UAG clinicals vs Caribbean school clinicals

[wksun88]

Hi guys,
I'm currently trying to figure out whether or not I should apply to UAG (Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara) or to a few of the Caribbean schools (Ross, AUC, AUA, Saba).
For UAG, it is a 5 year program with the 5th year being US clinical training at NYMC in their "pre-internship program" http://www.nymc.edu/Academics/SchoolOfMedicine/ThePre-InternshipProgram/
Whereas for most Caribbean schools, as you guys probably know, is two years of clinicals at affiliated hospitals in the US, mostly east coast.
My question then is: come residency application time, do you think program directors would view the two years of US clinical experience from caribbean schools more favorably compared to the one year at NYMC from UAG students? My concern is that unlike in the caribbean schools, UAG only gives you one year of US clinical experience. It IS possible to do your 4th year rotations in the US while attending UAG, but according to their website it says that you must maintain a specific GPA and even then, it's not guaranteed.
If anyone has any input on this, it'd be greatly appreciated!

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[hallowmann]

Where are you planning to work? CA?

I have heard that a Mexican degree is favored over a Caribbean degree in states like CA especially when the applicant is of Mexican descent, however, I have no stats or info to back that up, so take it with a grain of salt.

I doubt that you will be looked down upon solely for the 1 year difference. Most likely, programs will base their decision for or against you based upon their acceptance of others from your school and the relative success/failure of those individuals.

That being said, one benefit of doing 2 clinical years in the US vs 1 year is that come time for letters of recommendation or applying to specific hospitals/programs you may have made better/closer connections with individuals in a specific hospital or program. Connections and interacting with the heads of residency programs during your clinicals can GREATLY affect their likelihood of taking you. That's just how things work.

Again, I have no quantitative evidence about this, just practical and barely anecdotal accounts. You will probably be better off contacting residency programs or medical school graduates from those universities who have matched into the specialty you are interested in.

 

[wksun88]

Thanks for your input hallowmann! Yes I'm from San Diego so ideally I'd like to work somewhere in CA, Given the stiff competition and the saturation of physicians along the coastline though, I think I may end up in another state. Guess I'll apply first and think about these things afterwards!