Can you get into a residency without a bachelor's degree?

[irishking33]

I just found out that a friend of mine went straight to a medical school in the Caribbean right after his sophomore year of college. He did not complete his undergrad degree, and is almost done with his 2nd year of medical school (and has about one month left on the island). He also refrained from ever telling me which medical school he currently attends; he sort of dodged that question. All he said was that he doesn't go to Ross.

This got me thinking, don't you need a bachelor's degree to get into a residency program in the U.S.? I've read that there are some residencies that only require 90 undergraduate credits, aside from the 4 years of med school. I honestly thought my friend was crazy for taking this course of action, but he said it was the most "cost-effective" way of doing it, which makes it even more confusing, and that his parents pushed him into it. He admitted that going to a Caribbean medical school is not worth it.

Anyway, he said he's taking his Step 1 exam by the end of the year, and that he'll be doing his rotations in Chicago once he's off the island. While I wish him all the best and don't doubt his abilities, that sounds like a terrible idea to just quit undergrad half way just to start medical school early. Assuming he does well on his Step 1 and his IMG status doesn't hurt him too much, will he even qualify for a U.S. residency without having completed undergrad? I take it he completed roughly 60 credits since he only completed 2 years of undergrad. He also said that he never took the MCAT.

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[gyngyn]

A Bachelor's degree is not required to become a resident.
Brown and Sinai are filling their medical school with people who never took the MCAT.

 

[irishking33]

A Bachelor's degree is not required to become a resident.
Brown and Sinai are filling their medical school with people who never took the MCAT.

I just found out that he goes to IAU, International American University. Since it's not one of the "big 4" Caribbean schools, I wonder what the match rate is? He said his class size is only like 15 people.

 

[gyngyn]

I just found out that he goes to IAU, International American University. Since it's not one of the "big 4" Caribbean schools, I wonder what the match rate is? He said his class size is only like 15 people.

It's likely to be very poor, indeed.

 

[torontopharm]

Even if a bachelor's isn't required, don't some states require 60-90 credits of premed courses? I feel like i heard something like that before.