Carib Schools and future residency problems

[biohazard86]

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Hi everyone,
first time posting here but I've been lurking around a lot. I'm planning to apply to Caribbean schools, but every time I read any thread, all I see is people talking about the problem in 2015 or whatever, how there wont be any more spots for IMG/FMGs to match in US. How all the spots will be taken by the new US med school spots they are opening, even the least competitive spots, and to not do Caribb, and how DO's will have a problem as well blah blah. Does this really mean there wont be ANY spots for anyone from outside the US to match? Or it will just become more difficult, and only those with very competitive Step 1 scores will get to the scrape the bottom of the barrel in the match process?

thanks for any input.

 

[biohazard86]

anyone?

 

[RussianJoo]

no one knows what will happen in the future, if we did we would all win the lottery and not work anymore.

Already IMG's from the best carib med schools i.e. SGU, SABA, ROSS, AUC match at a rate of around 75%, this means 1 out of 4 people in those schools, who pass all the classes, pass the steps, and graduate from medical school, don't get a residency and have to either do something else to beef up their CV like research or other clinical work or do nothing and apply again next year, or quit trying to be doctors and get some other job. That's after spending 4+ years in medical school and spending $200,000+ on education.

Because you're not good enough, for whatever reason, to get into a US medical school and are forced to go to the carib no one can say that you won't be in that 25% who doesn't get a residency, we just all take a chance.

The number of US grads is growing, and US med schools are accepting more people, US grads, rightfully so, have preference over those that went to the caribbean for med school. The number of residency spots isn't growing as fast as the number of US grads thus at some point in the future a time will come when there are close to equal the number of US grads as there are residencies, (this is already the case in Canada and maybe some European countries), thus it will be come almost impossible for carib grads to get a residency. Of course the top 10% or whatever will still most likely be able to get a residency but the bottom 50% will most likely not get a residency and will be forced to do something else.


Chances are you can't get into a US med school because your grades or mcat scores or both aren't as good as others, and you probably were never in the top 10% of your class, this will make it almost impossible for you to be in the top 10% of your class in a carib school. It's just how things are, average people are average no matter where they are. So you can't count on the fact that you'll be a rock star in a carib med school. Just like people who go to Carib med schools can't bank on the fact that they will transfer out to a US med school, the odds are just against you. Thus you have to really think if you're okay with wasting 4 years, and $200K+ for a chance to be a doctor but knowing that you have about a 50/50 chances of making it. This is the message you should have gotten, if like you say you're a lurker and have read a bunch of threads on this topic. So really there's no point in asking a question about something you already know. good luck in your decision.

 

[Top Gun]

There's no question that it will be a lot more difficult for Carib grads to match in the future, what with new US med schools opening, and the availability of residency spots remaining more or less the same. Obviously, US grads will get preference over IMG's for residency spots. I'm sure that there will be a few spots available at community hospitals that AMG's won't want, but they'll probably be mediocre or low-quality in terms of training. And they'll be in relatively non-competitive specialties, like family medicine. Even then, there will be a tremendous amount of competition between US IMGs and FMGs for these spots.

On the other hand, with new US med schools opening up, it may actually become somewhat easier to get into a US school, due to increased availability of spots. So there may be less of a need to go to the Carib.

 

[Mac50Kenzie]

On the other hand, with new US med schools opening up, it may actually become somewhat easier to get into a US school, due to increased availability of spots. So there may be less of a need to go to the Carib.

Caribbean medical school seems like a decent choice for someone in my predicament. I have a 3.8 GPA, 3.5 in science. I am a psychology major and was planning on going to psych graduate school. I have always wanted to apply to medical school and now I am dead set on this option. I will be taking the MCAT but I still afraid I have not done enough for US medical schools. Western Michigan University and Central Michigan University are both opening new medical schools in the next two years ( I am from Michigan and I am a UG at WMU).

Are new graduate schools easier to get into compared to medical schools who are well established? If these would be an option for me, how does being in the first 1 or 2 classes at a particular medical school work when gaining residency? Would a new medical school be a better option then a caribben medical school? I am very curious and a bit nervous about my chances.

 

[RussianJoo]

Study hard for the mcat for a month or more by taking a review course do well apply to Wayne State and you'll get accepted. All US med schools are 1000 times better than any Carib school no matter if you're the first one to graduate from them or not. Yes it will be much easier to get into a new med school when compared to an older on but any US med school will still give you much better chances of matching into a residency than any carib school.

 

[Top Gun]

Caribbean medical school seems like a decent choice for someone in my predicament. I have a 3.8 GPA, 3.5 in science. I am a psychology major and was planning on going to psych graduate school. I have always wanted to apply to medical school and now I am dead set on this option. I will be taking the MCAT but I still afraid I have not done enough for US medical schools. Western Michigan University and Central Michigan University are both opening new medical schools in the next two years ( I am from Michigan and I am a UG at WMU).

With those stats, I actually think you have a pretty good shot at getting into a US school. Just rock the MCAT and you're all set. And apply to both MD and DO schools. Even if you don't get into an allopathic one, I'm pretty sure a DO school will take you. You have a much better chance of landing a residency if you graduate from a US school (MD or DO) rather than a Caribbean one. Plus, you have better chances of getting the specialty you want, especially if its an uber-competitive one like dermatology or radiology. Don't go for the Caribbean just yet. Apply to US schools at least twice before even considering Carib.

 

[Mac50Kenzie]

Wow you both are awesome. I have been hearing I have a weak application and was starting to get bummed out. Thanks for breathing a little hope back in me. I must confess that another reason I was considering Caribbean med school was cause of the application process. I can't apply to a us med school until next year so I can't enter until 2014. I could apply to Caribbean at the same time but I could start fall 2013. Also, if I wait and don't get in, I wasted a year. Any other recommendations to boost my application so I won't feel like I wasted a year? Thanks again!!

 

[RussianJoo]

work in a lab as a research assistant, maybe work as an EMT or volunteer as one. But apply to both DO schools and MD schools and you should get into at least a DO school. I think michigan state has a DO school.

 

[greatsaphenousv]

This is all hear say. This past year I believe 45% or some ridiculous percentage of internal medicine residency spots went to IMG's. I am graduating from medical school in the UK soon being a US-IMG, and matched into an integrated VS program.

It maybe different for US citizens going to Carribean as their certainly is a stigma against the carribean, but if you go to a med school in australia or the uk, i dont forsee any problem as long as you attain at a minimum the AVERAGE USMLE Score of THE US MEDICAL STUDENT applying to the field you are interested in, getting us clinical experience, and displaying some research

 

[greatsaphenousv]

This is all hear say. This past year I believe 45% or some ridiculous percentage of internal medicine residency spots went to IMG's. I am graduating from medical school in the UK soon being a US-IMG, and matched into an integrated VS program.

It maybe different for US citizens going to Carribean as their certainly is a stigma against the carribean, but if you go to a med school in australia or the uk, i dont forsee any problem as long as you attain at a minimum the AVERAGE USMLE Score of THE US MEDICAL STUDENT applying the the field you are interested in, getting us clinical experience, and showing experience with research

 

[Skip Intro]

... but every time I read any thread, all I see is people talking about the problem in 2015 or whatever, how there wont be any more spots for IMG/FMGs to match in US. How all the spots will be taken by the new US med school spots they are opening, even the least competitive spots, and to not do Caribb,

Covered here, mostly at the end of the thread, in detail:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=981187

-Skip