Interview at UAG

I have received an email inviting me to interview for the Guadalajara Medical School. I have asked this before but has anyone attended or know of anyone who attended there? Is there anything you suggest I ask about the school? I know things have changed with their program but not sure in what way and if it is for the better. Let me know thanks

Congratulations!! I think posterity will benefit if you have the energy to post a report afterwards. Unfortunately, I do not know of anyone. Good luck!

I worked with a psychiatrist who graduated from there. A jewish man from New York who challenged himself to learn in both Spanish and English -fluent in both, and highly culturally competent. He was a hell of a doctor!!! That’s what I know about the school.

I can’t speak for the school. However and based on my experience only, Mexican health professional are extremely well trained. I am getting my dental work at the Mexican border for a fraction of the cost here (I literally saved over 25K). These were the best dentists (and god knows that I have been to a lot of them). All I can say is that they were extremely competent, knowledgeable and RESOURCEFUL. No doubt that your training will be impeccable.


The major issue with going there however, is where do you want to practice. Obviously, you would be at a big disadvantage if your goal would be to get a residency here. Not impossible but hard. But it wouldn’t be due to incompetence. I think the training of these folks is on par (and dare I say it) perhaps even better than what you see in many developed countries. And I am not Mexican for the record. So it is my honest opinion.


Good luck.

Not to throw cold water on redo-it-all, but the best in Mexican medical training, while great, may not be what you get at UAG. For example, ITESM’s Guadalajara campus (“Tec”) is probably a better option in the same town (though they are full for this fall).


Do you speak Spanish?


If it were me, I might try to get into UAG, get fantastic grades, improve my Spanish, then transfer.


http://www.itesm.mx/wps/wcm/connect/ITESM/ Tecnolog…


I suspect…this is speculation…that one would need a connection to transfer as an US nontrad…but I also suspect it is not impossible.

User Thomasfx10 on here went to UAG maybe 2,3 years ago, I don’t know. Check his diary: http://www.oldpremeds.org/fusionbb/showtopic.php?t…


You might be able to hunt him down elsewhere on the set of tubes known as the interwebz - but he has not posted here in many years.

This is most likely him on SDN: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/members/thomasfx10…

The main thing I’ve heard about is the length of the school which I think is six years. It is not a top tier school so if that matters you should opt for somewhere else.

Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara is an excellent institution. I have many friends that are currently attending and have met many outstanding physicians that went there.


You may have heard that they have lower MCAT requirements for admissions, and that is true but there is a valid reason for it. The MCAT, and all other USMLE exams, are made for native English speakers. For those of us whom English is our second language these exams are a bit more challenging, not because we don’t have the knowledge necessary for it, but because of the language barrier.


UAG, as well as other excellent institutions around the world, have lost federal funds in the past because they didn’t meet the required numbers for USMLE Step 1, so be careful with that if you will be using federal grants or loans. This is why the program could be more than four years in length: it may take some students a little longer to pass these required examinations. Once again, the majority of these cases are a language thing.


I hope this was somehow helpful. Good luck on your interview!


Lou Ann