Going to Bulgaria to be a doctor… Views

[Cluborange666]

I work in education and the majority of the teenagers I deal with come from very privileged backgrounds. Private school and tutors for every GCSE and A level subject is the norm. Some of the kids still manage to perform quite averagely and then, of course, can’t get into medicine in the UK. Medicine is very much the desired profession. I see that the parents pay for them to go to Eastern Europe where it is possible to get into a degree with C grades.

I’m just curious as to how it all pans out. Do these kids get the same opportunities back in the UK as the UK graduates? Are they looked down upon in the profession? Does it all work out for them or are they delusional? Do they have to self-fund the whole thing? I’m just being nosy really!

Interesting, I don't know. An ex colleague had two friends train to be doctors in Bulgaria but she left a year ago. I wonder how they got on.

Interesting question. I know getting a qualification in EU countries means it’s relatively straightforward to get UK registration but I don’t know how that then translates to actually getting employment.

Just wondering why on earth anyone would pay to become a doctor?!
I could understand it 2 decades ago, maybe. But nowadays being a doctor is an absolutely crap career. No money, no respect, terrible prospects.

Not appealing any way you cut it.

I think it’s very much a status thing. The pay for a GP isn’t bad though, is it?

Back when my parents went to Uni (early 70s), quite average grades would admit you to medicine.

I think I'd prefer a grounded, sensible person with good knowledge and a positive bedside manner as my GP. People I know who are drs now were complete nerds in school, totally snooty and I'd say quite a few are on the spectrum.

Maybe these young people you speak of are going to Bulgaria because they see it as a vocation? They might surprise OP and be very good doctors at the end of the day.

I can imagine that working well when we were in the EU as lots of European universities run courses in English, but is it the same now?

Agree 100% (as a doctor who qualified 2 decades ago). I have dissuaded my DC and am getting out myself asap.