Anybody familiar with USAT in Montserrat?

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OhGr8Poop4Dinner

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I stumbled across a school out of Montserrat called USAT (University of Science, Arts, & Technology). Apparently, through some sort of loophole, they allow students to take classes at "satellite campuses" located in several US cities. Their website looks like a joke:

http://www.usat-montserrat.org

Is anyone familiar with this program? On their FB page, they have pics of students undergoing the graduation ceremony, but the whole go-to-Caribbean-medical-school-but-take-classes-in-the-US deal sounds too good to be true.

Also, while I'm on that particular topic, is it safe to say that programs like OUM and IUHS are garbage?

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Wow, that website. Thank you for posting that. Just made my night. I reloaded it twice just to make "zoom zoom" sounds while everything was flying in.

As for the programs themselves: do. not. want.

edit: holy crap there's a star on the cursor, too. How did I miss that the first three times?
 
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Wow, that website. Thank you for posting that. Just made my night. I reloaded it twice just to make "zoom zoom" sounds while everything was flying in.

As for the programs themselves: do. not. want.

edit: holy crap there's a star on the cursor, too. How did I miss that the first three times?

Reminded me of my geocities days back in middle school.
 
LOL, so is it safe to say that any Caribbean program that allows students to take classes in the US is a scam? Why don't any of the "Big 4" have so-called satellite campuses here in the US? Seems like they'd get even more applicants if they allowed students to stay in the US instead of requiring them to live in the Caribbean...
 
LOL, so is it safe to say that any Caribbean program that allows students to take classes in the US is a scam? Why don't any of the "Big 4" have so-called satellite campuses here in the US? Seems like they'd get even more applicants if they allowed students to stay in the US instead of requiring them to live in the Caribbean...

To my knowledge, IUHS and USAT are the only schools that offer distance learning, and they're both to be steered well-clear of. I'm not aware of any explicit reason why such a program would be intrinsically a bad idea. I think Ross has tried in the past to acquire a States-based campus, but the deal ultimately fell through, I'm not sure of the tricky legalities involved. I do know that New Jersey has some peculiar wording to their medical licensure regs that requires students spend the first two years of basic sciences in the same country, but I'm not sure if that would apply for a distance learning program. It's possible that in the future such an option might be available, but right now that's definitely not the case if you hope to practice in the US.
 
To my knowledge, IUHS and USAT are the only schools that offer distance learning, and they're both to be steered well-clear of. I'm not aware of any explicit reason why such a program would be intrinsically a bad idea. I think Ross has tried in the past to acquire a States-based campus, but the deal ultimately fell through, I'm not sure of the tricky legalities involved. I do know that New Jersey has some peculiar wording to their medical licensure regs that requires students spend the first two years of basic sciences in the same country, but I'm not sure if that would apply for a distance learning program. It's possible that in the future such an option might be available, but right now that's definitely not the case if you hope to practice in the US.

Thanks for the info. What about a program like Destiny? They have a curriculum that allows students to spend most of their time in the US and only requires them to spend 2-3 weeks per semester on Saint Lucia. Could it possibly be a good, or at least "not bad" sign that they list several hospitals in the US as being established clinical affiliates?:

http://www.comhssl.net/casa/index.php/academics/clinical-placements.html
 
Whatever happened to StewartMed?
 
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Thanks for the info. What about a program like Destiny? They have a curriculum that allows students to spend most of their time in the US and only requires them to spend 2-3 weeks per semester on Saint Lucia. Could it possibly be a good, or at least "not bad" sign that they list several hospitals in the US as being established clinical affiliates?:

http://www.comhssl.net/casa/index.php/academics/clinical-placements.html

Nope. If you want to practice in the US, then SGU, Ross, AUC, Saba, or AUA. Pick one. Having affiliated sites for 3rd and 4th year clerkships doesn't mean much if you can't get a residency placement after training there.
 
Nope. If you want to practice in the US, then SGU, Ross, AUC, Saba, or AUA. Pick one. Having affiliated sites for 3rd and 4th year clerkships doesn't mean much if you can't get a residency placement after training there.

Thanks. If you don't mind, could you be more specific about how one's chances of landing a US residency would be compromised by attending a school like Destiny? Is there a strict law that forbids graduates of programs like theirs from filling residency positions here, or is it more a case of the majority of residency program directors choosing to not accept applications from their graduates?
 
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Thanks. If you don't mind, could you be more specific about how one's chances of landing a US residency would be compromised by attending a school like Destiny? Is there a strict law that forbids graduates of programs like theirs from filling residency positions here, or is it more a case of the majority of residency program directors choosing to not accept applications from their graduates?

Many states won't give you a medical license. Distance learning in medical school is not generally accepted. Don't do it.
 
Many states won't give you a medical license. Distance learning in medical school is not generally accepted. Don't do it.

Hmmm... do you know if there is a specific set of parameters regarding what constitutes "distance learning," according to state medical boards? The reason I ask is because some of these programs actually require students to spend a certain amount of time (usually several weeks per semester) attending on-campus courses, while the rest of the semester is spent learning via online resources (I.e., the programs are only "partially" online), so I'm just curious. I perused The California List but couldn't find a single mention of either Destiny or USAT (to put it another way, they're neither listed as being "approved" or "unapproved"), so I would like to find some concrete, state-by-state bylaws/guidelines, if they're out there.

Edited to add: this piece of info is straight from USAT's administrators themselves:

"Currently, we are accredited by IMED, ASIC, FAIMER, ECFMG, USMLE, and CAPER. This means that our students are able to obtain licensure in the U.S., Canada and abroad. You may verify the status of USAT on the IMED/FAIMER web site." The director did state that they have not applied for licensure approval in California. And this is interesting: they claim that most state medical boards will not license graduates of programs that don't provide live lectures, but since all of their lectures are delivered "live" (even if some of them are online), they therefore satisfy this requirement.

Also, the admin. staff at USAT told me that their students are required to attend live lectures/labs at a campus location for about 1 week/month. With that being the case, would the program still count as a "distance/online" program to most states?
 
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Hmmm... do you know if there is a specific set of parameters regarding what constitutes "distance learning," according to state medical boards? The reason I ask is because some of these programs actually require students to spend a certain amount of time (usually several weeks per semester) attending on-campus courses, while the rest of the semester is spent learning via online resources (I.e., the programs are only "partially" online), so I'm just curious. I perused The California List but couldn't find a single mention of either Destiny or USAT (to put it another way, they're neither listed as being "approved" or "unapproved"), so I would like to find some concrete, state-by-state bylaws/guidelines, if they're out there.

For instance, Indiana rules:

Internet Programs: All schools of medicine whose curriculum and primary requirements are internet based and/or distance learning shall be disapproved. Most specifically, the internet based schools of medicine listed on the Federation Alert are hereby disapproved by the board.

As for the schools not being on the approved list, consider them to just as much be on the disapproved list. You would have to go before the board to hope you can get approved. Your chances of getting a state license is low at these schools. If you really want to be a doctor and you have to go to the Caribbean, then go to one of the Big 4, otherwise you're basically throwing your money away.
 
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For instance, Indiana rules:



As for the schools not being on the approved list, consider them to just as much be on the disapproved list. You would have to go before the board to hope you can get approved. Your chances of getting a state license is low at these schools. If you really want to be a doctor and you have to go to the Caribbean, then go to one of the Big 4, otherwise you're basically throwing your money away.

Thanks for the link. I just edited my previous post to include an addendum, but since it appears you read/responded to my post before I had the chance to submit it, I'll go ahead and re-post it here. This is what USAT's administrative staff told me directly:

"Currently, we are accredited by IMED, ASIC, FAIMER, ECFMG, USMLE, and CAPER. This means that our students are able to obtain licensure in the U.S., Canada and abroad. You may verify the status of USAT on the IMED/FAIMER web site." The director did state that they have not applied for licensure approval in California. And this is interesting: they claim that most state medical boards will not license graduates of programs that don't provide live lectures, but since all of their lectures are delivered "live" (even if some of them are online), they therefore satisfy this requirement.

Also, they said that their students are required to attend live lectures/labs at a campus location for about 1 week/month. With that being the case, would the program still count as a "distance/online" program to most states? According to USAT, they currently have graduates doing residencies in GA, FL, TX, and other states. Is this because those states don't have any restrictions regarding graduates of distance medical programs, or am I being lied to by them? The thing is, I have lived in GA my whole life and plan to live either here (or possibly in AL) for the rest of my life, and I currently have my heart set on applying to PM&R (or other primary care) residencies, so if I'm content with practicing here for the duration of my career, would either USAT or Destiny still be absolutely bad ideas?
 
@OhGr8Poop4Dinner Don't go there. Period! If you are there already, leave! and leave quickly!

Yeah, that seems to be the prevailing sentiment in this thread (and no, I'm not currently enrolled there, thankfully). I'm not trying to come across as argumentative, but I guess I'm just trying to figure out why one of these programs would be such a bad idea, as long as someone doesn't have intentions to practice in California, Indiana, or another state that expressly bans graduates of their program. I just checked the GA medical board's website, and it just says that if someone has graduated from a state that's either on the CA "disapproved" list or not on it at all, they just have to complete at least 3 years of residency. So hypothetically speaking, if I graduate from USAT, apply and get accepted to (for example) a PM&R residency in GA, and then finish the residency, are there any other issues that could arise (again, as long as I want to stay in GA)? Am I not considering a critical detail here?
 
Yeah, that seems to be the prevailing sentiment in this thread (and no, I'm not currently enrolled there, thankfully). I'm not trying to come across as argumentative, but I guess I'm just trying to figure out why one of these programs would be such a bad idea, as long as someone doesn't have intentions to practice in California, Indiana, or another state that expressly bans graduates of their program. I just checked the GA medical board's website, and it just says that if someone has graduated from a state that's either on the CA "disapproved" list or not on it at all, they just have to complete at least 3 years of residency. So hypothetically speaking, if I graduate from USAT, apply and get accepted to (for example) a PM&R residency in GA, and then finish the residency, are there any other issues that could arise (again, as long as I want to stay in GA)? Am I not considering a critical detail here?
First of all, why do you want to go there as opposed to SGU, ROSS, AUC, SABA, AUA, MUA, St Mathews even UAG (Mexico english version)? Have you spoke to someone who went to that school? If they can give some of their alumni to talk to, it is not probably a good idea to go to that school. Finding residency is VERY competitive for students who went to the better schools in the Caribbean; therefore, it would be 100 times harder for a school that does not have a big track record of placing students into residency here...
 
First of all, why do you want to go there as opposed to SGU, ROSS, AUC, SABA, AUA, MUA, St Mathews even UAG (Mexico english version)? Have you spoke to someone who went to that school? If they can give some of their alumni to talk to, it is not probably a good idea to go to that school. Finding residency is VERY competitive for students who went to the better schools in the Caribbean; therefore, it would be 100 times harder for a school that does not have a big track record of placing students into residency here...

Well, the fact that students are able to spend the most/all of their time in the US and not the Caribbean is VERY convenient, and I was under the impression that primary care residencies (which are what I plan to apply to in the first place) weren't *that* competitive to attain, at least in comparison to specialty residencies. That's a good idea about talking to some of their alumni -- I'll email the program director about doing that and see what he says...
 
Well, the fact that students are able to spend the most/all of their time in the US and not the Caribbean is VERY convenient, and I was under the impression that primary care residencies (which are what I plan to apply to in the first place) weren't *that* competitive to attain, at least in comparison to specialty residencies. That's a good idea about talking to some of their alumni -- I'll email the program director about doing that and see what he says...
Long distance learning! You should check with the individual states or the state(s) you want to practice to see if you can get licensed. As for primary care not competitive, they might not be competitive for US grad, but for USIMG, they are not that easy to get... For instance, I know someone who passed step 1 on second attempt and passed step 2&3 on first attempt, and he is been trying to get an FM position for 3 years with no success... He is giving up and going to teach at a CC... If he was a US student, he would have probably found something in FM...
 
Long distance learning! You should check with the individual states or the state(s) you want to practice to see if you can get licensed. As for primary care not competitive, they might not be competitive for US grad, but for USIMG, they are not that easy to get... For instance, I know someone who passed step 1 on second attempt and passed step 2&3 on first attempt, and he is been trying to get an FM position for 3 years with no success... He is giving up and going to teach at a CC... If he was a US student, he would have probably found something in FM...

Well... that's the tricky thing about some of these programs. Whereas a school like IUHS, for example, is exclusively distance/internet-based, other programs (such as USAT and Destiny) do require students to regularly attend classes/labs for at least a proportion of the semester. Looks like I'll need to get in touch with at least a few state medical boards to inquire regarding licensing technicalities...
 
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OhGr8....; Been reading this thread and just smiling that you don't really get it! The real question is, "if you have to attend an offshore med school where are your best chances of attaining post graduate residency positions?" Think the %s are with those schools you mentioned or with the Big 4 and the little 4??? Obtaining an off shore MD diploma is just a piece of paper while securing a residency leads to a license to practice medicine in US. Going to i.e. USAT et al diminishes your chances to so low maybe you might win the lotto before obtaining a license to practice. Just an ole MDs viewpoint....
 
@DocBlin It seems like OP is attracted to the distance learning aspect of that particular school, but he/she does not understand that it's already hard for USIMG that are attending the better carib school, so it will be even harder for someone coming to a probably tier 5 caribbean school. Residency is not guaranteed even for AMG since the landscape of medicine is changing constantly...

@OhGr8Poop4Dinner Do your homework before going on that adventure that might prove to be financially costly.
 
Thanks. If you don't mind, could you be more specific about how one's chances of landing a US residency would be compromised by attending a school like Destiny? Is there a strict law that forbids graduates of programs like theirs from filling residency positions here, or is it more a case of the majority of residency program directors choosing to not accept applications from their graduates?

Gladly. Basically, you need to understand that this process isn't "fair" in the sense that, just because two students have similar stats, that they're going to have equal chances at residencies. It's not even remotely fair. A USMD student with a 200 Step score can get a FM residency. A Caribbean MD from a well-known school like one of the Big 4 will struggle to find a residency with anything less than a 215. Setting foot into an off-shore school immediately puts you at a significant disadvantage when it comes to finding a residency. On top of that, there are so, so many offshore schools that it's impossible for residency directors to know all of them and their reputations. Right now, distance-learning is taboo for medical education. It just is, and you need to accept that. Medicine is big on the "old-school" approach. That's (part of the reason) why we still have residents putting in 100+ hour weeks off the books. It's the same reason a lot of schools still have mandatory lectures. It's the same reason we still learn outdated techniques that you can't rely on in a clinical setting. It's the same reason we still publicly shame students and residents on grand rounds by pimping them on minutiae. Because we've always done it that way.

The reason I bring that up, is because you need to cultivate an attitude of pragmatism if you want to get through an off-shore program. Being successful is more important than being right in this case. Look at the data for the NRMP statistics. In 2013, 12 out of 52 students graduating from medical schools in St. Lucia obtained their first-choice residency. That's a little over 20%, or about 1 in 5 students. On the other hand, 690/1000 students graduating from med schools in Grenada obtained their first-choice residency, or about 70% or almost 3/4. Now, those absolute percentages don't perfectly reflect the actual numbers that got any residency, but that's okay because really we're concerned with the relative ratio. Students graduating from GND are over three times more likely to obtain their first-choice residency than students graduating from St. Lucia. I cannot overestimate how important that is in your career as a physician. Your residency is your key to the kingdom. With out it, you have severely limited options to practice or repay your loans. And if you don't get it right out of the gate on your first match cycle, your chances of ever getting it drop off very quickly.

There are lots of other reasons why going to one of these schools is a bad idea, but this is already lengthy and I'm late for conference. If you have other questions or would like to hear some of the other reasons, I'm sure some of the other frequent posters will chime in. Otherwise, I strongly encourage you to look at the data from old match cycles and draw your own conclusions. The data are pretty clear on this one.
 
Gladly. Basically, you need to understand that this process isn't "fair" in the sense that, just because two students have similar stats, that they're going to have equal chances at residencies. It's not even remotely fair. A USMD student with a 200 Step score can get a FM residency. A Caribbean MD from a well-known school like one of the Big 4 will struggle to find a residency with anything less than a 215. Setting foot into an off-shore school immediately puts you at a significant disadvantage when it comes to finding a residency. On top of that, there are so, so many offshore schools that it's impossible for residency directors to know all of them and their reputations. Right now, distance-learning is taboo for medical education. It just is, and you need to accept that. Medicine is big on the "old-school" approach. That's (part of the reason) why we still have residents putting in 100+ hour weeks off the books. It's the same reason a lot of schools still have mandatory lectures. It's the same reason we still learn outdated techniques that you can't rely on in a clinical setting. It's the same reason we still publicly shame students and residents on grand rounds by pimping them on minutiae. Because we've always done it that way.

The reason I bring that up, is because you need to cultivate an attitude of pragmatism if you want to get through an off-shore program. Being successful is more important than being right in this case. Look at the data for the NRMP statistics. In 2013, 12 out of 52 students graduating from medical schools in St. Lucia obtained their first-choice residency. That's a little over 20%, or about 1 in 5 students. On the other hand, 690/1000 students graduating from med schools in Grenada obtained their first-choice residency, or about 70% or almost 3/4. Now, those absolute percentages don't perfectly reflect the actual numbers that got any residency, but that's okay because really we're concerned with the relative ratio. Students graduating from GND are over three times more likely to obtain their first-choice residency than students graduating from St. Lucia. I cannot overestimate how important that is in your career as a physician. Your residency is your key to the kingdom. With out it, you have severely limited options to practice or repay your loans. And if you don't get it right out of the gate on your first match cycle, your chances of ever getting it drop off very quickly.

There are lots of other reasons why going to one of these schools is a bad idea, but this is already lengthy and I'm late for conference. If you have other questions or would like to hear some of the other reasons, I'm sure some of the other frequent posters will chime in. Otherwise, I strongly encourage you to look at the data from old match cycles and draw your own conclusions. The data are pretty clear on this one.

@bedevilled ben, thanks for providing that explanation, which contains exactly the info I was seeking. Before you made your post, I was going to make a hypothetical comparison between a graduate from Ross and a graduate from USAT or Destiny who both have identical Step scores, identical GPAs, and who are both applying to the same residency program in a state (such as GA) that does consider graduates of USAT/Destiny to be eligible for licensure. Of course, I was going to ask, with both of them being equal applicants in terms of applicant statistics, would the Ross graduate get the residency position over the USAT/Destiny graduate? And now, I see that the answer is "yes."

So, to be clear, even if we've narrowed down a list of 20 states that would grant licensure to a graduate of USAT/Destiny (I found out today that GA does, as long as the graduate completes 3 yrs. of residency), we still have to take into account the fact that school reputation matters in the eyes of residency program directors as well? Believe it or not, I was under the impression that state licensure technicalities were the only significant hurdle to overcome, and that after surpassing that obstacle, all IMGs are essentially on equal footing in terms of residency competitiveness.
 
Well, I received an email from the director of USAT today, and he said that for the last class, the average Step I score was 89%, the average Step II score was 95%, and that 100% of their graduates have achieved residency placements. These numbers sound pretty impressive, but even with good Step pass rates (and supposed 100% residency placement, which doesn't say much if they've only graduated a few students), is it still likely that residency program directors think lowly of students who graduate from there? Do you think it would be a good idea to actually contact a few residency directors and see what they think?
 
There's no point contacting residency directors if you're even considering this path.

Pretty much everyone going to a new school in the Caribbean thinks they'll be a competitive applicant, meaning no amount of common sense will help.

Plenty of students from non-tier 1 schools fail to match on a yearly basis. It's just risky planning to get an MD that's only useful in a few states. Let's pretend that Georgia doesn't have a limit on Step 1 attempts.... that means someone from a (I forgot the name of the school while posting) has to compete against every other applicant with limited options and AMGs.

So unless you're talking about someone who manages to overcome whatever issues stopping them from posting an MCAT score worthy of a US MD/DO or even big 4 Caribbean school, how in the heck are they going to rock Step 1?

At least with tier 1 or 2 schools have rotations in hospitals that accept Caribbean grads. They at least get an opportunity to be seen off paper and make the right impression.

Also, there's the combined match. Seems like there's a new DO school opening every year. How long until the total number of US grads exceeds residency positions?

I get not wanting to leave home but banking your career on an on-line MD is risky.

Caribbean schools are usually WHO approved. In the most simple terms this means graduates can practice medicine in their degree's country of origin after residency. Where's someone going to practice with no physical school? On-line!?
 
Well, I received an email from the director of USAT today, and he said that for the last class, the average Step I score was 89%, the average Step II score was 95%, and that 100% of their graduates have achieved residency placements. These numbers sound pretty impressive, but even with good Step pass rates (and supposed 100% residency placement, which doesn't say much if they've only graduated a few students), is it still likely that residency program directors think lowly of students who graduate from there? Do you think it would be a good idea to actually contact a few residency directors and see what they think?

I don't believe those stats for a second. No school has a 100% placement rate unless they are severely massaging those numbers to the point of them being meaningless.

You sound pretty committed to going this route, so I'm not going to waste my breath trying to convince you otherwise. Suffice it to say that I've been following Caribbean medical education for the last 4 years now. I've seen first-hand how hard it is for students from SGU and Ross, easily the two most well-known Caribbean medical schools, to obtain residencies. I don't know how many people need to tell you this is a bad idea before you'll start believing us.

At the very least, you should ask for a list of programs students have obtained residencies, and ask for the contact info for 2-3 graduates that have obtained residencies and email them. To be honest, I would be shocked to learn that a graduate with an online MD was able to obtain a residency at any US program.
 
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I don't believe those stats for a second. No school has a 100% placement rate unless they are severely massaging those numbers to the point of them being meaningless.

You sound pretty committed to going this route, so I'm not going to waste my breath trying to convince you otherwise. Suffice it to say that I've been following Caribbean medical education for the last 4 years now. I've seen first-hand how hard it is for students from SGU and Ross, easily the two most well-known Caribbean medical schools, to obtain residencies. I don't know how many people need to tell you this is a bad idea before you'll start believing us.

At the very least, you should ask for a list of programs students have obtained residencies, and ask for the contact info for 2-3 graduates that have obtained residencies and email them. To be honest, I would be shocked to learn that a graduate with an online MD was able to obtain a residency at any US program.

You're definitely not wasting your breath, and I appreciate the points you've given me to consider regarding Caribbean medical schools. I know it probably sounds like I have decided to apply to and attend USAT or Destiny, but that's definitely not the case; I'm simply trying to find specific, concrete reasons (e.g., distance education carrying a stigma in the physician community) as to why either of those schools would be a bad choice for foreign medical education. I see that you listed the statistic that only 20% of graduates of St. Lucia programs matched into their first choices of residencies, which is definitely worrisome (of course, I do wonder how many of them had a hard time matching because they had uncompetitive Step scores and/or low GPAs, which could also allude to why they attended a program other than one of the "Big 4" in the first place).

At this point, I haven't yet decided what my next major step, career-wise, will be. One of the primary reasons I'm considering Caribbean medical schools is because I previously failed out of nursing school with an "F" (it was a clinical failure dealing with paperwork submissions, not an academic failure), so I probably wouldn't even have a fleeting chance of attaining admission to a US medical school. However, my backstory is kind of complicated -- I originally earned a Biology degree and took the pre-med pre-requisites, decided I wanted to be a CRNA, went to nursing school, and failed out. I know I would enjoy being a CRNA or an anesthesiologist or even a primary care physician, but the "catch" is that I REALLY didn't enjoy nursing clinicals, and I think my lack of passion for nursing is what led to my failing in the first place. However, if I was offered the opportunity right now to either attend CRNA school and skip undergraduate nursing school, or attend medical school and have my choice of matching into any primary care residency (while reserving the future option to subsequently apply for fellowships), I would have a really hard time deciding which opportunity to make my choice on.

Having said all that, I obviously have some tough decisions to make. Luckily enough, I have actually been accepted to start over at a different nursing program in January, which I would graduate from in December 2015 (three semesters later). However, my "gut feeling" is that bedside nursing isn't for me (even if I genuinely would enjoy being a CRNA), and at the same time, I'm ready and willing to spend 6+ hours/day studying if I actually do end up matriculating at a Caribbean medical school in January.

Anyways, I did get in touch with USAT's director regarding residencies, and he sent me a (partial, I'm assuming) list of the residencies that some of their graduates have matched into (copied from my email):

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If you browse through the list, you'll notice that someone actually graduated from this school and matched into Neurosurgery.... WHAT?! Isn't it generally regarded as being impossible for ANY Caribbean grad to match into an ultra-competitive residency such as that one?

Someone also matched into Radiology, I noticed, which also seems surprising. Something seems to not be adding up here, in a "too-good-to-be-true" kind of way. The director of this program did say that all of their lectures -- even the online ones -- are presented "live" and not pre-recorded, which, according to him, ensures that basically all states except California will be willing to license their graduates. They also have to spend one week per month at a satellite campus in the USA and physically attend lectures and labs.

I guess I'm just confused here.... on the one hand, something seems "off" about this whole thing, but at the same time, how are their graduates (supposedly) matching into residencies, and competitive ones at that?
 
@bedevilled ben Woops, I just noticed that the photo of the list of residency placements didn't get uploaded correctly in my previous post. Here it is again:


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Does this list sound too good to be true? Could it be that a "pseudo-distance" medical school is actually placing its graduates into US residencies like these?!
 
@bedevilled ben Woops, I just noticed that the photo of the list of residency placements didn't get uploaded correctly in my previous post. Here it is again:

Does this list sound too good to be true? Could it be that a "pseudo-distance" medical school is actually placing its graduates into US residencies like these?!

I'm sure they're all fine institutions. Truth be told I only recognize about 5 of those hospitals, so I'm not in a position to speak to their reputations. A list of programs is only marginally helpful without the number of students they placed in each hospital. It's pretty easy to sort of name-drop certain institutions on your list and make it seem more prestigious than it really is. My own school does this. Did the school provide any residents that you could contact?

A thought just occurred to me. How long have they been doing the distance-learning program? Did they have a brick-and-mortar campus previously? If they've only started doing it in the last 4 years, then they haven't graduated any students that are applying for residency under the distance-learning program. It's possible that these residents were able to obtain spots because they actually did their M1 and M2 on the island. I would be interested to hear from a resident that did their distance learning program.
 
@OhGr8Poop4Dinner You seem to want to go to that school despite what everyone with experience with the process is telling you. 6 hrs/day might not be enough to do good for many people in med school. Heck.... I am at a US school now and 6 hours/day probably get me 'C'... I think if you are ok with primary care, you should do nursing, then do NP....

Remember that many Caribbean schools are deceptive in their practice since they don't have to answer to nobody... Take whatever that school tells you with a grain of salt.
 
I'm sure they're all fine institutions. Truth be told I only recognize about 5 of those hospitals, so I'm not in a position to speak to their reputations. A list of programs is only marginally helpful without the number of students they placed in each hospital. It's pretty easy to sort of name-drop certain institutions on your list and make it seem more prestigious than it really is. My own school does this. Did the school provide any residents that you could contact?

A thought just occurred to me. How long have they been doing the distance-learning program? Did they have a brick-and-mortar campus previously? If they've only started doing it in the last 4 years, then they haven't graduated any students that are applying for residency under the distance-learning program. It's possible that these residents were able to obtain spots because they actually did their M1 and M2 on the island. I would be interested to hear from a resident that did their distance learning program.

That's a good point -- I'll email the director again and ask if any of the distance-learning students have graduated and applied for residencies yet. They actually have their "home" campus on the island Montserrat, where students can choose to attend classes full-time during their M1 and M2 years, if they wish (so you can be a distance student or an on-campus student). Here's a thought... could it be that they're reporting ALL their graduates as having physically attended classes at the real campus, thus not making it possible for residency programs to distinguish between who attended as a distance student and who was an on-campus student? Wouldn't this be illegal?

But this could be the red-flag: when I asked him if I could get in touch with a previous graduate, he said that he "can't release the names or contact info of graduates because resident physicians are not permitted to accept non-emergency calls while in the hospital." Is this BS? He did say that in 11 years, only one student has failed to match due to only applying to a few programs near his home because he didn't want to relocate his family. Are all the other Caribbean programs typically willing to release contact info for some of their previous graduates?
 
But this could be the red-flag: when I asked him if I could get in touch with a previous graduate, he said that he "can't release the names or contact info of graduates because resident physicians are not permitted to accept non-emergency calls while in the hospital." Is this BS? He did say that in 11 years, only one student has failed to match due to only applying to a few programs near his home because he didn't want to relocate his family. Are all the other Caribbean programs typically willing to release contact info for some of their previous graduates?

That means that they don't want you talking to any of their supposed graduates... Run, don't walk away!
 
How could that many people graduate and obtain residency placements in 4 years?
 
FWIW,

I looked at three of the programs listed. Neither of them showed bios of current residents and schools of current residents. RI showed 2012 residents, none of which were from the school listed.
 
FWIW,

I looked at three of the programs listed. Neither of them showed bios of current residents and schools of current residents. RI showed 2012 residents, none of which were from the school listed.
To be honest, I am starting to think OP is a troll because no one could be that oblivious to reality despite what so many have told him/her in this thread...
 
To be honest, I am starting to think OP is a troll because no one could be that oblivious to reality despite what so many have told him/her in this thread...

I entertained the possibility, as well.

At the very least: Anyone interested in the school will think about researching the programs listed for graduates. Claiming a Chief Resident at Mount Sinai (for example) is pretty weird considering they have like 70-ish programs that someone would have to weed through and search for a school.

Considering it's residency application season: It's unlikely people associated with any of those programs would have time to answer semi-random questions from people considering applying to off-shore schools.
 
"Currently, we are accredited by IMED, ASIC, FAIMER, ECFMG, USMLE, and CAPER.

These are not accreditation bodies.

Also, the admin. staff at USAT told me that their students are required to attend live lectures/labs at a campus location for about 1 week/month. With that being the case, would the program still count as a "distance/online" program to most states?

This would still be considered distance learning.

-Skip
 
I stumbled across a school out of Montserrat called USAT (University of Science, Arts, & Technology). Apparently, through some sort of loophole, they allow students to take classes at "satellite campuses" located in several US cities. Their website looks like a joke:

http://www.usat-montserrat.org

Is anyone familiar with this program? On their FB page, they have pics of students undergoing the graduation ceremony, but the whole go-to-Caribbean-medical-school-but-take-classes-in-the-US deal sounds too good to be true.

Also, while I'm on that particular topic, is it safe to say that programs like OUM and IUHS are garbage?

Hi I am one of the 500 graduate from USAT from USAT great people have become MD, some are in the NAVY witch means a lot because no every body can get into NAVY from Caribbean schools, before listening to people who don't have a real knowledge of USAT go to the campus.
 
Am I the only one that is noticing their "DO to MD" program being advertised on that website?

  • Health Care Professional to MBBS/MD Degrees
    • Graduate Entry to MD
    • NP to MD
    • AP to MD
    • DC to MD
    • PA to MD
    • Medical Assistant to MD
    • DO to MD
    • DMD to MD
    • PharmD to MD
    • DPM to MD
    • PT to MD

This "school" is a joke.
 
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Am I the only one that is noticing their "DO to MD" program being advertised on that website?



This "school" is a joke.


I like chiropractor to MD. That would be something to see. I'm in my late forties. Is it too late to switch my PharmD into an MD?
 
Has anyone ever attended this program or called the school itself? You can't believe everything that you see on the internet....
 
READ THIS:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/tracking-the-track-record.1105677/


What do you need to know/ask (and don't be satisfied until you get a straight answer)?
1) How many graduates do you have that are actively practicing medicine with an unrestricted medical license in the [state you want to practice in]?
2) How much of the curriculum involves "distance learning" and how much time will I have to spend on campus?
3) How long will it really take to get my degree? What happens if I fail a class?
4) Do you have a list of graduates in residency or practice that I can talk with?
5) Are all of my clinical rotations in the U.S.?
6) How am I protected if I have a complaint or there is a problem with the curriculum?

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/thr...y-night-caribbean-education-programs.1107201/

Golden advice. And, you didn't have to pay anything for it.

-Skip
 
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