<p>Foreign medical school prepare their students to practice medicine in the country they are located in. Or in the case of EU schools, in any EU country. There are some schools which claim to follow an “American” medical curriculum and teach their classes in English. (They may or may not, not gonna debate that here.)</p>
<p>Some (many?) foreign medical schools are easier to gain admittance to than American med schools.</p>
<p>Graduates of foreign medical schools are not automatically allowed to practice medicine in the US. FMG (foreign medical graduates) must take and pass the USMLE Steps 1, 2 CK and 2 CS, then place into a US residency program to complete their training before they can practice in the US.</p>
<p>The USMLE pass rate for FMGs is low–less than 30-40% for each Step exam IRC. And only about 1/3 of those who pass all 3 are placed into US residency programs. FMGs are the last to be placed. All US med school graduates have priority over FMGs for residencies. Right now there are usually slots in primary care fields available but with 16 new US med schools either recently opened or opening in the next 5 years, the availability of those slots is going to decline.</p>
<p>The foreign medical schools most often discussed on CC are in the Caribbean. The most usual degree granted in foreign med schools is MBBS. AFAIK, none grant MDs (which seems to be a strictly American & Canadian degree).</p>