Why Premeds Should Study Abroad

I was searching through my research notes today during lunch and came across a quote that I copied and pasted from a SECUSS-L post (study abroad listsev) from the mid-1990’s that I’ve been referring to in my advising meetings with premed students on the value of studying/researching/working abroad. This is the type of quote that gets students to listen.

"Spending a year of study abroad is a life enriching, life changing experience. Those of us involved in medical school admissions can well appreciate the value of such experience. When we review an application to medical school, of course, we are interested in grades and MCAT scores. But we're also interested in clinical and researchexperience, as well as other kinds of experiences that impact on the applicant's maturity, leadership skills and sensitivities to people of differing backgrounds and cultures. Spending a year living and studying in another country and culture is truly a transforming and enriching experience. And since so few American students study abroad, only 2%, it would be a unique experience as well. Having a year of study abroad in one's background would be a very positive component of an application to medical school." Dr. Ralph Purdy, ChairMedical School Admissions CommitteeUniversity of California, IrvineOctober 24, 1996

To be sure, premed students shouldn’t study abroad just so they are more competitive in the medical school application process. It’s just a nice outcome of a transformative educational experience.

An Australian Medical School in New Orleans - The Changing Landscape in Higher Education

I was alerted to an new and interesting collaboration between Ochsner Health System in Louisiana and the University of Queensland Medical School in Brisbane, Australia from an article entitled “Australians Open U.S. Med School” by Elizabeth Redden on insidehighered.com.




This agreement is the first of its kind in the United States and one that will serve as a model for future/similar developments we are sure to see in the future. You can learn more about this new program on the University of Queensland School of Medicine website here which includes a video (4:06 minutes) from the press conference led by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. You can als read the press release and watch the same video on the Ochsner website here.


An interesting note from the press conference that caught my attention was the mention that Alton Ochsner (founder of Ochsner Health System) spent some of his medical school studies in Europe. I discovered that Alton Ochsner held a surgical residencies in the early 1920’s under Professor Paul Clairmont in Zurich and under Professor Victor Schmieden in Frankfurt, for a total of two years. You can learn more about Dr. Alton Ochsner here. Of special note...Alton Ochsner is the person who identified the link between tobacco use and lung cancer!