Any imput on Caribbean Schools

[TBD]

Does anyone have any imput on Caribbean schools? Which ones are accreditted and how hard are they to get in? If anybody has any advice feel free to comment. Good luck to all.

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[Law2Doc]

Does anyone have any imput on Caribbean schools? Which ones are accreditted and how hard are they to get in? If anybody has any advice feel free to comment. Good luck to all.

There's another board for this.

 

[BerkeleyMD]

Does anyone have any imput on Caribbean schools? Which ones are accreditted and how hard are they to get in? If anybody has any advice feel free to comment. Good luck to all.

Since you posted, the good ones are:

SGU (longest history)
ROSS (best reputation of caribbean schools)
AUC (best looking and quality of life)

This is my understanding of the caribbean schools. In 10-20 years I see these schools becoming more competitive and reputable.

 

[Law2Doc]

In 10-20 years I see these schools becoming more competitive and reputable.

Perhaps, but given that med schools are supposed to increase their classes slightly over the decade and the number of residencies is relatively stagnant, folks scrambling for remaining spots may become less competitive in the short term.

 

[BerkeleyMD]

Perhaps, but given that med schools are supposed to increase their classes slightly over the decade and the number of residencies is relatively stagnant, folks scrambling for remaining spots may become less competitive in the short term.

i totally agree, most of these graduates are scrambling to find residency anywhere. they have almost no preference and are lucky to get into IM or FP. its rare if a carribean grad gets into Rad/Optho/Anes/Derm residencies.

 

[shminger]

Does anyone have any imput on Caribbean schools? Which ones are accreditted and how hard are they to get in? If anybody has any advice feel free to comment. Good luck to all.

I was vacationing in Grenada about 2 years ago and decided to visit SGU. The campus was really nice and it seemed like a fun place to go to med school if you are going to go the Caribbean route.

 

[TBD]

i totally agree, most of these graduates are scrambling to find residency anywhere. they have almost no preference and are lucky to get into IM or FP. its rare if a carribean grad gets into Rad/Optho/Anes/Derm residencies.

I agree, but if your apllication is not that strong would you consider this an option?

 

[jbone]

Since you posted, the good ones are:

SGU (longest history)
ROSS (best reputation of caribbean schools)
AUC (best looking and quality of life)

This is my understanding of the caribbean schools. In 10-20 years I see these schools becoming more competitive and reputable.

Don't forget St. Matthews on Grand Cayman. Sweet campus.

 

[BerkeleyMD]

I agree, but if your apllication is not that strong would you consider this an option?

heck yeah, i was planning to go to the carribean if i didn't get an acceptance.

IM or FP are not bad.

 

[Phil Anthropist]

Does anyone have any imput on Caribbean schools? Which ones are accreditted and how hard are they to get in? If anybody has any advice feel free to comment. Good luck to all.

Moving to the Caribbean forum--you'll find a lot of helpful information there.

Caribbean schools tend to be less selective than US schools.

The only LCME (US MD) accredited Caribbean med schools are the ones in the Puerto Rico. The rest are foreign medical schools and are not accredited by the LCME. The WHO maintains a listing of foreign medical schools, but this is not the same as accreditation. If you are considering the foreign medical school option you should research which schools will provide you with licensure when you come back to the United States. Some states (e.g., New York, California, Texas, Florida) are more strict about licensure than others.

 

[ariel winter]

SABA university school of medicine on SABA island is also a very good one. approved by all 50 states, very good teaching staff.

 

[leviathan]

i totally agree, most of these graduates are scrambling to find residency anywhere. they have almost no preference and are lucky to get into IM or FP. its rare if a carribean grad gets into Rad/Optho/Anes/Derm residencies.

I guess you haven't seen the SGU Alumni list have you? Enough people match into those specialties that I wouldn't consider it "rare", although you better have a stellar application to think you have a chance at a ROAD residency.

 

[macrocyte]

Anesthesia is definately a realistic residency for an average to above average carib grad from AUC, Ross, or SGU. I know of numerous carib grads from each of those schools that have matched into university anesthesia programs. Some had very average stats. One had about a 200 on step 1 and and a failed class in basic sciences. There's no way I would say anesthesia is out of reach. Derm and optho are crazy competitive. Radiology is very possible, but every carib grad that I know who matched had great scores etc.

 

[Shah_Patel_PT]

i totally agree, most of these graduates are scrambling to find residency anywhere. they have almost no preference and are lucky to get into IM or FP. its rare if a carribean grad gets into Rad/Optho/Anes/Derm residencies.

I think you should look at this. Match list for Ross (last 3 years) Many have got into competitive residencies.

http://www.rossu.edu/med/whyross/recordachieve_041.cfm

 

[Psycho Doctor]

Since you posted, the good ones are:

SGU (longest history)
ROSS (best reputation of caribbean schools)
AUC (best looking and quality of life)

This is my understanding of the caribbean schools. In 10-20 years I see these schools becoming more competitive and reputable.

please excuse my stupidity on this subject. Can you please spell out what these initials stand for and what countries they are in. thanks

 

[CatsandCradles]

please excuse my stupidity on this subject. Can you please spell out what these initials stand for and what countries they are in. thanks

SGU = Saint Georges University (It's on Grenada)

Ross = Ross University (It's on Dominica)

AUC = American University of the Carribean (On St Martin, one of those islands owned by the Netherlands.)

 

[novacek88]

they have almost no preference and are lucky to get into IM or FP.

This is not true. There are several programs in the United States that go unfilled in IM and FP and it's not because they are being overly selective. There just are not enough qualified graduates to fill all the spots. There are several programs in undesired locations or programs that would gladly accept a qualified IMG. This is just a paranoid pre-med myth that a Caribbean graduate won't be able to match upon coming to the United States in any field. If I had a 2.5 GPA, I would have no issues with attending a Caribbean school. I wouldn't be worried about not finding a job or residency.

I compare it to flying on a plane. U.S. M.D.'s are in First Class, D.O.'s are in business class and FMG's are in coach. All seats will eventually get you to your destination but the first class and business class passengers will have an easier ride. If you can't get into First Class or Business Class, then by all means take the Coach seat.

 

[Mz.Doctor]

i like that analogy...so where do podiatrists sit on the plane?

 

[spyyder]

i like that analogy...so where do podiatrists sit on the plane?

stand by passengers

 

[pleasematchme06]

Another important point: do not pick the caribbean school based on which island its on. Ross (probably the best school) is most likely on the "worst" island in terms of entertainment, living conditions, etc. But you will get the best education and will have pretty much zero distractions, which makes it the perfect place to study.

It also offers some of the best hiking and scuba diving in the world. Not bad recreational activities. Better than fighting rush hour traffic in a blizzard.

Good Luck deciding