Imagine skipping pre-law or pre-med and jumping right into your passions? By studying abroad, it’s possible!
Future lawyers have an easier route, depending on the state. There are three major routes. The easiest is to simply get a law degree in a Common Law country (e.g. England, Ireland, Australia) and practice in New York. These are commonly abbreviated as LL.B. You’ll be practicing law before your classmates finish college.
The second easiest is to get a law degree from a Common Law country and then get an LL.M in the US. This will let you practice in most, but not all states. Total time until practice is about four years.
But let’s say you want to practice someplace like Virginia which does not recognize a foreign LL.B. In that case, you’ll have to have an ABA-accredited degree. Luckily, a number of American law schools offer accelerated JDs for foreign law graduates. These schools aren’t slouches, either – think Northwestern and Wake Forest.
You don’t have to study common law to do this, so you can take advantage of cheaper tuition in places like the Netherlands or Spain. After graduating from your LL.B, you’ll go to an American law school for two years, and then be able to practice anywhere in the US, as well as wherever your foreign law degree is recognized! The best part is that this route only takes five years, as opposed to seven the ‘standard’ way.
Doctors have it a bit more difficult. First, going abroad for medical school is only a great option if you want to be either a doctor in another country or if you want to be a practitioner in a less competitive field. GPs, psychiatrists, and pediatricians are welcome, but dermatologists should look elsewhere.
You’ll start by working with your medical school to prepare for the board exams, commonly called the STEP exams. These, plus ample site visits, will prepare you for residency back in North America. If this sounds intense, remember that more than 30% of family doctors in the US earned their medical degrees abroad.
As a general rule, we don’t recommend medical school abroad for those who want to pursue a more competitive specialty. However, if you’re wanting to become a family doctor, or maybe practice medicine abroad, it’s a viable route for you.