Better Alternative to Caribbean MD Schools

[learner01]

Hi guys, can someone suggest a better alternative to Caribbean schools ( excluding DO schools)

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[pseud0]

your only options are:

SMP/Post bacc, ace the mcat
another career

no easy way to get into med school here. Getting into any medical school in the US is probably one of the hardest things you can do as a young academic in this country.

(basing my completely evidence free hypothesis on the ridiculously low acceptance rates at all schools)

 

[samac]

Your better alternatives are just about anything else. SMP, post bacc...different career choice...

 

[Mad Jack]

your only options are:

SMP/Post bacc, ace the mcat
another career

Pretty much this. There are no better alternatives, as the only better ones (prestigious foreign universities) are much, much harder to get into than DO school.

 

[Holmwood]

Sackler (?)

 

[Goro]

This.

your only options are:

SMP/Post bacc, ace the mcat
another career

no easy way to get into med school here. Getting into any medical school in the US is probably one of the hardest things you can do as a young academic in this country.

(basing my completely evidence free hypothesis on the ridiculously low acceptance rates at all schools)

 

[Mad Jack]

Sackler (?)

If you're willing to deal with air raid sirens and the occasional terrorist attack, Sackler is a fine choice. I thought about it, but decided the risk was too high.

 

[Lawpy]

Hi guys, can someone suggest a better alternative to Caribbean schools ( excluding DO schools)

Caribbean should never be an option. Your focus should be trying to get into US MD and/or US DO schools. And if that's unsuccessful despite your best efforts (and possibly two reapplication cycles), you should pursue a different career.

 

[Perd ulv]

PA (physician assistant), NP (nurse practitioner), CRNA (certified registered nurse anesthetist). PA and NP's function very similarly to primary care providers and have much shorter training reqs and get paid well, have good hours. CRNA's function similar to MD/DO anesthesiologists in terms of simpler surgical cases- again shorter training, good pay/hours. Otherwise there's dental or pharm school. Doing very well in a good dental school can lead to OMFS residency which is similar to ENT/facial plastics- even MD/DO candidates have a very hard time to matching into ent/plastics- only the best of med students.

 

[pseud0]

I wish more people knew that harvard law school has a 15.5 percent acceptance rate and my "crappy DO school" has a 6 percent acceptance rate but i digress

 

[Dr. In Formation]

University of Queensland-Oshner MD
https://www.mededpath.org/admissions.html

2 years in Australia, 2 years clinicals in Louisiana

Anesthesiologist Assistant programs (like a PA for Anesthesiologists)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anesthesiologist_assistant

 

[Promethean]

If your desire to become a physician is so low that you will exclude DO schools, please continue to hold to that.

Please don't become one of those insufferables who are granted an opportunity at a COM, and then whine about it, as though they had dozens of other options and yet humbled themselves for some reason.

 

[mimelim]

I wish more people knew that harvard law school has a 15.5 percent acceptance rate and my "crappy DO school" has a 6 percent acceptance rate but i digress

Rather different applicant pools as well.

 

[learner01]

University of Queensland-Oshner MD
https://www.mededpath.org/admissions.html

2 years in Australia, 2 years clinicals in Louisiana

Anesthesiologist Assistant programs (like a PA for Anesthesiologists)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anesthesiologist_assistant

What makes a university in Australia better than Carib?

 

[Promethean]

What makes a university in Australia better than Carib?

It is in a place with a fully functional government, where most of the graduates are expected to practice in the nation in which the school operates, so that there is an incentive to ensure quality of the school via meaningful regulation?

 

[learner01]

It is in a place with a fully functional government, where most of the graduates are expected to practice in the nation in which the school operates, so that there is an incentive to ensure quality of the school via meaningful regulation?

Carib schools obtained their credentials in the US based on similar potentials!

 

[Promethean]

lol wut?

 

[Lawpy]

I hear janitor school is a pretty competitive and lucrative career option with useful long-term opportunities:

Source: https://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/janitor-vs-do-help-me-choose.565169/

 

[anyusernamenottaken]

PA (physician assistant), NP (nurse practitioner), CRNA (certified registered nurse anesthetist). PA and NP's function very similarly to primary care providers and have much shorter training reqs and get paid well, have good hours. CRNA's function similar to MD/DO anesthesiologists in terms of simpler surgical cases- again shorter training, good pay/hours. Otherwise there's dental or pharm school. Doing very well in a good dental school can lead to OMFS residency which is similar to ENT/facial plastics- even MD/DO candidates have a very hard time to matching into ent/plastics- only the best of med students.

As someone who is doing a lot of research if i want to go MD or PA, PA is nearly just as competitive as getting into a MD program, at least in my area 3.6 avg pa gpa vs 3.7 for avg MD gpa @ LSU for this years class. So providing the reason is GPA related, the op prob doesn't have a much better shot going PA

Why not DO? Pretty sure they are viewed with the same respect lvl as an MD.

You could always go into sonography and make bank, considering it's an associates, if you are dead set against DO and Carb.

 

[efle]

PA is nearly just as competitive as getting into a MD program

TIL similar GPAs means similarly competitive, turns out SLU is harder to get into than UCSF, who knew!

 

[samac]

I'm pretty sure OP has also applied to DO schools, considering he posted in my school specific thread. My guess is he's wondering about alternatives considering that alternative may fail.

 

[Promethean]

I'm pretty sure OP has also applied to DO schools, considering he posted in my school specific thread. My guess is he's wondering about alternatives considering that alternative may fail.

If that route has been attempted unsuccessfully, the next step is not to try to find a back door, but to re-evaluate where the weak points are in the application and work to address them. If you can't get into a US MD or DO school, there is a reason. It is almost certainly something you can fix, and if it isn't that should probably be a sign.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Podiatry.

 

[Mad Jack]

Carib schools obtained their credentials in the US based on similar potentials!

Uh, they actually aren't US accredited. At all. In any way. They are credentialed by largely corrupt Caribbean governments that are strapped for cash and need the money the school provides.

 

[Mad Jack]

So far as Caribbean-tier options, I'm personally a fan of Jagiellonian in Krakow. Great city, and you get an EU medical license. Or Ireland, because they're US-friendly and grant an EU license.

 

[AnotherLawyer]

I wish more people knew that harvard law school has a 15.5 percent acceptance rate and my "crappy DO school" has a 6 percent acceptance rate but i digress

The median HLS student has a >98th percentile LSAT and >3.85 GPA. The 25th percentile HLS student has a >97th percentile LSAT and >3.75 GPA.

 

[pseud0]

The median HLS student has a >98th percentile LSAT and >3.85 GPA. The 25th percentile HLS student has a >97th percentile LSAT and >3.75 GPA.

all that tells me is that its much easier to get in the 95+ percentile on the LSAT than it is to get 95+ percentile on the MCAT. The accepted MCAT average to harvard med is probably around 97 percentile, but their acceptance rate is like 3 percent. thats because even though they get a ton of applicants, only 3 percent have the mcat for it.
16 percent of applicants have the lsat to get into harvard. That means its easier.

 

[Sardinia]

all that tells me is that its much easier to get in the 95+ percentile on the LSAT than it is to get 95+ percentile on the MCAT. The accepted MCAT average to harvard med is probably around 97 percentile, but their acceptance rate is like 3 percent. thats because even though they get a ton of applicants, only 3 percent have the mcat for it. 16 percent of applicants have the lsat to get into harvard. That means its easier.

Completely different exams with different forms of percentage allocation. Law school applications were an all time low since the law school scam blog movement broke out. Therefore low applications, Harvard applications = highly self selected pool of applicants. Many other things I could nitpick about this as to why it might be appear to be analogous, but ultimately inaccurate.

 

[JustAPhD]

all that tells me is that its much easier to get in the 95+ percentile on the LSAT than it is to get 95+ percentile on the MCAT. The accepted MCAT average to harvard med is probably around 97 percentile, but their acceptance rate is like 3 percent. thats because even though they get a ton of applicants, only 3 percent have the mcat for it.
16 percent of applicants have the lsat to get into harvard. That means its easier.

Huh?

 

[DreamerCNM]

If you're willing to deal with air raid sirens and the occasional terrorist attack, Sackler is a fine choice. I thought about it, but decided the risk was too high.

Why is sackler a fine choice? Is it better than Carribean schools? I've been trying to get information about this school for ages.


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[JustAPhD]

TIL similar GPAs means similarly competitive, turns out SLU is harder to get into than UCSF, who knew!

The poster didn't phrase it well, but the message is the same. PA schools are becoming quite difficult to get into. I know of one school (middle tier MD) whose interview percentage for the PA program is 3%. Now, you can argue the applicant pool is weaker, and I'd agree, but it's still becoming quite difficult from a numbers perspective.

 

[Sardinia]

@pseud0 I didn't know that Harvard has an abnormally large amount of students for their 1L class: 372 students. This compared to other law schools in Massachusetts: 150-170.

 

[efle]

The poster didn't phrase it well, but the message is the same. PA schools are becoming quite difficult to get into. I know of one school (middle tier MD) whose interview percentage for the PA program is 3%. Now, you can argue the applicant pool is weaker, and I'd agree, but it's still becoming quite difficult from a numbers perspective.

I guess my take on it would depend on test score percentiles (do they use MCAT? GRE?). Florida State interviews 4% while WashU interviews 23% but those numbers are very misleading taken alone, just like GPAs alone tend to be

 

[JustAPhD]

I guess my take on it would depend on test score percentiles (do they use MCAT? GRE?). Florida State interviews 4% while WashU interviews 23% but those numbers are very misleading taken alone, just like GPAs alone tend to be

GRE, not sure if one can supplement the MCAT or not. Not sure about the percentiles but I agree just looking at numbers is misleading.

 

[Bonferroni Correction]

all that tells me is that its much easier to get in the 95+ percentile on the LSAT than it is to get 95+ percentile on the MCAT. The accepted MCAT average to harvard med is probably around 97 percentile, but their acceptance rate is like 3 percent. thats because even though they get a ton of applicants, only 3 percent have the mcat for it.
16 percent of applicants have the lsat to get into harvard. That means its easier.

The fact that this type of argument occurs here, with aspiring medical professionals, is discouraging and shows why the public is so easily duped by pseudoscience

Unless it's a randomized-control trial or a REALLY well-done cohort study, it's apples and oranges. The applicant pools are completely different. Confounding variables matter.

I also think it's harder to get into med school than law school. Freshman year of college, in my Chem 1 lab group alone, I had 2 friends who did poorly, dropped premed and are now lawyers. But it's anecdotal and I wouldn't try to publish it in JAMA. Perhaps if I were pre-law I would have seen examples in the other direction... although I doubt it.

That said, you can always apply again. 1 year is nothing in the scheme of things. Or do PA or NP.

 

[AnotherLawyer]

The poster didn't phrase it well, but the message is the same. PA schools are becoming quite difficult to get into. I know of one school (middle tier MD) whose interview percentage for the PA program is 3%. Now, you can argue the applicant pool is weaker, and I'd agree, but it's still becoming quite difficult from a numbers perspective.

The implication of the original post about Harvard Law School was that it is more difficult to get into a "crappy" DO school than HLS because the former has a lower yield than the latter. I think your point about low yield PA admissions shows how meaningless yield is for comparing difficulty of admissions.

 

[738177]

Carib schools obtained their credentials in the US based on similar potentials!

Someone with THIS level of knowledge shouldn't go abroad for medical school, period.

 

[pseud0]

The fact that this type of argument occurs here, with aspiring medical professionals, is discouraging and shows why the public is so easily duped by pseudoscience

lmao calm down there buddy. I'm just talking mess on an internet forum over here. That is possibly the most impressive strawman I've seen in months

Considering I've taken both the mcat and the lsat, I personally feel the lsat was a much easier exam. Sorry I didn't do a double blind study on it though.

Next internet forum post i'll make sure to remember to do one so bonferroni correction won't tell me i'm going to be a bad doctor

 

[Mad Jack]

Why is sackler a fine choice? Is it better than Carribean schools? I've been trying to get information about this school for ages.


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They've got great rotations, good research, strong connections in New York State, and are considered in-state students for matching purposes.

 

[DreamerCNM]

They've got great rotations, good research, strong connections in New York State, and are considered in-state students for matching purposes.

Thank you!! So they're essentially considered a US med school? Or is that just in NY state? Also, do they offer rotations in the US?


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[Goro]

Indeed. If they were under LCME or COCA aegis, they'd have been shut down and sued by now.

Uh, they actually aren't US accredited. At all. In any way. They are credentialed by largely corrupt Caribbean governments that are strapped for cash and need the money the school provides.

 

[Seth Joo]

I wish more people knew that harvard law school has a 15.5 percent acceptance rate and my "crappy DO school" has a 6 percent acceptance rate but i digress

You are comparing Apples to Oranges, numbers do not tell the whole story. Comparing two types of graduate schools to one another is not a good comparison. Also a Harvard postgrad degree is worth quite a lot in the real world, the outgoing President is a Harvard Law graduate. The type of people who apply to a Harvard graduate program are usually the cream of the crop. That being said someone with a DO degree is far more likely to work in their field than a graduate of a lower tier law school.

 

[pseud0]

ok because of the backlash I'm revising my statement.

I wish more people knew that harvard medical school has a 3.5 percent acceptance rate and my "crappy DO school" has a 6 percent acceptance rate, a whopping 2.5 percent higher! but i digress

​

 

[Seth Joo]

ok because of the backlash I'm revising my statement.

I wish more people knew that harvard medical school has a 3.5 percent acceptance rate and my "crappy DO school" has a 6 percent acceptance rate, a whopping 2.5 percent higher! but i digress

​

Students who got into Harvard's Dental school most likely have the academic ability to get into middle to upper tier Allopathic school. Many of them chose Dentistry over Medicine because of the lifestyle. Knew someone who took both the MCAT and DAT, and scored quite well on both, decided to apply to Dentistry, he got into Harvard.

 

[learner01]

So far as Caribbean-tier options, I'm personally a fan of Jagiellonian in Krakow. Great city, and you get an EU medical license. Or Ireland, because they're US-friendly and grant an EU license.

Can you recommend schools in Ireland? not a fan of Poland or learning polish

 

[Mad Jack]

Can you recommend schools in Ireland? not a fan of Poland or learning polish

Look up Atlantic Bridge programs, if they still call them that. They're expensive as all hell, but with the strong dollar might actually be a bargain!

 

[learner01]

Look up Atlantic Bridge programs, if they still call them that. They're expensive as all hell, but with the strong dollar might actually be a bargain!

Thank you for the info, I looked at it and it seems interesting.. the fact that someone can practice in EU is great.. although is this Atlantic bridge program legit?

 

[Mad Jack]

Thank you for the info, I looked at it and it seems interesting.. the fact that someone can practice in EU is great.. although is this Atlantic bridge program legit?

I never looked into it. I was set on going to school in Poland before I got my MCAT back, because Poland is great and the tuition would have been less than 80k- I could have almost paid for it out of pocket.

 

[learner01]

I never looked into it. I was set on going to school in Poland before I got my MCAT back, because Poland is great and the tuition would have been less than 80k- I could have almost paid for it out of pocket.

So, where do you do your clinical years then?

 

[Mad Jack]

So, where do you do your clinical years then?

In Poland and the United States.