Hi to those applying to St James, In answer to your question you should ask yourself this question, "what is the difference between a profession and a professional?", I think any M.D. school which prepares you for the USMLE step 1 exam is going to give you the tools to succeed. I personally surveyed hospitals on the west coast and found that medical administration bases their decisions on the USMLE step 1 score, and your willingness, and passion will show through during your rotations regardless of where you went to school. Some of the top surgeons in the U.S. were educated in India, England, South America, The Caribbean, etc.
If you choose to go the D.O. route bare in mind that D.O. schools are not recognized on the world stage as of yet, that is expected to change through an accreditation process in the pipeline, whereas caribbean M.D. degrees are. When i joined St. James as a student i actually had a well rounded GPA in the sciences, with two 632 634 level medical micro course taught by U-W and a B in the medical micro 1 and 2 courses,a human gross anatomy course with cadaver dissection, Neuro anatomy and physiology, general physiology, Genetics, physics etc. I was also a chapter president to Golden Key international Honnour society which had a 3.5 GPA requirement, and traveled to China with the ISLP with Dr. Nicole Jasper who is a Dartmouth educated M.D. now on untold stories of the E.R. Similarly i also had an award for undergraduate research which was followed by a symposium sponsored by IMBRE.
Yet i chose St James. Hmmmmm i wonder why? I believe that coming from a place of humility is what will make you a good physician. Arrogant physicians do not make good doctors...You could go to Yale or UW and still inadvertently cause harm to your patient. There are mainstream U.S. educated physicians with stellar GPA's who are still unable to retain the material regardless of where they went to school. The reason St. James is a good choice is that the cost of attending medical school including my undergraduate coursework will only be 125,000 dollars.If you are looking for an excellent campus try Anguilla. This campus does require a higher GPA and an overall good application with letters of recommendation. The Anguilla campus is harder to gain admission to as it is a British colony. Its interesting to read claims that a "not for profit" school is equivalent to a better physician, yet yet not for profit schools can total well over 300,000 dollars. Ironic ay? I would consider the quality of the physician on a case-by-case basis. To asset that medical education in the U.S. is superior to anywhere else in the world is simply not true.
Also, wen you are done with the caribbean M.D. program you are able to set up a medical practice which is not subject to U.S. taxes, medical administration encroachments, and insurance price caps as apposed to the U.S. based practices. You could also set up a home base in the U.S. Also, in the Caribbean you could have the opportunity to build a clinic from the bottom up. "what a wonderful opportunity".
In all if you want a more well rounded worldly experience don't be afraid to test the waters. I would be leery of following the advice of those that would trade an original experience, and an opportunity to deliver care to those whom might fall outside of the lucrative american system. If medicine is your passion don't be afraid to follow your heart, after all your dedication and tenacity will outshine those hiding behind their prestigious degrees.
Hope that helps!
