Hard to get a good residency?

[evoviiigsr]

I was wondering, would it be easier to get competitive residencies, all else held constant, if you go to a less famous U.S. med school like Morehouse OR one of the best Caribbean schools like St. George's? Thanks!

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[Lests55]

Conventional wisdom is that grads of US medical schools fare much better than international grads. The numbers support this.

 

[Tired Pigeon]

US >>> Caribbean

 

[evoviiigsr]

Do you have to be be black to go to a predominantly black school?

 

[bretticus]

Do you have to be be black to go to a predominantly black school?

I'm pretty sure it's "predominant" because non-blacks get in.

 

[SupergreenMnM]

I was wondering, would it be easier to get competitive residencies, all else held constant, if you go to a less famous U.S. med school like Morehouse OR one of the best Caribbean schools like St. George's? Thanks!

Yes. The caribbean school will make you an IMG, i.e. with few exceptions you get the scraps leftover from all the US allo grads.

 

[pennybridge]

Do you have to be be black to go to a predominantly black school?

you either have to be black, want to be black, or got the serious jungle fever...

 

[gsmithers68]

you either have to be black, want to be black, or got the serious jungle fever...

Or be an idiot without a MSAR and apply to Howard as a white middle class west coast californian coming out of san francisco.

 

[Tired]

I was wondering, would it be easier to get competitive residencies, all else held constant, if you go to a less famous U.S. med school like Morehouse OR one of the best Caribbean schools like St. George's? Thanks!

Understand that Caribbean schools are generally looked on as where failed premeds go when they get rejected from all the U.S. schools. Yes yes, I know that a lot of their students will find residencies, can do okay, etc etc. But the fact remains that the moment you enroll in Caribbean school, you immediately set yourself in a hole that is very difficult to climb out of. If you're good, you'll still do okay, but even a mediocre student at a lower-tier U.S. school will have an easier time in the Match than the better Caribbean students.

 

[Gut Shot]

Or be an idiot without a MSAR and apply to Howard as a white middle class west coast californian coming out of san francisco.

I know a very accomplished young pathologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering (not the shabbiest of institutions) who attended Howard, and he's as middle class white as the day is long. He absolutely had to attend med school in DC due to a dying parent, and Howard was the only one to admit him.

 

[learss]

you either have to be black, want to be black, or got the serious jungle fever...

I seriously hope you are joking.

 

[learss]

I was wondering, would it be easier to get competitive residencies, all else held constant, if you go to a less famous U.S. med school like Morehouse OR one of the best Caribbean schools like St. George's? Thanks!

The USMLE pass rates for Morehouse have been around 98% or 99% for the past three years. That is higher than most medical schools in this country.

 

[GuzzyRon]

I seriously hope you are joking.

Hope so too.

 

[Chrissy]

Why is God's name would you go caribbean before applying osteopathic?...especially because you claim residencies are your concern

 

[evoviiigsr]

I don't know if I'll be practicing in the US all my life

 

[Law2Doc]

I was wondering, would it be easier to get competitive residencies, all else held constant, if you go to a less famous U.S. med school like Morehouse OR one of the best Caribbean schools like St. George's? Thanks!

If you plan to practice in the US, your first choice should be to go to school in the US. Caribbean is a harder road. Even the caribbean schools with reportedly good board scores and successful matches have substantially higher attrition than any US school, so you have to factor in that the percentage of the first year class that even gets to apply to residencies is already significantly smaller than its US counterparts. These schools were set up as a cottage industry of "second chance" schools for US students who didn't get in the US, and so they carry that reputation. At the moment, there are more residency slots than US grads though, so a lot of offshore educated folks do get residencies. This may change, as the US schools continue to increase in size and number.

 

[foofish]

I don't know if I'll be practicing in the US all my life

I'd imagine that even abroad an American medical degree would get you farther than a Caribbean degree....unless you're planning on practicing on whichever island you go to school.

 

[pcguy2]

I'd imagine that even abroad an American medical degree would get you farther than a Caribbean degree....unless you're planning on practicing on whichever island you go to school.

Pediatricians of the Caribnean?

 

[Old ortho]

For U. S. med schools' graduates, is it easier to get into good residencies if they go to a higher ranked school (e.g. Mount Sinai) instead of a lower ranked school (e.g. NYMC)?

 

[Robizzle]

For U. S. med schools' graduates, it is easier to get into good residencies if they go to a higher ranked school (e.g. Mount Sinai) instead of a lower ranked school (e.g. NYMC)?

Didn't you already create an entire thread for your question already?

Also, have you taken a look at NYMC's match lists in the previous years? Most kids either match into NYC or Cali programs because that's where most of the class is from. So it's entirely possible.

 

[MDAdam]

What constitutes a "good" residency?

 

[Tired]

What constitutes a "good" residency?

The ones that don't suck.

 

[MDAdam]

The ones that don't suck.

Oh, ok...

maybe US News should rank residencies.
jk

 

[Tired Pigeon]

The ones that don't suck.

 

[Tired]

Oh, ok...

maybe US News should rank residencies.
jk

You actually raise a really good point. What constitutes a "good" residency?

Unlike medical schools, you can't just arrange residency programs in order of best to worst. A residency is "good" if it satisfies your goals for the program. A rural community IM program is great, if that's the kind of training you want to get. Similarly, UCLA is excellent at getting their graduates into competitive fellowships, so if you're going that route, you need to see where people go after graduating. What kinds of cases do you want to see? If you're looking toward critical care, you want a residency with an open ICU. If you're going into surgery, you have to think about the kind of practice you want. Thinking about bariatric surgery? Pick a program with a connection to specialty center. Interested in trauma? Look for an inner city program.

You see where I'm going with this.

It is a hard thing to readjust your thinking, but residency just doesn't operate on the same rules that undergrad and med school does. Prestige, while nice, takes a big back seat to the more practical question of, "Will this program train me to do the things I want to do?" This is practical education, with the intention of preparing you to practice independently.

So really, a "good residency" depends on your goals, not an arbitrary ranking by a crappy news magazine.

 

[notaroche]

I know a very accomplished young pathologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering (not the shabbiest of institutions) who attended Howard, and he's as middle class white as the day is long. He absolutely had to attend med school in DC due to a dying parent, and Howard was the only one to admit him.

Here's a brain twister for ya. Does George Bush care about this white doctor, despite the fact that he graduated from a black school?

 

[gsmithers68]

I know a very accomplished young pathologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering (not the shabbiest of institutions) who attended Howard, and he's as middle class white as the day is long. He absolutely had to attend med school in DC due to a dying parent, and Howard was the only one to admit him.

Hence the west coast comment... but you bring up a good point. I would go to a location if a parent lived there and their health was deteriorating, even Howard. Makes sense.

Here's a brain twister for ya. Does George Bush care about this white doctor, despite the fact that he graduated from a black school?

zing!

 

[Gut Shot]

Here's a brain twister for ya. Does George Bush care about this white doctor, despite the fact that he graduated from a black school?

Only if he's a significant contributor to the party (back in the day that meant hookers and blow).