Caribbean Failure

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dramatrauma

dramatrauma

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To anyone who may still be wanting to drink from the Caribbean kool-aid, maybe this cautionary tale will help reinforce why a US medical school is the best way to go.

From his blog:
"Dr. Bill" was a non-trad (RN for 19 years) who decided to pursue medicine at the age of 41. He elected to go to Saint James in the Carib to save time and not have to take the MCAT nor complete any GPA repair for his 2.7 undergrad GPA. He failed all his Steps initially, and it took multiple retakes for him to pass all 3. He graduated from Saint James in 2011, and has been through multiple NRMPs to no avail. In 2016, with over $190k of student loans defaulting, he's still determined to find a residency match. "I'm not ready to give up yet, I woke up today and its a new day!"

His blog:
http://southerndoccarib.blogspot....se-paginate=true&start=340&by-date=false&m=1
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Carribean is almost a swear word on this forum
 
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Too many of these stories nowadays. Moral of the story: Couldn't become a doc in the states? Don't give up. Carib = giving up.
 
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2.7gpa and avoided the mcat.....still shocked when he fails step :smack:
 
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Seems like he was trying to take the easy way out.. I'm sure in the time he spent trying to match (5 years apparently), he could have raised his GPA and gotten a decent MCAT score.
 
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He obviously did not take his own advice that he was preaching on his blog...
upload_2016-5-8_16-9-46.png
 
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It's not so much the problem of going to the Carribean than failing the USMLE exams in this particular case. People from the Carribean who perform well in the USMLE exams eventually can get a spot somewhere.
 
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Mad Jack said:
We're just trying to save people from themselves. St. James is notoriously bad.
Click to expand...
I almost felt bad for him, until I got to his post about how he first went to a non-accredited med school in England for a year, got frustrated with "being lied to," and then decided Saint James was the next best option. Some people just can't be saved.
 
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1. There are only about 7 you should really think about going to as the top of the list:
A. AUC
B. SGU
C. ROSS
(These have Federal Student loans)
D. SABA
E. MUA
F. AUA
G. SMU ( Has some problems)


SO many options fam!
 
Turkishking said:
1. There are only about 7 you should really think about going to as the top of the list:
A. AUC
B. SGU
C. ROSS
(These have Federal Student loans)
D. SABA
E. MUA
F. AUA
G. SMU ( Has some problems)
Click to expand...
They all have "some problems."
 
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Turkishking said:
1. There are only about 7 you should really think about going to as the top of the list:

A: None.

SO many options fam!
Click to expand...

Updated your list. The Carib is not a smart option.
 
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Apparently non-US IMGs matched at roughly the same percentage (just above 50%) as US IMGs for 2016.
 
His blog looks like it was written by a 12 year old. How can someone who can't even grasp the basics of grammar and punctuation think they're capable of medical school?
 
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Lannister said:
His blog looks like it was written by a 12 year old. How can someone who can't even grasp the basics of grammar and punctuation think they're capable of medical school?
Click to expand...

This is a quote from his blog. It's like my middle school brother wrote it.

Whats in the COlON does not always stay!!!!!

Ok GI rotation, Uh its Polyps time Kids!

Lets talk Colonoscopies as in many, we are doing 8 to 10 a day in Southern Ga!
We are finding numerous polyps in these Patients, and over half have dysplasia
then over half of those have some form of CANCER.

These Patients are just coming in because they are over 50 years of age and no symptoms, yet they have Cancer! If you have polyps in your family and or any relative that died of Colon Cancer I cannot stress enough go to a GI doctor asap!

These cancer's can metastasize and can KILL!!!!!

I'm not kidding I have assisted with these procedures and seen the polyps!
 
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LuluLovesMe said:
This is a quote from his blog. It's like my middle school brother wrote it.

Whats in the COlON does not always stay!!!!!

Ok GI rotation, Uh its Polyps time Kids!

Lets talk Colonoscopies as in many, we are doing 8 to 10 a day in Southern Ga!
We are finding numerous polyps in these Patients, and over half have dysplasia
then over half of those have some form of CANCER.

These Patients are just coming in because they are over 50 years of age and no symptoms, yet they have Cancer! If you have polyps in your family and or any relative that died of Colon Cancer I cannot stress enough go to a GI doctor asap!

These cancer's can metastasize and can KILL!!!!!

I'm not kidding I have assisted with these procedures and seen the polyps!
Click to expand...
Some of the smartest people I know type in childish, obnoxious ways on social media. I have no clue why that is.
 
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I feel bad for this dude. He put himself and family through all of this for nothing... A grown man doesn't move to the caribbean for a long shot dream and miss their kids growing up.
 
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From my experience I know several residents who went to Caribbean schools and ended up getting great residencies since they worked hard and were great at what they did, so it can be done.
 
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along900 said:
From my experience I know several residents who went to Caribbean schools and ended up getting great residencies since they worked hard and were great at what they did, so it can be done.
Click to expand...
True, there are always success stories for going Caribbean, but I think the big 4 cherry picking these for testimonials draw a ton of ill founded optimism from desperate premeds.
 
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"I love how AMG's sit back comfy behind a computer and post such witty comments never truly understanding my situation." :( We're just a band of keyboard warriors, guys.
 
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I don't think this is quite a good example. a 41 year old not getting matched who didn't take the MCAT and had a ****ty GPA?
People with decent GPAs/MCAT/age not getting matched will scare people more.
 
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Out of curiosity, what percentage of Carib grads end up getting competitive residencies? Like derm, radiology, ortho etc
 
Nerdeka said:
I don't think this is quite a good example. a 41 year old not getting matched who didn't take the MCAT and had a ****ty GPA?
People with decent GPAs/MCAT/age not getting matched will scare people more.
Click to expand...

upload_2016-5-8_21-3-27.png


A tidbit from Valuemd.
Although i don't know their GPA/MCAT etc. Pretty scary regardless.
 
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At some point we cross the line from just warning people about Caribbeans to being mean and taking joy in other people's misfortunes.

I think in this thread we're on the wrong side of the line.
 
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attitudeofgratitude said:
At some point we cross the line from just warning people about Caribbeans to being mean and taking joy in other people's misfortunes.

I think in this thread we're on the wrong side of the line.
Click to expand...
There is no joy in the misery of others. We do need to help the gullible before they fall prey to the same siren song. We are not hurting DrBill. He has done that himself. As long as the Caribbean diploma mills are allowed to lure the naive, there must be a counter point to their false advertising.
 
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(No I did not match again...............I had an interview this past year) :depressed:
 
what about Mexican schools that have US affiliation? They told us that you'd study there for 2 years and then go to the US for 2 years
 
Just finished following his whole blog posts, feel bad for the guy. He could've been a full practicing physician by now.
 
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Lannister said:
His blog looks like it was written by a 12 year old. How can someone who can't even grasp the basics of grammar and punctuation think they're capable of medical school?
Click to expand...
LuluLovesMe said:
This is a quote from his blog. It's like my middle school brother wrote it.

Whats in the COlON does not always stay!!!!!

Ok GI rotation, Uh its Polyps time Kids!

Lets talk Colonoscopies as in many, we are doing 8 to 10 a day in Southern Ga!
We are finding numerous polyps in these Patients, and over half have dysplasia
then over half of those have some form of CANCER.

These Patients are just coming in because they are over 50 years of age and no symptoms, yet they have Cancer! If you have polyps in your family and or any relative that died of Colon Cancer I cannot stress enough go to a GI doctor asap!

These cancer's can metastasize and can KILL!!!!!

I'm not kidding I have assisted with these procedures and seen the polyps!
Click to expand...

I could see the guy being the next Science Guy now that medicine doesn't seem to go in his favor

images
 
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Lannister said:
His blog looks like it was written by a 12 year old. How can someone who can't even grasp the basics of grammar and punctuation think they're capable of medical school?
Click to expand...
19 years of sitting around in the nurse's lounge talking smack about how dumb doctors are (eg, "Why he didn't even know that <insert random drug> has to be shaken 42 times before being hung!!!") made him and his colleagues think he was capable.

That or a lot of weed.
 
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