In the US and other such schools, there are many funnels through which one must pass in order to get admitted. These have the cummulative effect of weeding out many students who might or will not do well in med school, and causing a high order end-product. In a very real sense, perhaps a foremost sense, a school's USMLE #s more reflect this funnel factor than the school and its academics itself.
UNIBE, as with many foreign med schools, has lower admission standards. The plus side of this is it means more students get a chance to show their stuff, so to speak--to study their rears off, make the most of their opportunity, and become competent doctors.
But the negative side is that, inevitably, a good number of students WILL NOT show their stuff. Hence, USMLE scores are not so much a reflection of the academic standards of a school as they are the admissions standards of that school. This is very key to understanding any school's USMLE #s.
Perhaps in part b/c of this, UNIBE, in my latest knowledge, does not hold histories regarding USMLE and US grads getting US residencies, likely also b/c of the quite cosmopolitan student body there and b/c the school is still relatively new, i.e., < 10 years old or so.
Still, I do know of US UNIBE grads who have gotten U.S. residencies. For the most part, I understand the basic sciences there are quite good, and the clinicals are what you make of them, in the understanding that you must speak pretty good Spanish, be socially wise, and appropriately aggressive. Because it is the DR, one can do more hands-on stuff during them than in the U.S., which can be a good factor. The grapevine I hear is that US students who are serious and study hard have mostly, if not all of them, passed the USMLEs and gotten a US residency.
Slackers are another matter--and this is where the lower admisisons standards come into play. I have communicated with a UNIBE prof from the US who says these wind up having to learn a lot of material before USMLE time, and are kind of stuck. For their goofing off, they are now paying the piper. For others, the system has done what it was designed to do and funneled them out, only later rather than sooner, the pain of that irregardless.
Serious students and slacker ones. They are part of the edu culture of many, many institutions. One must simply deal with it and not let it effect them negatively. Keep your eyes on the prize, being a doctor, and your nose where it belongs: books.
I suspect part of your frustration with getting info from UNIBE is related to the way the DR and general Lat Am culture in general view things in a more relaxed way, this being neither good nor bad, just different.
One MUST remember that, if they go to UNIBE, they are in the DR. It can be very wise to engulf one's self in the culture there, learn it well, learn Spanish as far as possible (one does better to have or get a head start), and undertake their med school exp within the whole exp. This is opposed to kind of bringing a bubble of the US there and making, subconsciously, everyone sort of revolve around it and you.
People can love the DR. They can also hate it. People can be made better there. They can also be made bitter. As for which, it is foremost in one's approach to the whole exp. I have communicated with one student who did not approach the exp like I am saying, got frustrated, and transferred out to a questionable foreign school. In the process, he had huge transcript problems and could not get them from UNIBE, which required him getting a lawyer. *Important*: I do not know the school's side of this, they may be perfectly justified. I do know, however, of serious classmates of his who right now are PG1s (or PG2s by now), where he in my knowledge is not.
My advise to ANYONE undertaking med school, even if only clinicals, in or amidst a language they are not profficient in is to undertake full-time langauge school for numerous months while immersed in the culture BEFORE enrolling in med school, and not rely only upon the lang classes the school may provide. This step will make thing much easier. There is a good proliferation of lang school situations around the DR. Who can question the worth of a bi-cultural, bilingual physician?
In some cases, one will have to put more into med school than others. In some cases, profs will be less than ideal. In all cases the same textbooks are available to you. In the end, as with anywhere, med school is much what you make of it. I personally hold that UNIBE, or any school inthe DR since they all have the same basic curriculum in the same basic context, can be a good opportunity for those people for whom it is fitted.
I no longer have e-mails of UNIBE grads/students/profs--re-did my computer and they were wiped. Sorry I cannot investigate that for you.
Make sure you put "UNIBE" in numerous search engines and see what turns up.
If you are seriously considering attending, seriously consider a visit to the campus beforehand. If you do this, maybe come back and post your perspective here.
Either way, keep us posted, and best wishes whatever you do and wherever you may go.
