CARIBBEAN MEDICAL SCHOOLS?!?!

[Pursuing MD]

I have applied to St. George Medical school in the Caribbean, and may also apply to Ross medical school in the Caribbean.

What are your thoughts about Caribbean medical schools, specifically St. George's? Are these med school a good way to become a physician, and how difficult is it to do residency in the U.S. after graduating from a Caribbean med school?

What is the academic lifetyle and social lifestyle in Caribbean med schools? Any advice?

Thanks!!

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[CANES2006]

Have you applied many times before and never gotten in? What are your stats? I would only apply to Carribean schools as a last resort because I heard it is very difficult to get a good(if any) residency position in the US if you come from a Carribean school. Have you thought about the possibility of applying to DO schools?

 

[Pursuing MD]

My cumulative GPA is 3.6, science GPA is 3.52. My MCAT score is in the low 20's. I am not not going to apply to U.S. medical school b/c of my low MCAT scores.

It seems to me that DOs are not well established and do not receive the same respect as MDs.

 

[lola]

Have you taken the MCAT more than once? If not, I'd retake it if I were you and apply to U.S. schools. Caribbean med schools are not all that well respected. You come out with the same degree and should be fine once you're a practicing physician, but it might be difficult to get a residency and some people will look down on you for it. Not that you can't become just as good of a doctor, but you will face some criticism along the way.

 

[CANES2006]

You're not even going to try applying to U.S. medical schools? Why not? You have nothing to lose. Also, why don't you just retake the MCAT? If you raise your MCAT score, you got a decent chance of getting into a U.S. medical school. Oh, one more thing, DO schools and Carribean schools are about even when it comes to being considered "not being well established" (hell, sometimes DOs are respected more than Carribean MDs). Just food for thought.

 

[Pneumo]

DO's are well established, and (should be) respected. I imagine the training you receive from an Osteopathic school is superior to that offered at a school in the tropics.

 

[Beoz]

Im sure you know, but Caribbean schools are often the butt of many jokes. Ive heard MD's say that if you have to resort to a Caribbean school - you shouldn't be a doctor at all. It's not my view but that view is out there and you should know.

DO's are more respected than Caribbean MD's.

 

[none]

Stay out of the Carribean if you can. You'll have an easier time with residencies from a DO school than from any international school.

 

[Ryo-Ohki]

DOs are respected more then Caribbean school MDs...if respect is a major issue for you.

Just retake the MCAT. Do you really want a St. George's diploma hanging on your office wall?

 

[moo]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by Emile Banay:
•

It seems to me that DOs are not well established and do not receive the same respect as MDs.•••••I would venture out to say that Caribbean MDs are not as well established and do not receive the same respect as onshore MDs and DOs, IMHO.

 

[Brandon]

I have friends in DO schools and I can tell you that they are well respected. They have a much easier time in obtaining residency positions than Carribean schools and I am sure their training is far superior than overseas schools as I have visited several of them. So before you look down on something, make sure you know what you're talking about. Besides, if you have to resort to applying to Carribean schools you shouldn't even think about looking down on anybody...try getting in first before developing an attitude. My 2 cents.

 

[labrynth79]

My brother, whom I consider incredibly brilliant, went to St. George's (and graduated last year). He had a VERY high gpa, but like you, his MCATs were low - damn verbal.

During my application cycle, he DID advise me NOT to go there because a lot of your options are cut-off. For example, you will have a very difficult, if not impossible, time establishing residencies in fields such as dermatology, anesthesiology, etc.

However, do note that if you go to St. George's then you will spend ONLY your first two years there. The "clerkship/rotation" years of M3 and M4 will be spent in the United States. He did his in New York City. He also went to London, England for one of the rotations, but I don't remember which one.

With that being said, he scored well on the boards and is now doing his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Missouri. He is now applying for fellowships to do a GI speciality, and since the doctors at his hospital really like him, he can stay there to do it if he wants. They also OFFERED to call in people at The Mayo Clinic or Washington University Med School to get him secured there! Although he wants to first try for some places on his own- esp. in CA or New York City, it is nice to know that he has the respect of his residency directors and fellow doctors.

I know that the Caribbean schools are not of high caliber reputation, but in the end you will still be an MD. I was preparing to send in my St. George's app. this May, but I was blessed with 2 acceptances since then (MCV/VCU and NYMC) and 2 waitlist positions (UVM - top 1/3d - and UCSD).

Good luck with your decision! No matter where you go, you will still be a doctor WITH an MD. For crying out loud, my doctor at Kaiser Hospital got his degree in India! But I still think that he's a great physician and know's his stuff.

 

[Pursuing MD]

I have taken the MCAT 3 times already: the first time I voided the test, the last 2 times I scored it. Both times I got a low 20 on the MCAT. voided

I have heard of many stories of Caribbean medical school graduates who have done residencies in the U.S., and I am sure there are as many (if not more) who have not been able to take that path.

I have no beef with DOs; I'm sure they practice medicine as they know how very well. I just have not yet come across a DO, and so I am not very familiar with their practice.

 

[Wednesday]

•••quote:••• I'm sure they practice medicine as they know how very well. ••••DOs learn the same medicine as MDs, they just learn OMM in addition and tend to approach problems with a whole body attitude. At least that's how they are trained. Many DOs never practice OMM once they graduate and the whole body thing just serves to make them excellent primary care doctors. Although DOs can match into residencies in ANY field.

That being said, with a low 20s MCAT, you may not be competitive for DO schools. But it would be worth looking into and at least learning more about DOs.

The caribbean isn't the worst option in the world, as long as you go to either Ross or St. Georges (which also may be challenging with a low 20s MCAT). But you have to work really hard there to stay in school (there seems to be a bit of a weeding out process) and you don't get the resources that med students who go to school in the US do. Coming from the caribbean you will also have to ROCK the boards to have a lot of choices for residency. If you can go DO, you should. If you can't (or after researching it, still don't want to) the caribbean is also a good option. I'd just advise against being snooty about the "MD degree" because I don't think it's worth it.

 

[lola]

i agree with wednesday that you should find out more about DO schools. not to be rude or anything to those applying to or going to caribbean schools, but i would be much less embarrassed telling people i go to a u.s. DO school than a caribbean MD school. before you decide to go to the caribbean, make sure you explore all of your options.

 

[nyskindr]

Since almost everything hangs on USMLE performance from a carribean med school(just passing may not be good enough),you will have to consider this fact if standardized tests such as the MCAT are a problem for you.While many people do fine on the boards who did not perform well on the MCATs there is some relationship between them.In going to an Osteopathic school less will hinge on doing well these boards.

 

[soccerfever]

That's not necessarily true. There has never been any research whether your boards score reflect your MCAT scores. The Mcat is a totally different test. The boards are straight forward. For example, my sister did crappy on the mcat, went to a carribean medical school, did average on Step I and II and is now doing residency in the states. She got matched into one of her top five choices for residency....Again, i feel that as long as you do average or above average on the boards, you will be fine....

 

[AntGod22]

dude the head doctor of the army is a D.O. and the head doc of the coast guard is a D.O. .
that's enough respect if you ask me. Or are you just becoming a doctor for the prestige??? I think if you truely want to become a doctor it wont matter what it says after your name.

 

[nyskindr]

Yes there is research on relating MCAT to performance in med school and USMLE scores,please searchthe AAMC website for info,a starting point would be <a href="http://www.aamc.org/data/aib/camcam/vol4_no4.htm" target="_blank">www.aamc.org/data/aib/camcam/vol4_no4.htm</a>

 

[ellerose]

I got to talk to admissions officers from several Carribbean schools lately (and also got information from pre-health advisors on the subject), and for what it's worth:

Apply to Carribbean schools only as a last resort. With that said, Ross and St. George's are among the most respectable of the Carribbean schools. There are some reasons why some people will succeed at a Carribbean school, namely they have the drive and passion to succeed in becoming a physician, even if it means living in another country for a couple of years to pursue it. Conditions (living and medical-school related) may be very different from what you are used to in the states. But, on the other hand, you will be exposed to much diversity, in terms of your classmates, your patients, and possibly the diseases you will encounter. You will get about the same education as every other medical student in the U.S., and you will do rotations along side other U.S. medical students. In talking to admissions officers, every school I talked to gave me their 2002 residency match list. Every student matched to a residency in the states, with the exception of a student I noticed who got a residency in England (I don't know, maybe he was from England?). I saw just about every specialty represented. I don't know how great these programs are ranked (the quality), but everyone who wanted a residency in the states got one, from what I understand.

In the end, will your patients really care where you went to med school? All that matters is that you come out a compassionate, caring, and competent physician, whatever the route. If you think Carribbean schools are the way to go, then don't let anyone stand in your way.

On another note. Have you been tested for learning disabilities and/or physical impairments that could be hindering your performance on the MCAT? Look into it as soon as you can, unless you've already done so.

Good luck.

 

[lilic]

The match lists are very misleading because I know people who are students at Club MD schools. They do not list the students who fail to match and they also include graduates who are applying for their second or third time. I would like to see the actual match info from the AMA.

 

[moo]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by lilic:
•The match lists are very misleading because I know people who are students at Club MD schools. They do not list the students who fail to match and they also include graduates who are applying for their second or third time. I would like to see the actual match info from the AMA.•••••In addition, a lot of carib grads match into IM and FP. If you don't have a problem going into IM or FP then caribs are a good way to go. Although you will see people matching into surgery, optho, etc. it's rare and you must do very well or have connections to match into those specialties.

 

[Raptor]

This is just my two cents...I am tired of people trying to say that Carribbean med school is bad. There is a chief resident at my hospital who happens to be a graduate of Ross med school. This guy is a great doctor and deserves to be that. It doesn't really matter where you get into medical school as long you become a MD. A lot of the doctors that graduated from good medical schools at my hospital are jerks. A lot of the staff/patients complain about them. One of them that graduated from a top med school forgot a surgical utisil in a patient not too long ago. I know you guys say it's a anecdoctal story but it doesn't really matter which med school.
-Raptor

 

[Raptor]

may i add...he is a chief surgery resident