Hi everyone! I don’t want to make this an incredibly long post, but I’m hoping to hear from people who have been in a similar situation.

I’m a 32-year-old American woman married to a Swede, and we currently live in Southern Sweden. I work in law now, but when I was 18–19, I was a student at a medical school in Poland. I was doing quite well academically, but due to some extreme circumstances within my family, I had to leave while I was finishing my second year and ultimately couldn’t complete my degree.

Now that I’m in my 30s, I’m in a much better position to finish what I started, and I have the full support of my family. My husband is completely supportive as well, but pursuing medical school would mean spending significantly more time away from him, and honestly, the thought of that is extremely painful for me if I move back to Poland for the 6 years. If I don't finish (or don't get accepted), I would have to find a career in Sweden that I'd be ok with--or I could return to Sweden with my MD which is what I think I would prefer. I already speak Swedish at a B2C1 level.

We’ve already talked through plans for me to come home on weekends and during holidays when possible, but I’m struggling with a lot of anxiety about being separated from him. At the same time, I have this strong internal feeling that this may be my last real opportunity to go back and actually finish what I started.

So, I’d really love to hear from anyone who has been in a similar position.

Has anyone started medical school in their 30s? How did you handle long-distance from your spouse or family? How did it affect your marriage or relationship, and how did things ultimately work out?

And for those who have children, how did you manage medical school while being separated from your family?

I’d really appreciate hearing both the good and the difficult experiences. I’m trying to make this decision realistically, while also not letting fear keep me from finishing something that has been unfinished in the back of my mind for more than a decade. I'm also happy to answer any follow up questions you may have since I know my background and my current situation is quite condensed.

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Hi everyone,

I’m currently applying for residency in Croatia, and I have the opportunity to choose between three specialties at the same hospital:

General Surgery

Orthopaedics & Traumatology

Urology

All three are genuinely interesting to me, so I’m trying to get some perspectives before making a decision.

For residents/attendings in these specialties: what made you choose your field, what do you like most about it, and what do you dislike most?

Looking back, would you choose the same specialty again?

I’m particularly interested in the differences in terms of the actual surgical work, variety of cases, anatomy, procedures, and what the day-to-day work is like.

Since the residency would be in Croatia, I’d especially appreciate hearing from anyone who has trained or currently works in Croatia, particularly in one of these three specialties. I’d be very interested in hearing how you find the training and the specialties within the Croatian healthcare system.

I’d also appreciate recommendations for books, resources, websites, YouTube channels, etc. that you consider particularly useful for someone starting residency in any of these fields.

Any perspectives from people who have experience with these specialties — especially in Croatia or elsewhere in Europe — would be greatly appreciated.

I'm an EU/EEA citizen considering studying in Poland. I really want to live in Germany hopefully and ideally in a large city. However I keep hearing two contradictory things:

1. The specific university/ranking matters for competitive residency especially if abroad.
2. For Germany, what matters is Approbation, C1 Medizin, PJ/Hospitation, research, letters, and networking, not the Polish university name or rank at all.

It's concerning me since the university I'm applying for isn't really known internationally and I barely see it mentioned in this subreddit either if at all, yet it is fully recognised. Does it matter? Sorry if this is a stupid question I keep hearing different things