Carribean Vs. Ireland????

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gmacpac

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Hi everyone,

I am reseaching Ireland Vs. Carribean (mainly St. Georges). I wanted to ask you what your opinions are about both programs. Pro's Vs. Cons of each. Also, what made you chose carribean over the Ireland?

Any help will be appreciated.
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If I had a choice between the two, I would go to the carrib.

The carrib schools teach students who ultimately practice in the US.

For both you will be considered a FMG when you/if you come back to the US.

You have to consider the enviroments too.

Btw, what are your stats?

Edit--

I noticed you posted in the other forum too.

My goal is to get in Orthopedic Residency program after medical school. I know that my best chance is if I go to a local school. I do have good grades, but realistically speaking, there is a fair chance that I may not get into a local school (too many good applicant..etc)

My observation is that Carribean grad tend to get into Family Practice/Internal medicine, General Surgery and, Anesthesia programs. It is rare to find their grads going to surgical subspecialties. Offcourse there are exceptions to this generalization, however, considering 350 grads year out of which only handful get surgical subspecialties. Case in point......Only 1 Neurosurgery match in 2006.

I dont mean to insult anyone. I have worked with carribean grads, and I think they are all very well trained. But, for some reason, specialty residency programs prefer to take local grads over FMG's.

Ok...so here is my plan....If I dont get an acceptance locally, I have to go to foreign medical school.
Which brings the question.....Are irish grads more likely to get specialy positions because their programs are affiliated with columbia and the likes?
Click to expand...

if you are aiming for Ortho. surg, try for the US schools. the DO programs have their own spots for Ortho. Surg. and spots in the MD residencies too.
 
You're right, I have been posting on various threads to see what people are saying from different programs.

My longterm goal is to get into Orthopedic Surgery Program.

I was not aware that DO's have their own ortho residencies, can you post a link for such websites?

My stats are:

Undergrad GPA 3.2
Post-Bac GPA 3.5
MCAT...not taken yet.
 
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can you please elaborate more on that? Is ireland a better option than the carribean??

If you had only 2 choices....either Ireland ...or Carribean.....which one will you choose? why?
 
Here we go.

Carrib--Good Points
- Tailored for people who will practice in the US of A.
- Specifically tailored for USMLE.

Carrib--Negative Points
- FMG status when you get back to the USA.
- I dont believe you get many competitive residencies.

Ireland--Good Points
- Good reputation ( i assuming).

Ireland--Bad points
- Not tailored to USMLE. You would have to work your bum off if you are going to take the USMLE
- Still considered a FMG.

There is a whole plethora of positive and negative points to consider when choosing between both kinds of schools. The stuff I mentioned are just what I would consider (actually already considered) when looking at both.

There is a lot of information regarding carrib schools on
www.valuemd.com

A lot regarding Irish schools on this website in the UK/Ireland Forum.

*I would go to the Carrib!*
 
Btw, which carrib schools are you considering?

For the above post, I only considered SGU, ROSS, AUC & SABA.

I basically just read stuff about them for some time and they seem to be the older schools of the carrib.

You should always use due diligence. Especially when some of the schools are not licensed in certain states like California.

Check this thread out tommorow too, some of the people who actually are in the carrib prolly comment too.
 
just to add some info, Irish med schools are 5 years long even with your bachelor's degree. so that extra year might be something to think about.
here's more info about the irish schools:
www.atlanticbridge.com
 
I have been considering st. georges......

I was offered a spot at Ross....but was not sure about it considering I want to be placed in Ortho.

SGU match list looks impressive.....plus my pre-med advisor has given positve feedback about SGU, which is reassuring.
 
Advice: Why don't YOU do a research! Check out the websites of all schools you want to attend (both Caribbean and Ireland). Look at their match lists, hospital affiliations, coursework, student profiles, etc. Then, YOU can make an informed decision based on the facts! People have their own opinions which may or may not be accurate (even your advisor). The fact that you didn't even know that DO has their own residency programs means that you have not done enough research on your own. Ortho is an extremely competitive residency even for US grads. So, if that is the only specialty you want to do, I would suggest that you do whatever it takes to get into a US school (post-bacc, grad school, multiple MCAT's, volunteer, etc.). If you somehow choose to attend a foreign med school (either Caribbean or Ireland), you should know that there's a chance you might not get your first choice of residency.

PS: Ross is a great Caribb school (along side SGU, SABA, and AUC). Coming out from Ross is as good as coming out from any other top Caribb schools.
 
Best wishes on your decision. My opinion, as a carib student at a few carib med schools (Sint Eustatius now), look into the Ireland med schools thoroughly, then look at the top carib programs. Ross is a pretty good school, so you are already in a good position. Who knows, you may be able to find something even better in Ireland, if not, Ross is a great place to start, from what I have heard. Again, best wishes!:)
 
Only problem I have with Ireland is they don't prepare you for the Step. I don't care if the school has a better reputation and then you suck on the boards. You want to go somewhere to rock the boards. #1 SGU Bar none probably still the best overall in preping you. So If I were you Id go to SGU or Ross.
 
Inkabellous said:
Advice: Why don't YOU do a research! Check out the websites of all schools you want to attend (both Caribbean and Ireland). Look at their match lists, hospital affiliations, coursework, student profiles, etc. Then, YOU can make an informed decision based on the facts! People have their own opinions which may or may not be accurate (even your advisor). The fact that you didn't even know that DO has their own residency programs means that you have not done enough research on your own. Ortho is an extremely competitive residency even for US grads. So, if that is the only specialty you want to do, I would suggest that you do whatever it takes to get into a US school (post-bacc, grad school, multiple MCAT's, volunteer, etc.). If you somehow choose to attend a foreign med school (either Caribbean or Ireland), you should know that there's a chance you might not get your first choice of residency.

PS: Ross is a great Caribb school (along side SGU, SABA, and AUC). Coming out from Ross is as good as coming out from any other top Caribb schools.
Click to expand...
:thumbup: :thumbup:
 
I'm in final med in Ireland and all of our students who took both USMLEs did exceptionally well on both...90 + percentile..it all depends on the work you put in, NOT on the focus on the school. I think Ireland is the best bet...just hearing stories of my friends doing interviews etc for the match, Ireland has a great reputation. There are lots of students getting great interviews for competitive specialties (anaesthetics, emerg etc). Overall, the education is very, very good.
 
Congratulations! Sounds like Ireland might be worth looking into. :)
 
dunno if this matters 2 u, but Ireland schools are more expensive than the Carib ones....

i think... is that correct? any1?
 
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