Update: I got invitations for two US DO interviews, so will most likely only go to ACSOM as a back up if I don't get accepted at any US school. Also, if any you have any questions you want answered about the school, feel free to DM me as I was given by the founder, Dr. Arvin Bagherpour, along with others his personal cell phone # to ask questions if we wanted.
Information Dump: (Anyone else have any new info?)
Education:
There are no TAs, but there are "experts" in different fields which they fly in who can help with concepts and provide practice problems.
Lecterio, Osmosis, and Amboss are provided through the school. Some students are also paying for UWorld, Sketchy, MedSchoolBros, and/or AnKing. Depending on the day, classes end between 2 and 4 pm. Lectures are not currently recorded, although admin is discussing potentially starting to record lectures in the future.
Testing/Cohorts
There is a test/exam after every module. Students are given a practice exam one week before and are allowed to to take pictures of questions they got wrong. Of note, the people writing the tests aren't always the people teaching material.
Based on what a student ambassador has said as well as someone from admin I talked to, they may be making standards to let people take Step 1 which is a shift in policy. I don't believe I got the info perfectly, but they might have been requiring people to make at least a 70 in each module, but may be increasing that to 75-80%. Currently they have their first students (2) in clinical rotations. At the time of my meeting with a student ambassador roughly two months ago, one was in a family medicine rotation and the other in a general surgery rotation. Either the fall or spring 2nd year cohort started out at 12 students and currently has 5 with one being a student who had to repeat a semester. The person who repeated did not pass on the second retake, so was moved down. It sounds like if you don't pass a first retake in the first module you may be dismissed, but with 2nd module and beyond there is more opportunity for retakes. I would appreciate if someone from the school had more insight on this. From what I was told, the Fall 2025 cohort started out with about 40 students. Admin did not state if they had an upper cap for an entering class size, but were suggesting that it could be around 50-70ish in fall 2026. They do talk a lot about having very small class sizes which so far they have been able to maintain. I am unsure how that would be maintained with more students.
You use your own computer or iPad for exams. You have to use your computer if you want to highlight. You get laminated sheet of paper on which to write with dry erase.
High GPA Scholarship: in the cohort with 5 students, 2 received the highest GPA scholarship, which one for sure has lost. I don't know about the second person.
Life on Dominica:
ATMs are available on the island which have a flat fee. You can also open a bank account there which will reduce those fees.
Gas tanks around 50 EC, and last around 1- 2.5 months depending on how much cooking you are doing. The apartments the school has listed do come furnished, but if you want things like an air fryer or a kettle, it is better to bring them. You can ship things, but it can be pretty expensive. Apparently there is a way to set up an Amazon forwarding address from Florida, but don't even think about fast shipping. If you love nature and prefer fewer distractions you may find Dominica appealing. It's not like the tourist filled Barbados (not that med students have much time for other things).
The school offers rides to a local gym after 5 pm which will come pick you up after 1.5 hours. There used to be an agreement with a local hotel for students to use their gym, but that does not exist any more. It's very close to the ocean and the school does have a pool. Rent is often between 500 and 600, but electricity is expensive. The locals are typically very friendly and the US dollar goes a long way. There are a couple small grocery stores in the town and the school busses people who want to go to a bigger city each week for groceries.
The Founder:
The founder Dr. Arvin Bagherpour graduated from Ross and is a practicing radiologist in Houston. He is also on call for the major hospital in Dominica to help interpt scans. According to him, he was unsatisfied with how Ross treated medical students. He was very open about exactly how much debt he incured and how he paid it off.
www.acsom.edu.dm
dominicanewsonline.com
iaar.agency
