Caribbean~

[hopefool]

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Hello all,

I am a current post-bac doing well looking at getting a high 3.0 (3.6-3.9) over the next two years, in 50-60 credit hours. I graduated from Cornell with a low gpa of ~2.6 maybe a little higher due to several reasons the overriding one being not applying myself because of a lack of direction. I am past all that now and doing well continuing to develop myself in every aspect of life. I feel that eventually I can get into a US med school knowing that I can do well on the MCAT BUT! what are my chances of getting into a top caribbean med school in a year after I finish my sciences (I am going to finish them no matter what) and take an MCAT. I know its not a direct science, predicting school admissions, but I am hearing in some instances students getting in with similar numbers and sometimes them not. I heard a few stories of people matriculating to ROSS without even finishing their undergrad degrees?

Any thoughts or info?

 

[DrMidlife]

Try this forum for Carib questions: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=90.

There are quite a few nontrads here (in the nontrad forum) with stats like yours who are aiming for MD and/or DO schools. Personally I would consider osteopathic LONG before I'd consider the Caribbean.

 

[hopefool]

Everyone seems to say that they would pursue a DO over Caribbean MD. I am just confused as to why there is such a strong inclination for this. I know it is more difficult to get competitive residencies for FMG's but is that all?

Try this forum for Carib questions: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=90.

There are quite a few nontrads here (in the nontrad forum) with stats like yours who are aiming for MD and/or DO schools. Personally I would consider osteopathic LONG before I'd consider the Caribbean.

 

[Despina]

Try this forum for Carib questions: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=90.

There are quite a few nontrads here (in the nontrad forum) with stats like yours who are aiming for MD and/or DO schools. Personally I would consider osteopathic LONG before I'd consider the Caribbean.

Funny, because I know a lot of first year residents who just finished in the Caribbean (SGU) and would still do Caribbean over DO if they had it to do all over again.

 

[DrMidlife]

Personally I would consider osteopathic LONG before I'd consider the Caribbean.

Everyone seems to say that they would pursue a DO over Caribbean MD.

Apparently not.

Funny, because I know a lot of first year residents who just finished in the Caribbean (SGU) and would still do Caribbean over DO if they had it to do all over again.

I said "personally" because I'm only talking about my priorities. Picking a school isn't a cookie cutter job.

I am just confused as to why there is such a strong inclination for this. I know it is more difficult to get competitive residencies for FMG's but is that all?

I see very little difference between DO and MD. I applied to both, and my stats look better for DO. I don't give a crap whether I'd look uncool as a DO, and I won't feel insulted if people don't know what a DO is. If I get trained well and I get to practice medicine, I'm happy.

I think my beef with Ross/Saba/SGU/et al is that they're for-profit. I think if I'm going to spend that much money, and go that far from the west coast, I'd rather go to Scotland or someplace more interesting than a vacation island.

But I'd LOVE to go to med school in Puerto Rico, which has 4 LCME-accredited medical schools on (arguably) US soil that grant US MDs, and PR just happens to be in the Caribbean. My Spanish would get REALLY good.

Here's that link again to the Caribbean forum, where you can find out about IMG/FMG stigma and lots of other stuff I don't know: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=90

 

[medhacker]

Everyone seems to say that they would pursue a DO over Caribbean MD. I am just confused as to why there is such a strong inclination for this. I know it is more difficult to get competitive residencies for FMG's but is that all?

It's residencies, remaining in the U.S., scholarship opportunities, research opportunities, shadowing/networking with future program directors from day 1. All of these are more probable in a DO school.

 

[Law2Doc]

It's residencies, remaining in the U.S., scholarship opportunities, research opportunities, shadowing/networking with future program directors from day 1. All of these are more probable in a DO school.

Also there is a big attrition issue with some caribbean schools -- something they don't emphasize in the brochures. Unlike US institutions which only accept folks likely to actually attain the degree, some of the offshore places are willing to take folks' money to let them try (which for many is the "second chance" they need, but for the unwary it likely can be a trap). So attrition is high at many offshore places, and folks getting kept back a year is quite common. (If you look at attendance numbers, the number of students is always significantly higher than 4 times the number of people who graduate each year, which means a lot of folks get bottlenecked someplace along the way). A much better percentage of DOs actually make it to resident after 4 years of school. In the end, it probably comes down to whether you would rather spend the time explaining to patients what a DO is versus explaining to other physicians why you went offshore for med school.