Caribbean is (sadly) my last resort as a Canadian.

[Beaudieu]

I'm a student who graduated from Canada with a 3.15 cGPA and a 508 MCAT (upward trend, got 3.8 in the last two years). My grades do not even come close to the Canadian cutoff of 3.85+, and my cGPA is also not good enough for US MD. People told me to apply DO, but only 5 schools so far accept Canadians. I have applied to all 5 but they, too, have very high GPA requirements. 2 more did accept Canadians, but required committee letters, which I do not have.

As a result, my last options are Ross and AUC, which I have interviews at both (which I heard really isn't an accomplishment since they interview everybody). For what it's worth, I do want to go into family medicine. Asking for advice on other places has gotten me insulted for even considering the Caribbean, and basically saying that I will throw away all my money and never match into residency.

Anyways, my question to all you lovely people is... for someone who will work and study hard, what are some steps I can take to achieve success in the Caribbean, especially when matching into residency positions?

Cheers.

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[doctadank]

I'm a student who graduated from Canada with a 3.15 cGPA and a 508 MCAT (upward trend, got 3.8 in the last two years). My grades do not even come close to the Canadian cutoff of 3.85+, and my cGPA is also not good enough for US MD. People told me to apply DO, but only 5 schools so far accept Canadians. I have applied to all 5 but they, too, have very high GPA requirements. 2 more did accept Canadians, but required committee letters, which I do not have.

As a result, my last options are Ross and AUC, which I have interviews at both (which I heard really isn't an accomplishment since they interview everybody). For what it's worth, I do want to go into family medicine. Asking for advice on other places has gotten me insulted for even considering the Caribbean, and basically saying that I will throw away all my money and never match into residency.

Anyways, my question to all you lovely people is... for someone who will work and study hard, what are some steps I can take to achieve success in the Caribbean, especially when matching into residency positions?

Cheers.

From what I've heard they have very predatory practices and will not do you any favors for residency. FM is easier to match but Caribbean schools just suck in general since they're expensive and not a lot of people are able to get all the way through to match don't remember exactly why but maybe because they don't prepare you as well for steps
Can't you do a post bacc or master's program to get another gpa to apply with?

Edit: I am premed, never been to a Caribbean school just sharing what I've read online about them

 

[Gambino.]

If you take a looks at CARM's match rate for Caribbean grads, its something like 25% or so I believe. Most of our Canadian grads apply for residency in both the US and Canada. You can match in the US as a Ross/AUC grad though I believe as a Canadian you would require a visa which doesn't make things any easier. If you are perfectly fine with doing residency here (and completing additional training in Canada in order to make up residency year differences e.g. EM in US is 3 yrs vs 5 yrs in Canada so you must do 2 yrs of fellowship here or 2 more in Canada) than it is an option.

With a 508 though it'd likely make more sense to do a post-bacc, bring the GPA up and try your luck at a US MD/DO. My friend personally had over a 510 and a high GPA and decided not to spend a year doing that and went to Ross instead.

Lastly, you must be fine with doing a primary care residency (IM/FM/Peds) as that's where most of our matches come from.

 

[Beaudieu]

If you take a looks at CARM's match rate for Caribbean grads, its something like 25% or so I believe. Most of our Canadian grads apply for residency in both the US and Canada. You can match in the US as a Ross/AUC grad though I believe as a Canadian you would require a visa which doesn't make things any easier. If you are perfectly fine with doing residency here (and completing additional training in Canada in order to make up residency year differences e.g. EM in US is 3 yrs vs 5 yrs in Canada so you must do 2 yrs of fellowship here or 2 more in Canada) than it is an option.

With a 508 though it'd likely make more sense to do a post-bacc, bring the GPA up and try your luck at a US MD/DO. My friend personally had over a 510 and a high GPA and decided not to spend a year doing that and went to Ross instead.

Lastly, you must be fine with doing a primary care residency (IM/FM/Peds) as that's where most of our matches come from.

If you take a looks at CARM's match rate for Caribbean grads, its something like 25% or so I believe. Most of our Canadian grads apply for residency in both the US and Canada. You can match in the US as a Ross/AUC grad though I believe as a Canadian you would require a visa which doesn't make things any easier. If you are perfectly fine with doing residency here (and completing additional training in Canada in order to make up residency year differences e.g. EM in US is 3 yrs vs 5 yrs in Canada so you must do 2 yrs of fellowship here or 2 more in Canada) than it is an option.

With a 508 though it'd likely make more sense to do a post-bacc, bring the GPA up and try your luck at a US MD/DO. My friend personally had over a 510 and a high GPA and decided not to spend a year doing that and went to Ross instead.

Lastly, you must be fine with doing a primary care residency (IM/FM/Peds) as that's where most of our matches come from.

Thank you both for your replies.

How possible is it to bring up the GPA? I've seen people get a 4.0 in a Master's degree only to have their cGPA raise by a few points. To get into the US and be competitive, I'd have to raise my GPA from 3.1 to nearly 3.7 in order to have a chance, especially with only a 508 (most USMD schools that accept Canadians have an MCAT average of around 515 with 508 being around 10th percentile).

Additionally, my Masters would be in Psychology (I am a BSc Psych grad) so it wouldn't necessarily "improve" my application either by showing more scientific knowledge. So, I'm not sure.

 

[Gambino.]

Thank you both for your replies.

How possible is it to bring up the GPA? I've seen people get a 4.0 in a Master's degree only to have their cGPA raise by a few points. To get into the US and be competitive, I'd have to raise my GPA from 3.1 to nearly 3.7 in order to have a chance, especially with only a 508 (most USMD schools that accept Canadians have an MCAT average of around 515 with 508 being around 10th percentile).

Additionally, my Masters would be in Psychology (I am a BSc Psych grad) so it wouldn't necessarily "improve" my application either by showing more scientific knowledge. So, I'm not sure.

Certain schools value more reinvention than others, getting as close to a 4.0 in a post-bacc would show that, even if it wouldn't raise your cGPA as high as you'd want. Also, probably would want to do a DIY or more hard science focused post-bacc rather than a Psychology masters as that'd show that you are able to handle the courses in medical school as opposed to psychology and miscellaneous courses.

 

[gyngyn]

Thank you both for your replies.

How possible is it to bring up the GPA? I've seen people get a 4.0 in a Master's degree only to have their cGPA raise by a few points. To get into the US and be competitive, I'd have to raise my GPA from 3.1 to nearly 3.7 in order to have a chance, especially with only a 508 (most USMD schools that accept Canadians have an MCAT average of around 515 with 508 being around 10th percentile).

Additionally, my Masters would be in Psychology (I am a BSc Psych grad) so it wouldn't necessarily "improve" my application either by showing more scientific knowledge. So, I'm not sure.

Grades in a Master's degree do serve to raise overall gpa for DO schools.
They have little impact at US MD schools however.
Trend is as important as overall gpa at most schools.

 

[Goro]

I'm a student who graduated from Canada with a 3.15 cGPA and a 508 MCAT (upward trend, got 3.8 in the last two years). My grades do not even come close to the Canadian cutoff of 3.85+, and my cGPA is also not good enough for US MD. People told me to apply DO, but only 5 schools so far accept Canadians.

Are you sure about this? There are some 14-16 schools that accept internationals, AFAIK.

 

[8jsi37]

First, as someone already mentioned, the match rate back to Canada is low. You have to be willing to live outside of Canada for a few years then see if you can apply back into Canada. If you're already okay with living in a different country and exhausted all of your options in Canada (MD) and USA (MD/DO), then I would suggest doing UQ-oschner before any Caribbean schools. They match better into US residencies (idk about those who arent US citizens tho).

Even tho there might be some weed out rate, but the caribbeans are a lot worse. After the first semester, you can lose 20%-40% of your class. The odds aren't that great even if you pass through everything. At least if you pass and graduate from UQ, you could probably practice there given you meet the visa requirements there.

However, this is only IF you exhausted all of your options. If you have not, i would not recommend it.

 

[mcat_taker]

I'm a student who graduated from Canada with a 3.15 cGPA and a 508 MCAT (upward trend, got 3.8 in the last two years). My grades do not even come close to the Canadian cutoff of 3.85+, and my cGPA is also not good enough for US MD. People told me to apply DO, but only 5 schools so far accept Canadians. I have applied to all 5 but they, too, have very high GPA requirements. 2 more did accept Canadians, but required committee letters, which I do not have.

As a result, my last options are Ross and AUC, which I have interviews at both (which I heard really isn't an accomplishment since they interview everybody). For what it's worth, I do want to go into family medicine. Asking for advice on other places has gotten me insulted for even considering the Caribbean, and basically saying that I will throw away all my money and never match into residency.

Anyways, my question to all you lovely people is... for someone who will work and study hard, what are some steps I can take to achieve success in the Caribbean, especially when matching into residency positions?

Cheers.

What about Australia? There are loads of Canadians that go to med school there and a lot do pretty well w CARMS if they choose to go through that process.

 

[Dr.Luke]

What about Australia? There are loads of Canadians that go to med school there and a lot do pretty well w CARMS if they choose to go through that process.

Almost no Canadian comes back to Canada from any Australian medical school. Their different timeline and process of matching makes it impossible to return. Consider it immigration if you go Australia.

 

[Dr.Luke]

From what I've heard they have very predatory practices and will not do you any favors for residency. FM is easier to match but Caribbean schools just suck in general since they're expensive and not a lot of people are able to get all the way through to match don't remember exactly why but maybe because they don't prepare you as well for steps
Can't you do a post bacc or master's program to get another gpa to apply with?

Edit: I am premed, never been to a Caribbean school just sharing what I've read online about them

I have to caution people taking the Caribbean route. Family medicine still seems a good option in Canada, considering Canada is in a greater deficiency of physicians. However, in the US, it is considered a profession on a downward spiral. That said, downward in terms of prestige, income, everything.

 

[mcat_taker]

Almost no Canadian comes back to Canada from any Australian medical school. Their different timeline and process of matching makes it impossible to return. Consider it immigration if you go Australia.

Not true. I went to medical school in Australia and all the Canadians who wanted to match back in Canada were able to do so in my class. It is well known that Australia and Ireland are popular options for Canadians to go for med school who did not get into school in Canada given how competitive it is in Canada to get a spot given the limited spots. Yes they put in the work but they made it happen. Most Canadians have an easier time staying in Australia so a majority end up doing that. I don't think you have the expertise to comment given you were in a Caribbean school and have not spent any time training or working in Australia.

 

[Dr.Luke]

Not true. I went to medical school in Australia and all the Canadians who wanted to match back in Canada were able to do so in my class. It is well known that Australia and Ireland are popular options for Canadians to go for med school who did not get into school in Canada given how competitive it is in Canada to get a spot given the limited spots. Yes they put in the work but they made it happen. Most Canadians have an easier time staying in Australia so a majority end up doing that. I don't think you have the expertise to comment given you were in a Caribbean school and have not spent any time training or working in Australia.

I did attend a webinar from Oztrek, and the hostess informed us that the medical students would have to prepare to stay in Australia upon graduation. Australia does not have any residency quota for medical graduates who hold foreign nationalities so it is not guaranteed you will get into a residency spot--they are called internship in Australia. However it looked like rural Australia was more receptive to medical graduates with foreign passports.

 

[newfeet]

I'm a student who graduated from Canada with a 3.15 cGPA and a 508 MCAT (upward trend, got 3.8 in the last two years). My grades do not even come close to the Canadian cutoff of 3.85+, and my cGPA is also not good enough for US MD. People told me to apply DO, but only 5 schools so far accept Canadians. I have applied to all 5 but they, too, have very high GPA requirements. 2 more did accept Canadians, but required committee letters, which I do not have.

As a result, my last options are Ross and AUC, which I have interviews at both (which I heard really isn't an accomplishment since they interview everybody). For what it's worth, I do want to go into family medicine. Asking for advice on other places has gotten me insulted for even considering the Caribbean, and basically saying that I will throw away all my money and never match into residency.

Anyways, my question to all you lovely people is... for someone who will work and study hard, what are some steps I can take to achieve success in the Caribbean, especially when matching into residency positions?

Cheers.

You should also look at the Ireland schools. You can find info at Atlantic Bridge | Study Medicine and Dentistry in Ireland