is a super interesting reflection. I wish we had organ-system integration at my school. I'm a USMD and our preclinicals were absolutely garbage in my opinion. Basically we took anatomy, (pathophysiology), clinical skills, and sociology all at the same time. I couldn't actually focus on and truly learn anything. I was just trying to pass my exams every week. Step 1 was way harder and took way longer than it should have for me. Not to mention all of the material was in-house, so I was studying a bunch of nonsense instead of Step 1 relevant material.
In some countries (like Turkey), medical school is 6 years (straight out of high school) with the 6th year being an internship, and med students can practice general community medicine right after they graduate. I think that would be cool cuz the MD in America is almost useless without a residency.
The debt in America is criminal. After starting medical school, you can't change your mind because your shackled with (unsubsidized and exponentially increasing) debt (+/- undergrad debt). God forbid if you get dismissed from medical school, your financial life is basically over.
In America we act like our schools are the best, but they're really not. We only have one year of core year (with a few weeks for every specialty) and then you apply soon after the start of fourth year. You don't have enough time to decide what you really like (in my opinion).
I'm a proud American but we can learn a lot from other countries. Of course, as you pointed out, there's pros and cons to every system.

[@jmss_md_img]

@@Step2andBeyond thanks for this reflection. Everyone has something they’re dissatisfied with in their schooling I guess. My main complaint is that, at least compared to other schools in my country, my med school’s students don’t get much time to study throughout med school and especially during clerkship and internship years. A lot of the material has to be self-taught because of the sheer volume we have to learn about and master as med students. But I think that this struggle might be universal.
I agree that debt in america is criminal. That’s largely the reason why I chose to go to the Philippines instead of staying in the US despite having an objectively good shot at getting into med school in the US. Because I couldn’t justify to myself at that time to drown in hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. Coming back to the US though and realizing how shitty this process of residency apps is for IMGs especially, I do kinda wish I bit the bullet and took on the debt. But no use crying over spilled milk. All I can do now is push forward and believe that I’ll get to where I want to some day.