"accredited" really means nothing outside of the US/Canada. All schools are accredited by their home countries. The statement on the weblink you posted that some outside accreditation is "comparable" to LCME is hogwash. So really, it's all about approval. Schools can be approved, disapproved, or nothing (meaning that the school hasn't tried to get approved). Only CA and NY actually approve schools, that I know of.
If your school does not qualify for licensure in a state on the day you graduate from it, you can NEVER get a license in that state. To be fair, that's not completely true -- a medical board can always make an exception if they want. But you should assume that they will not make an exception for you. If the school gets approval after you've graduated, that's not going to help you at all. If your school is approved when you start and gets disapproved while you're there, you're equally screwed.
If a school is on neither list, then you won't get a license in CA or NY. Other states may allow you a license as long as the school isn't disapproved. If you want to work in NY or CA, go to a school that's approved there. Don't forget that this includes all residency programs in those states also.
Welp! I guess that's the end of my lurking.
Hi folks. A lot to cover, here.
First, before I dive in, I want to make one thing clear: If your benchmark, whether personal or as a consensus of SDN, is that an international school needs to have approved status for all fifty states to be considered viable, then, obviously, that’s fine and I have no argument there.
However, there are a few things I want to clear up as far as justification for that benchmark.
"'accredited' really means nothing outside of the US/Canada. All schools are accredited by their home countries. The statement on the weblink you posted that some outside accreditation is 'comparable' to LCME is hogwash.”
The nature of there being international license portability at all means that home nation accreditation and comparability regulation is extant and valid, some more so than others, though. In the particular case of Trinity, we have CAAM-HP accreditation. CAAM-HP accreditation, while an international aegis across the Caribbean, it is specifically put into practice by each nation that formally adopts it, superseding its own national accreditation body.
While Trinity has had national accreditation from St. Vincent since 2008, its CAAM-HP accreditation came through last year. St. Vincent has also formally adopted CAAM-HP as its official accreditation body and standard. The standards and practices of CAAM-HP as they are applied in St. Vincent and the Grenadines has been formally evaluated by the US Department of Education’s National Committee on Foreign Medical Education Accreditation and declared to be comparable to US accreditation.
NCFMEA, in their own words: “The countries listed below have been reviewed by the NCFMEA and found to use standards to accredit their medical schools that are comparable to the standards used to accredit medical schools in the United States.”
To clarify, this does not mean any school from a nation on the NCFMEA’s list is comparable, it means any school from that nation that has the named accreditation.
We are a relatively new school, having been founded in 2008. And we recognize that we have an uphill battle as both a new school and one in the Caribbean.
"So really, it's all about approval. Schools can be approved, disapproved, or nothing (meaning that the school hasn't tried to get approved). Only CA and NY actually approve schools, that I know of."
While there are compacts and reciprocity across the US that take their lead from California and NY, many other states approve and disapprove schools in the way you’re referring to them. Texas and Florida do their own approvals, for example. We aren’t disapproved anywhere and we are accumulating our approvals as we go. With our CAAM-HP accreditation, and the subsequent NCFMEA approval, we are now working through our Title IV levels (there are many levels, it’s not a binary state by any stretch. For any gamers reading this, it’s very similar to leveling up in an RPG as new benefits are opened up along with greater recognition, challenges, and responsibilities).
"If your school does not qualify for licensure in a state on the day you graduate from it, you can NEVER get a license in that state. To be fair, that's not completely true -- a medical board can always make an exception if they want. But you should assume that they will not make an exception for you. If the school gets approval after you've graduated, that's not going to help you at all. If your school is approved when you start and gets disapproved while you're there, you're equally screwed."
Respectfully, that is not accurate, it may have been at one point, but it isn’t anymore. License portability (internally, within the US and Canada) is complicated. At current, if you have a medical degree from a school that is not approved by California or New York, but not disapproved, you can graduate, do your residency elsewhere, and after a certain number of years, move to California. There is a threshold where real world medical practice overrides any medical school level complexities to licensure.
1. Four years of practice prior to applying in California.
2. Certification by a specialty board approved by the American Board of Medical Specialties
3. No disciplinary action taken against the applicant by any medical licensing authority, the applicant has not been the subject of adverse judgments or settlements resulting from the practice of medicine that constitutes a pattern of negligence or incompetence
4. The applicant has not committed any acts or crimes constituting grounds for denial of licensure.
Source:
http://www.mbc.ca.gov/Applicants/Physicians_and_Surgeons/
http://www.mbc.ca.gov/Applicants/Physicians_and_Surgeons/
Those are strict, and wholly appropriate standards as far as we’re concerned, and we tell any student interested in California that asks that it will be their threshold to practice there. New York’s threshold is much more accessible, you just need three years of ACGME-approved postgraduate training and your school needs to have ECFMG approval (which Trinity has).
Source:
http://www.op.nysed.gov/prof/med/medlic.htm
"If a school is on neither list, then you won't get a license in CA or NY. Other states may allow you a license as long as the school isn't disapproved. If you want to work in NY or CA, go to a school that's approved there. Don't forget that this includes all residency programs in those states also."
Regarding, “if a school is on neither list, then you won’t get a license in CA or NY,” see above on license portability and practicing both states.
Residency is a great thing to bring up. We haven’t had any resident in California, not yet. And we likely won’t until after we get our approval. Totally fair point, here.
However, it’s worth mentioning that New York, by nature of the “big four” lobbying muscle, is much more open to IMGs from unevaluated schools. We’ve matched quite a few residents there over the years, four just this last year (not the 800+ some schools may boast, but as we often note: we’re small.)
Look, there’s no question that the Caribbean can be a more difficult path to medicine than a US school. And students need to be as informed as possible when making that choice, as they should with any major life decision. I am saying that, right here, as an administrator of a Caribbean school.
However, respectfully, it is not as bad as it is often represented as being. Furthermore, Caribbean governments and the US gov’t are working together every year to streamline the connection, handle schools with less-than-best-intentions, and make it easier for the schools and students operating in good faith to achieve their respective goals.
Oh, and medyexpress? Thanks for asking a great question. Whether you end up with Trinity or somewhere else, we wish you the best.
