has this ever been done before?

[HussainGQ]

Lets say if next year(Fall of 2005) that I go down to the Carribean. Would that one year help me get into a U.S med school in the Fall of 2006? I know that I cannot transfer, and would have to start over from MS-1 in 06, but is this something that ppl have done over the years? I know that most people would say, "do a post-bac", instead of wasting your time, but even those do not have any guarantees. Then if that post-bac doesn't get me anywhere, I would then go to the Carrib. having wasted a year. Atleast if I do things this way, I would not have wasted the year, because if I do not get in to a U.S school after being in the Carrib for a year, then atleast I am in a medical program allready and can just finish that of.

So, is this something that can be realistically pulled of??

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[iamhot2]

if you have thought about it, someone else have also thought about it long before you were born.

so it is unlikely. if that is a way to go, everyone would be doing it now. have you even heard about someone who has done it? no.

postbac programs vary, and most of them wn't get you anywhere. some people come down to the carib schools with big doctor attitude, but little doctor brain. they don't know how to discipline and how to study, they fail the first semester. some of them are quite persistent, they just transfer to another carib school. island hopping is not the way to be a doctor.

Lets say if next year(Fall of 2005) that I go down to the Carribean. Would that one year help me get into a U.S med school in the Fall of 2006? I know that I cannot transfer, and would have to start over from MS-1 in 06, but is this something that ppl have done over the years? I know that most people would say, "do a post-bac", instead of wasting your time, but even those do not have any guarantees. Then if that post-bac doesn't get me anywhere, I would then go to the Carrib. having wasted a year. Atleast if I do things this way, I would not have wasted the year, because if I do not get in to a U.S school after being in the Carrib for a year, then atleast I am in a medical program allready and can just finish that of.

So, is this something that can be realistically pulled of??

 

[jdub]

if you are planning on going to a caribbean school, you need to plan on following through till you graduate.

the chance of transfering to a us med school is unlikely at best. it can be done, but it does not happen for that many people relatively speaking. also, don't think that you will be surrounded by a bunch of dopes when you go to the caribbean. from what i have experienced, there are a lot of very motivated people who end up in the caribbean.

as far as using a year of medical school in the caribbean to demonstrate your ability as a student . . . it would be considered transfering no matter what, so refer back to the previous point.

if your mcat score is holding you back, take it again. if your gpa is not so hot, take some graduate courses and demonstrate some good grades, volunteer a bit more, try to get into some research. if all esle fails, apply to the caribbean. sgu and ross are at the top of that heap. good luck.

 

[Havelock]

Lets say if next year(Fall of 2005) that I go down to the Carribean. Would that one year help me get into a U.S med school in the Fall of 2006? I know that I cannot transfer, and would have to start over from MS-1 in 06, but is this something that ppl have done over the years? I know that most people would say, "do a post-bac", instead of wasting your time, but even those do not have any guarantees. Then if that post-bac doesn't get me anywhere, I would then go to the Carrib. having wasted a year. Atleast if I do things this way, I would not have wasted the year, because if I do not get in to a U.S school after being in the Carrib for a year, then atleast I am in a medical program allready and can just finish that of.

So, is this something that can be realistically pulled of??

This is an excellent idea if you really do have credentials that are borderline for US med schools. I have some friends who are pursuing this option now. It is an excellent way to show US med schools you can succeed in the curriculum. Also like you pointed out it costs you nothing in the long run if you dont get in to the US school and you can also still try to transfer to a US school after your second and third years are completed at a foreign school.

 

[cutslikeaknife]

As a fourth year student at St. George's, I can tell you of at least 4 people from my class who transferred to state schools after their first or even second year. These individuals did not have to repeat their first year, therefore maintaining their 4 year track.

It IS possible to transfer from St. George's to a US school if you work at it, but I think so many of us actually ENJOY the school that we choose not too. I agree with and love the comment that someone on this thread made about being surrounded with people who work hard and are impressive students (myself being one of them Just because we're not at a US school does not mean all of us are dopes! 34 MCATs, 260+ Step 1 & 2 scores-- yep, we have 'em at my school too...

 

[Dukes]

I'm an SGU student who started aug 2002. I know of two people in my class who got into US schools after completing one year and thus starting over. The people who have a realistic shot of doing this are the ones who really should have gotten into stateside schools to begin with but for whatever reason did not. That being said many people talked about doing this and/or transferring when we began first term. As time goes on you begin to see the reality of the situation. First off, after 1st term down there you will almost definitely have a change of heart and realize that there's no way you'd be willing to repeat any part of medical school. As far as transferring and not losing time, it has gotten a lot harder in recent times if not impossible. US schools are starting to overbook their classes anticipating some attrition and come third year there just aren't any clinical openings. Out of my entire class (250+) there is one person who got a 3rd year slot as far as I know of. So basically, if you go to SGU or any carib school definitely plan on graduating from there. This has been said many times but people don't seem to get the picture clearly enough. I didn't realize this myself until I went through it. Best of luck though.