Fifth Pathway, NYS Ed. Dept Accred.

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jms2002

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I have 2 questions:

It seems that some foreign medical schools require a "fifth pathway" such as University Of Guatalajara in Mexico and some do not such as St. Georges and Ross. Anyone familiar with why this is so?

Also are SGU & Ross approved medical programs by NYS Education Dept. (or just approved to do clinical affiliations in new york)?

Thanks.

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Here is the info in brief for the first question:

http://www.imgi.org/fifthpathway1.html

In short, 5PW is an alternative method by which one may fulfill the internship/social srvice requirement that many--"most" is probably more accurate if all med schools in the world are considered--non-US schools require as a condition for award of the medical degree.
 
SGU and Ross are approved by the NYS Board of Medical Education (among other schools) but this only entails approval for their students to do clinical rotations in the states. It confers you no advantage in seeking a residency (ie, ECFMG does not "approve" schools and being approved by the state of NY doesn't mean that you have easier access to US residencies).
 
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As someone who was just accepted into the 5PW program (woo woo), I can echo what Stephen said. The AMA created the 5PW program in the early 1970's for American citizens and permanent residents who go to med school in a country whose government requires a year of internship and a year of social service (after 4 years of school) before they grant the MD degree. The Carib schools (Ross, SGU, etc.) grant the MD after 4 years of school and don't require the internship and social service.

Some benefits of doing 5 PW are that we bypass ECFMG certification (and don't have to take the TOEFL and CSA). We go through this year of "supervised clinical training" and then enter the Match as Independent Applicants. Note that in a couple of years (I think it starts with 2004's entering classes) everyone will have to take the CSA (or some version of it).

Right now, NYMC is the only school in the country to offer the 5PW program. You can check out their website at: http://www.nymc.edu/depthome/fifth.asp The CA state government has just passed a bill to re-implement 5PW's in that state, but there is still a lot of work to be done before any of the programs open (even though there were 4 schools in CA in the past who had programs). For example, they still have to identify schools who might want to administer the programs, develop the curricula, and the CA Medical Board (and, I assume, the AMA) must approve each of the programs before it opens. CA AB 2872 is the name of the bill/law. Sorry, I don't have the address on hand, but you can probably search here: http://www.ca.gov/state/portal/myca_homepage.jsp to find it.

I'm about to enter my last semester as a UAG (Guadalajara) student. If you have any questions about UAG or 5PW, you can PM me.
 
Originally posted by dwstranger
The AMA created the 5PW program in the early 1970's for American citizens and permanent residents who go to med school in a country whose government requires a year of internship and a year of social service (after 4 years of school) before they grant the MD degree.

Well......that's sort of like right.

Actually.....the 5PW was created by Congress and is a part of Federal law. If you go back thru some of the documents and reports on 5PW, you'll see that it was created through the political influence of "rich" parents whose kids could not get into US medical schools. The kids wanted to get back to the states as soon as possible, and their parents wanted the kids home, too. It avoids spending that extra year internado year in that country.

Yes...AB 2872 was signed into law. But it only requires those parties to study methods to reactivate the Fifth Pathway Program in California and then report back to the Legislature by mid-2003. This is one of several bills carried in recent years to increase option for Mexican-educated residents to get back into California. (BTW.....none of the Calif schools want to host a 5PW program, but the UC system might put pressure on Irvine to reinstitute the program, since they had it initially.)

Cheers--K
 
Originally posted by Kimberli Cox
SGU and Ross are approved by the NYS Board of Medical Education (among other schools) but this only entails approval for their students to do clinical rotations in the states. It confers you no advantage in seeking a residency (ie, ECFMG does not "approve" schools and being approved by the state of NY doesn't mean that you have easier access to US residencies).

The one active (of two) schools not mentioned is Sackler, in Tel Aviv (the other being the American University of Beirut); they are "registered" with the State of New York, so, essentially, they are, in the eyes of New York, US schools that are not here. I still don't understand it fully, but it conveys a sense of things being easier for them. For sure, students from Sackler are on the same playing field, when it comes to traditionally Jewish hospitals (like Mt. Sinai) - these hospitals are reasonable enough to look at them, instead of just slapping "FMG" on them, and throwing them out. I just found out yesterday that two docs that are just amazing - amazing - at Sinai went to Sackler.
 
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