Carribean medical schools?

[johncstudent32]

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I spent time thinking about this a while back. At first I thought it would be great to have less pressure to do well on the Step. But I quickly realized that my step score was the only way to set myself apart. Now that it's pass/fail, the biggest factor will probably be where you went to school. This already matters, but now it will matter even more.

The pass/fail will hurt IMG's from any other school that is not SGU. SGU has a reputation with many programs already going back 4-5 decades and residency programs know that SGU students are well-prepared. I can however see some of these other Caribbean schools closing down in the immediate future.

 

[Marche med student]

The pass/fail will hurt IMG's from any other school that is not SGU. SGU has a reputation with many programs already going back 4-5 decades and residency programs know that SGU students are well-prepared. I can however see some of these other Caribbean schools closing down in the immediate future.

Pass/ Fail is going to hurt anyone that is relying on an impressive step score to move forward. The prestige of your school, your extracurriculars, your connections, all make a difference. You're not only trying to outcompete other Caribbean students. Students from Harvard can mail it in on their step 1 now and so can you. The difference is, is that they won't need a step score other than a pass to move forward, because everything else that they have is highly valued.

When you graduate from a Caribbean school, everyone knows (or at least thinks) that you have some sort of deficiency. When you crush your step, you make up for that to a certain extent. With no exceptional step score, all you have is a degree from a school that is not at the top in terms of prestige. SGU is not a prestigious school, and the way people can tell if you learned things at school (or at home after school) is by looking at your step score. All Caribbean students that were going to create opportunities for themselves with their step 1 score are going to have to use the step 2 to shine instead.

 

[johncstudent32]

Pass/ Fail is going to hurt anyone that is relying on an impressive step score to move forward. The prestige of your school, your extracurriculars, your connections, all make a difference. You're not only trying to outcompete other Caribbean students. Students from Harvard can mail it in on their step 1 now and so can you. The difference is, is that they won't need a step score other than a pass to move forward, because everything else that they have is highly valued.

When you graduate from a Caribbean school, everyone knows (or at least thinks) that you have some sort of deficiency. When you crush your step, you make up for that to a certain extent. With no exceptional step score, all you have is a degree from a school that is not at the top in terms of prestige. SGU is not a prestigious school, and the way people can tell if you learned things at school (or at home after school) is by looking at your step score. All Caribbean students that were going to create opportunities for themselves with their step 1 score are going to have to use the step 2 to shine instead.

So when an SGU person "crushes" with a 250 on STEP1, will they still have said "deficiency?" lol

Listen, the pass/fail thing won't change as much as you think. IMG's are not going to be applying to the best university programs because they were never looked at in the first place. If anything, like I said, the lesser Caribbean schools will go out of business.

 

[Marche med student]

So when an SGU person "crushes" with a 250 on STEP1, will they still have said "deficiency?" lol

Listen, the pass/fail thing won't change as much as you think. IMG's are not going to be applying to the best university programs because they were never looked at in the first place. If anything, like I said, the lesser Caribbean schools will go out of business.

If there were zero deficiencies then they wouldn't be shelling out for a Caribbean education. Having a deficiency doesn't necessarily mean you're not smart or hard working. It means you don't have something that's required to get into a stateside school - whatever that may be. That's why getting the 250 is so important. You do have something to make up for - something to prove. What are you proving when you pass your step 1? Will it make up for the fact you couldn't get accepted to an American school? Maybe. Probably not though.

Pass/fail is the best news ever for students that get into good schools but are average to low performing students. They get to rest on their laurels straight through to their full-pay doctor job.

Caribbean students have nothing other than their step scores to get them through. Yes there will be less stress studying for step, but way more stress when it comes to getting interviews.

 

[johncstudent32]

If there were zero deficiencies then they wouldn't be shelling out for a Caribbean education. Having a deficiency doesn't necessarily mean you're not smart or hard working. It means you don't have something that's required to get into a stateside school - whatever that may be. That's why getting the 250 is so important. You do have something to make up for - something to prove. What are you proving when you pass your step 1? Will it make up for the fact you couldn't get accepted to an American school? Maybe. Probably not though.

Pass/fail is the best news ever for students that get into good schools but are average to low performing students. They get to rest on their laurels straight through to their full-pay doctor job.

Caribbean students have nothing other than their step scores to get them through. Yes there will be less stress studying for step, but way more stress when it comes to getting interviews.

Like I said previously, this won't change as much as you think it will change. SGU students will still apply to the same programs. The other Caribbean schools will most probably close down and SGU will have a monopoly.

The Caribbean students who apply to said program will now need to work much harder on STEP2 CK which is honestly how it should be in the first place.

You do realize that some Caribbean students only deficiency, by your definition of the word, could be lack of volunteer hours right? lol Yeah, I didn't volunteer for two years at the local soup kitchen so medical schools did not see my altruism. Big deficiency lol.

 

[Marche med student]

Like I said previously, this won't change as much as you think it will change. SGU students will still apply to the same programs. The other Caribbean schools will most probably close down and SGU will have a monopoly.

The Caribbean students who apply to said program will now need to work much harder on STEP2 CK which is honestly how it should be in the first place.

You do realize that some Caribbean students only deficiency, by your definition of the word, could be lack of volunteer hours right? lol Yeah, I didn't volunteer for two years at the local soup kitchen so medical schools did not see my altruism. Big deficiency lol.

If you could accept yourself to medical school then your criteria for what constitutes a deficiency would be what matters for getting in. If a lack of volunteer work is seen as a deficiency by admissions boards, then it is a deficiency.

Not volunteering is a huge red flag. I'd suggest you go get some volunteer experience but if you don't have your heart in it then it's probably better that you don't. If you start at SGU soonish, make sure you crush that step. Bonne chance!

 

[DrStephenStrange]

If you could accept yourself to medical school then your criteria for what constitutes a deficiency would be what matters for getting in. If a lack of volunteer work is seen as a deficiency by admissions boards, then it is a deficiency.

Not volunteering is a huge red flag. I'd suggest you go get some volunteer experience but if you don't have your heart in it then it's probably better that you don't. If you start at SGU soonish, make sure you crush that step. Bonne chance!

If he starts SGU this year, he will be taking Step 1 in 2022. No more crushing step for him.

 

[johncstudent32]

If you could accept yourself to medical school then your criteria for what constitutes a deficiency would be what matters for getting in. If a lack of volunteer work is seen as a deficiency by admissions boards, then it is a deficiency.

Not volunteering is a huge red flag. I'd suggest you go get some volunteer experience but if you don't have your heart in it then it's probably better that you don't. If you start at SGU soonish, make sure you crush that step. Bonne chance!

I was being sarcastic dude.

I like to think that "real" deficiencies are uncovered once in residency when good doctors break free from the mediocre ones.

You mean make sure I pass the step right? lol

 

[Jherliedee]

Well guys I'm applying to SGU for the fall intake. Does anyone know how international students can get private loans? Literally all the information I see is about US and Canadian citizens

 

[Deecee2DO]

Well guys I'm applying to SGU for the fall intake. Does anyone know how international students can get private loans? Literally all the information I see is about US and Canadian citizens

Don't do it. Make a better application and apply US MD or DO. With Step 1 going pass/fail it will make things even harder for IMGs than it already is

 

[Jherliedee]

Don't do it. Make a better application and apply US MD or DO. With Step 1 going pass/fail it will make things even harder for IMGs than it already is

I’m only applying for Caribbean because we don’t take the MCAT in my country so that’s an extra cost to bear(travel expenses and accommodation) in addition to taking the exam itself. It is overall much harder to get into US schools than Caribbean, even for citizens as it is

 

[Iux]

I’m only applying for Caribbean because we don’t take the MCAT in my country so that’s an extra cost to bear(travel expenses and accommodation) in addition to taking the exam itself. It is overall much harder to get into US schools than Caribbean, even for citizens as it is

What country are you from? You want to practice medicine in the US as a FMG?

 

[Jherliedee]

I’m from Ghana and yes, hopefully.

 

[Iux]

I’m from Ghana and yes, hopefully.

I imagine it would be a lot cheaper to go to medical school in Ghana versus going Caribbean though. Then applying as FMG from there

 

[Jherliedee]

It will be, if i get in. There’s only one postgraduate medicine program so you can imagine the number of applicants per year alone (in addition to those reapplying). And to be fair, i think I will have a better shot at having the kind of “quality” training if I went abroad. The primary plan is to practice as an FMG in the US at the end...

 

[KnightDoc]

It will be, if i get in. There’s only one postgraduate medicine program so you can imagine the number of applicants per year alone (in addition to those reapplying). And to be fair, i think I will have a better shot at having the kind of “quality” training if I went abroad. The primary plan is to practice as an FMG in the US at the end...

Caribbean schools are known for lots of things -- I'm not sure "quality training" is one of them. 🙂

You really need to do a lot of research to see whether what you want to do is even viable. Americans receiving medical education abroad, especially in the Caribbean, have a hard enough time coming back to the US. FMGs have their own issues. I can only imagine how difficult the roadblocks would be for a FMG coming from a Caribbean school set up to educate Americans who could not gain admission to an American MD program.

Is there any path to working in Ghana other than through that one school? Whatever that might be, it would probably make more sense than thinking you're going to be able to work in the US as a physician after going to a Caribbean medical school as a Ghanaian.

Believe it or not, as difficult as it no doubt is, your easiest path to practicing in the US is probably to jump through all the hoops and gain admission to an American MD program. I'm just not sure that the Caribbean is going to be a viable "back door" to the US for you as a non-citizen.

 

[Iux]

Caribbean schools are known for lots of things -- I'm not sure "quality training" is one of them. 🙂

You really need to do a lot of research to see whether what you want to do is even viable. Americans receiving medical education abroad, especially in the Caribbean, have a hard enough time coming back to the US. FMGs have their own issues. I can only imagine how difficult the roadblocks would be for a FMG coming from a Caribbean school set up to educate Americans who could not gain admission to an American MD program.

Is there any path to working in Ghana other than through that one school? Whatever that might be, it would probably make more sense than thinking you're going to be able to work in the US as a physician after going to a Caribbean medical school as a Ghanaian.

Believe it or not, as difficult as it no doubt is, your easiest path to practicing in the US is probably to jump through all the hoops and gain admission to an American MD program. I'm just not sure that the Caribbean is going to be a viable "back door" to the US for you as a non-citizen.

or American DO program

 

[Emmet2301]

It will be, if i get in. There’s only one postgraduate medicine program so you can imagine the number of applicants per year alone (in addition to those reapplying). And to be fair, i think I will have a better shot at having the kind of “quality” training if I went abroad. The primary plan is to practice as an FMG in the US at the end...

Practicing in the US will be really hard as a non-US citizen. Can you try for a spot in another country in Africa or even like Eastern Europe or the Philippines?

 

[KnightDoc]

or American DO program

Believe it or not, some folks are so hung up on the MD degree that they actually give up US DOs to chase Caribbean MDs.

 

[Iux]

Believe it or not, some folks are so hung up on the MD degree that they actually give up US DOs to chase Caribbean MDs.

Oh I fully know and its the definition of insanity lol. I mean if you're really hung up on a couple letters then you probably shouldn't be a doctor.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Getting private loans as a non-citizen will likely be impossible. You'd be very high risk of not paying back your loans, from the bank's viewpoint. If things don't go well (you fail out, you drop out, or simply don't match), you'll never pay back your loan and there would be no way for the bank to get their money back -- you'd be in Ghana. This type of situation is very common for Canadian citizens, they often need to get a US cosigner for the loan. Any cosigner is equally liable for the loan -- you don't pay it back, and they will extract it from the cosigner.

 

[KnightDoc]

Getting private loans as a non-citizen will likely be impossible. You'd be very high risk of not paying back your loans, from the bank's viewpoint. If things don't go well (you fail out, you drop out, or simply don't match), you'll never pay back your loan and there would be no way for the bank to get their money back -- you'd be in Ghana. This type of situation is very common for Canadian citizens, they often need to get a US cosigner for the loan. Any cosigner is equally liable for the loan -- you don't pay it back, and they will extract it from the cosigner.

Absolutely!! Caribbean schools market primarily (or, is it exclusively?) to Americans who cannot get into a US MD program and either cannot get into a DO one, or don't want to. I already opined that it might not be viable for a Ghanaian to use the Caribbean as an entry point for a career in the US. I didn't even consider the financial piece of the puzzle, but I guess assumed that anyone not coming from the US, with US government loan guarantees, would be cash and carry for for-profit off shore schools, and I guess I assumed that someone going from Ghana to the Caribbean would already know he is going to be paying out of pocket, likely with no discounts.

 

[Marche med student]

Getting private loans as a non-citizen will likely be impossible. You'd be very high risk of not paying back your loans, from the bank's viewpoint. If things don't go well (you fail out, you drop out, or simply don't match), you'll never pay back your loan and there would be no way for the bank to get their money back -- you'd be in Ghana. This type of situation is very common for Canadian citizens, they often need to get a US cosigner for the loan. Any cosigner is equally liable for the loan -- you don't pay it back, and they will extract it from the cosigner.

Canadian medical students for the most part get their loans from Canadian banks or through loan programs in Canada. This is true whether they go to school in Canada or abroad. I would think that most international students would be getting loans in their home country rather than the US.

 

[FalconSlice]

I got an email from a carribean medical school, wondering if its a scam or legit and If it its a worthwhile investment.

I saw this as a philosophical question. On the one hand, it could be a legitimate email from an official carribean school... but they are scams in general. Maybe a philosoraptor meme in there somewhere lol. (mmm legitimate email from the "deposed king of Nigeria"...?)