Getting a job?

[dn6603]

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I am in a big dilemma at this point of my life. I messed up my freshman year because of my immaturity and had a GPA of less then 1.0. My last 3 years i've had 4.0's, but my GPA isn't where US medical schools want it and i feel going to a Caribbean Medical School is my only option to become a doctor. But some of my friends advice me against this and say they know people (including relatives) that when to a Caribbean Medical School, got good USMLE scores but still can't find a job. This is bothering me as i know i am smart and responsible enough to do be a good physician but my irresponsibility in my first year got the best of me and this might haunt me the rest of my life. My question is do people who came from a Caribbean Medical School really struggle to find a job compared to their US counterpart?

 

[Alfa]

I have no statistics to prove a point... however, I now many Carib. grads who are practicing in US now.
It should be clear to everyone considering offshore MD schools that when it comes to residency, a US graduate will take precedence. There are no ifs or buts about it. Also your chances depend on what type of residency you are looking for - derm, rad, neurosurg and some other ones are out of the picture and I know everyone knew or heard of this guy or that girl but a few in a thousand graduates makes nothing but school advertisement and no real reality. Internal and Family are not competitive so most FMGs gravitate toward them as you can tell by a quick look at the Match results on the major schools.
Another factor is the school you go to - there are a handfull of acredited ones and even among those, even fewer with a 20+ year track record. If some students fall victim of advertising and end up in ghost schools and diploma mills than thier applications will be looked upon with great suspicion or straight out declined.
On the bright side, there are thousands that enroll and graduate each year form Caribbean and other foreign schools, so I find it hard to believe that if you couldn't get a "doctor job" or it would be very hard, all of them would pay gigantic loans for a piece of paper and just to claim I am a doctor while flipping burgers... I have yet to meet someone that says "I graduated from Carib. med school and now I'm working for UPS" or something like that...
From what I've seen here and elsewhere here is the consensus:
1. Be positive and make sure MD is what you want
2. DO your research and try to get in to the school that gives you the best chances as far as preparation, quality of life, accreditation, finances and networking
3. Be realistic and adjust your expectations accordingly - is better when you exceed them then crashing in despair
4. Be agressive - it will be a tough world every day in medicine, so if you know a specialty you like to go into, if you know the area you like, pick up the phone or go places and ask the program directors of those institutions what they think of FMGs, Carib graduates, the applicant stats and so on. The more you ask, the better idea you you'll have and the more informed your decision will be.
5. Realize that all of us that are populating the islands and immigrating in the world to get MDs that we couldn't get in US, screwd up one way or another; if we did things the right way we'd all be in Harvard and J.Hop. getting the best medical education available to man. So in order to overcome our shortcomings, we now have to suffer some more, do more work and knock more doors, study harder and maybe even tell mom and dad that the Nobel winning brain surgeon of a daughter or son they expceted is not going to happen - insted you may be a geriatrist or pediatrition, internist like many.
6. And lastly, don't make the mistake most do! Listen to yourself first and than others - after all no one knows who you are and what you want better than yourself and let that be the primary guiding light.

Good luck!

 

[McGillGrad]

My question is do people who came from a Caribbean Medical School really struggle to find a job compared to their US counterpart?

No

As long as your USMLE scores are high and you have strong LORs.

 

[sbturnisback]

The important question is: what do you believe? If you love medicine, then follow your heart. You will make a great doctor one day. Take a chance. There are always those out there that will be the first to tell you, heck they will line up to tell you, that you can not do this or that. Most of them have NEVER done anything special, so how we expect them in someone else? Continue researching it; you are on the right track. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of carib grads practicing in the US, and these days, more and more students in the US and Canada are coming to the carib. If they can do it, so can you. You might want to look at SGU, Ross or AUC. One last thing, please don't worry about the past. No one is perfect. My opinion, far better to focus on what is ahead of you. I believe in you, and I know you do some great things in medicine if you give yourself a chance. Best wishes!🙂

My pleasure. I do not make the decision, but I don't see it being a problem. Think about this: you got into a highly competitive school. Regardless of how you did there for a period, you still got in when many others did not. You came back and did well at a very competitive school. This PROVES you can do well in medicine! You can do it. If you truly love medicine, you can do whatever you are out to do. Best wishes.

 

[dn6603]

Thanks guys it really means a lot to me and sbturnisback i really appreciate your kind words. You are right we need to look ahead because what happened has happened and pondering over what could have been will just make you depressed (which i almost was at a point). Ok more questions, my first semester i was on academic probation and after my 2nd semester i was kicked out of school (which was a top competitive science school) so i went to a local community college as this was my only option. I finished my pre-reqs over there and transferred back to the original school. Would having science courses from a community college make me a less competitive student?

 

[McGillGrad]

Would having science courses from a community college make me a less competitive student?

The most important GPA is the one that encompasses the required prerequisites. The university/college only matters if your CGPA is not high.

 

[asif7083]

Would having science courses from a community college make me a less competitive student?

Did you do all of them there?

 

[dn6603]

Did you do all of them there?

Yea everything except Orgo 1 and 2.

 

[Shah_Patel_PT]

I am in a big dilemma at this point of my life. I messed up my freshman year because of my immaturity and had a GPA of less then 1.0. My last 3 years i've had 4.0's, but my GPA isn't where US medical schools want it and i feel going to a Caribbean Medical School is my only option to become a doctor. But some of my friends advice me against this and say they know people (including relatives) that when to a Caribbean Medical School, got good USMLE scores but still can't find a job. This is bothering me as i know i am smart and responsible enough to do be a good physician but my irresponsibility in my first year got the best of me and this might haunt me the rest of my life. My question is do people who came from a Caribbean Medical School really struggle to find a job compared to their US counterpart?

I can tell you that I saw fresh osteopathic graduates (OBGYN), frantically searching for a job to pay off their loans. THey were laid off at the hospital I did my rotation at.

I have never seen MDs (caribbean) in any sort of job issue.

 

[asif7083]

Yea everything except Orgo 1 and 2.

Really?

Im just planning to take Chem 1 and PHYS 1 at Community college too save some money.

Im not too sure if it matters or not though.

 

[Taus]

I can tell you that I saw fresh osteopathic graduates (OBGYN), frantically searching for a job to pay off their loans. THey were laid off at the hospital I did my rotation at.

I have never seen MDs (caribbean) in any sort of job issue.

dude....for docs to be laid off there had to be some other MAJOR circumstances....but I'm sure the fact that they were DO's made you feel better about yourself....posting anecdotal stories really does help to prove points in SDN land though....

 

[asif7083]

I agree.

Way too anecdotal.

 

[mdh4569]

I am in a big dilemma at this point of my life. I messed up my freshman year because of my immaturity and had a GPA of less then 1.0. My last 3 years i've had 4.0's, but my GPA isn't where US medical schools want it and i feel going to a Caribbean Medical School is my only option to become a doctor. But some of my friends advice me against this and say they know people (including relatives) that when to a Caribbean Medical School, got good USMLE scores but still can't find a job. This is bothering me as i know i am smart and responsible enough to do be a good physician but my irresponsibility in my first year got the best of me and this might haunt me the rest of my life. My question is do people who came from a Caribbean Medical School really struggle to find a job compared to their US counterpart?

if you had 4.0 every year after fresh year and a good mcat there is no reason why you would not have a chance at a US school esp a DO school

I was in a similar situitation although my fresh year was a 2.0

 

[gtleeee]

I can tell you that I saw fresh osteopathic graduates (OBGYN), frantically searching for a job to pay off their loans. THey were laid off at the hospital I did my rotation at.

I have never seen MDs (caribbean) in any sort of job issue.

As a simple search of Patel's posts reveals, he is almost constantly trying to convince himself that his offshore education puts him ahead of D.O. graduates. It is a study in futility. Reminds me of the old adage "Who are you trying to convince, besides yourself.")

 

[Shah_Patel_PT]

As a simple search of Patel's posts reveals, he is almost constantly trying to convince himself that his offshore education puts him ahead of D.O. graduates. It is a study in futility. Reminds me of the old adage "Who are you trying to convince, besides yourself.")

Not really a question of convincing....if you think DO is the way to go...then go that way...I'm just trying to prevent the young premeds from later regret.

And by the way....osteopathic students are ahead of caribbean graduates when it comes to specialties such as PM&R and other primary care oriented fields.

But when it comes to specialties such as cardiology and GI....the ostepaths are rarely seen.

So you keep your adage to yourself. We both have a life ahead to prove ourselves to everyone.

 

[McGillGrad]

I am all for drive-by quips, but the one aimed at you in not fair. Although we do not always agree, I still read your posts because they often have an interesting points or ideas.

Not really a question of convincing....if you think DO is the way to go...then go that way...I'm just trying to prevent the young premeds from later regret.

And by the way....osteopathic students are ahead of caribbean graduates when it comes to specialties such as PM&R and other primary care oriented fields.

But when it comes to specialties such as cardiology and GI....the ostepaths are rarely seen.

So you keep your adage to yourself. We both have a life ahead to prove ourselves to everyone.

 

[Taus]

Not really a question of convincing....if you think DO is the way to go...then go that way...I'm just trying to prevent the young premeds from later regret.

And by the way....osteopathic students are ahead of caribbean graduates when it comes to specialties such as PM&R and other primary care oriented fields.

But when it comes to specialties such as cardiology and GI....the ostepaths are rarely seen.

So you keep your adage to yourself. We both have a life ahead to prove ourselves to everyone.

I don't like debating....and everyone is entitled to their opinion....but w/ DO's only making up 5% of the Physicians in this country....only seeing 5 DO's out of 100 docs in a specialty may seem really low and under-represented....but in actuallity 5 in 100 is a 1:1 representation. By sheer numbers of Doctors produced...there's a ton more IMG's in Internal Medicine then DO's...ie there will more in GI and Cards.

I know I'm not going to convince you of anything here and I'm not trying to. I post mainly to correct mis-information....not to take jabs at others. You are happy w/ the route you took and I am happy w/ the route I took to becoming a Physician, so we obviously have our biases.....but there's a difference b/w being happy w/ your choice and putting down the other options.

 

[Shinken]

Come on people, you HAVE TO get out of this ridiculous mode of thinking this vs that. I know it's entertaining to participate in such useless discussions (and very entertaining to read) but frankly it really is irrelevant.

If you read any state medical board's newsletter, you'll see that the vast majority of physicians getting their licenses revoked are MDs (for reasons ranging from sex, to drugs, to incompetence). Does that mean that MDs are worse than DOs? Of course not! It simply means that there are more MDs than there are DOs.

The same is true for specialties. There are DOs in any specialty. You just don't see as many as MDs. DOs are only 4.76% of the US physician population (if my memory serves).

I've seen Carib MDs in any specialty. At the hospital where I'm rotating at (an allopathic hospital with a training affiliation with OU-COM) the housestaff is all DOs, the attendings (in ALL specialties) are DOs and MDs, and Carib MDs are also well represented at the hospital as well as other hospitals I've been to.

To say that any type of physician (US MD, US DO, FMG) is more prone to having trouble finding a job in the US is absolutely ludicrous. Now, if you have very strict requirements as to the location, salary, hospital, town, etc. you might have some more trouble than someone who is simply "looking for a job," but I've NEVER seen any type of physician unemployed.

Nothing is guaranteed unless you put in the work. The main determinant of whether you succeed or not is not your degree or the place you trained at, but the person staring back at you when you look in the mirror.

 

[gtleeee]

Not really a question of convincing....if you think DO is the way to go...then go that way...I'm just trying to prevent the young premeds from later regret.

And by the way....osteopathic students are ahead of caribbean graduates when it comes to specialties such as PM&R and other primary care oriented fields.

But when it comes to specialties such as cardiology and GI....the ostepaths are rarely seen.

So you keep your adage to yourself. We both have a life ahead to prove ourselves to everyone.

I am somewhat confused? You are trying to "prevent the young premeds from regret." And how is that? By spinning fairy tales about D.O.s being "let go" while Caribbean graduates bask in the position of security their choice has assured them. LOL. That is ridiculous to anyone who has "been around" the medical profession. Neither (as pointed out in posts above) has any trouble with "job security". I made my choice 21 years ago as a D.O. graduate (1985) and have no bone whatsoever to pick with Caribbean grads. I have worked with some outstanding ones. I continue to work with some top notch IMGs today. Without question one of the most outstanding Docs in our ER group is a 1987 SGU grad. It is primarily so that silly comments such as yours about D.O.s will not be taken at face value ( by premeds) that I make my rather infrequent posts on SDN. I bet you would feel better about it all if you stopped trying to make yourself look better by making jabs at the Osteopathic Profession, which is the target of many of your posts on SDN. You are a 4th year student from Ross and thats great. I have plenty of respect for that.