Is it just me or are some Carribean medical students plain delusional?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
A lot of these Caribbean schools are for profit organizations that will admit almost anyone, including those under-qualified to take on the challenging curriculum and become physicians. They ultimately end up failing a huge percentage of these students out while keeping thousands of their dollars. Many don't have the goal of making every entering student a physician, but only to keep the ones that will most likely pass and make the school (statistically) "look good." Imagine having to drop out 30+ students just to have a match rate in the 80-90s%..

You can call these students hard working or inspirational all you want (and many of them are), but the fact that they chose a med school with such a failure rate, whether it be their own choice or parental pressure, is a completely delusional act.


I can't argue with this at all. Most people simply do not succeed at Carib schools cause they dont have the quality to succeed at any med school at all. period. In this sense some (actually the majority) of Carib students (not residents) are delusional. But those who come, work and earn their way are currently the doctors supplementing America's insufficient physician supply.

Members don't see this ad.
 
Thoughts on the article: Girl, you need help. God speed.

Caribbean (US IMG) student here. Both steps in 250s, applying for Rads. Grateful as heck for my interviews.

Resting on my laurels, feeling confident? Not a chance in hell.

That being said, we all know that going to the Caribbean for med school is a LAST RESORT option. Anyone who says otherwise is exercising that rationalization defense mechanism muscle big time. Get real, guys. Most of us Carib students have some kind of backstory prior to attending med school. For me, it took years to actually get my **** together. By the time I did, my only option was the Caribbean. Straight up, that's what happened.

AMGs worked their butts off in undergrad to get into med school. There is certainly something to be said for having that level of maturity and focus at a young age. I'm not turning my back on my fellow Carib students by noting this. Many US IMGs have been playing catch up with working hard, but it's no substitute for doing it right from the beginning. It is what it is. Much respect to my AMG colleagues.

Most Carib students know what we've gotten ourselves into. These schools gave us a shot at our dream (thank you, Carib school!), but they are for profit organizations. End of story. If we wanna match? Work hard, be thankful and stay humble. Be honest about who you are and where you came from. Ahem, the Caribbean--to those of you who probably already forgot halfway through reading this.

I had to work my little Carib ass off to even dip my pinky toe into Rads, which is a major reach for us. All this just to pray to God that I can match at my top choice program, which has graciously offered me an interview (prayers are welcome from all, thanks). My top choice program is a mid-tier (maybe even low-tier? Idk) University program in a big city that many AMGs would probs be bummed to match into. That's fine with me. I'm realistic and thankful to even have an interview there.

No med student should ever be cocky, but for Carib students this is especially true. At one of my prelim interviews, it was obvious to me that the PD invited me purely out of curiosity. Or as she said, "To see what you're all about." Ugh, but you know what? I'll take it. This is what I signed up for.

I'm a Caribbean student, but I'm not a goddamn idiot.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 37 users
Do let us know how things work out!!

Thoughts on the article: Girl, you need help. God speed.

Caribbean (US IMG) student here. Both steps in 250s, applying for Rads. Grateful as heck for my interviews.

Resting on my laurels, feeling confident? Not a chance in hell.

That being said, we all know that going to the Caribbean for med school is a LAST RESORT option. Anyone who says otherwise is exercising that rationalization defense mechanism muscle big time. Get real, guys. Most of us Carib students have some kind of backstory prior to attending med school. For me, it took years to actually get my **** together. By the time I did, my only option was the Caribbean. Straight up, that's what happened.

AMGs worked their butts off in undergrad to get into med school. There is certainly something to be said for having that level of maturity and focus at a young age. I'm not turning my back on my fellow Carib students by noting this. Many US IMGs have been playing catch up with working hard, but it's no substitute for doing it right from the beginning. It is what it is. Much respect to my AMG colleagues.

Most Carib students know what we've gotten ourselves into. These schools gave us a shot at our dream (thank you, Carib school!), but they are for profit organizations. End of story. If we wanna match? Work hard, be thankful and stay humble. Be honest about who you are and where you came from. Ahem, the Caribbean--to those of you who probably already forgot halfway through reading this.

I had to work my little Carib ass off to even dip my pinky toe into Rads, which is a major reach for us. All this just to pray to God that I can match at my top choice program, which has graciously offered me an interview (prayers are welcome from all, thanks). My top choice program is a mid-tier (maybe even low-tier? Idk) University program in a big city that many AMGs would probs be bummed to match into. That's fine with me. I'm realistic and thankful to even have an interview there.

No med student should ever be cocky, but for Carib students this is especially true. At one of my prelim interviews, it was obvious to me that the PD invited me purely out of curiosity. Or as she said, "To see what you're all about." Ugh, but you know what? I'll take it. This is what I signed up for.

I'm a Caribbean student, but I'm not a goddamn idiot.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 4 users
Members don't see this ad :)
I will, thank you! Hopefully I'll have some good news to share in March.

Good luck to anyone in this thread who is applying this year!
 
Thoughts on the article: Girl, you need help. God speed.

Caribbean (US IMG) student here. Both steps in 250s, applying for Rads. Grateful as heck for my interviews.

Resting on my laurels, feeling confident? Not a chance in hell.

That being said, we all know that going to the Caribbean for med school is a LAST RESORT option. Anyone who says otherwise is exercising that rationalization defense mechanism muscle big time. Get real, guys. Most of us Carib students have some kind of backstory prior to attending med school. For me, it took years to actually get my **** together. By the time I did, my only option was the Caribbean. Straight up, that's what happened.

AMGs worked their butts off in undergrad to get into med school. There is certainly something to be said for having that level of maturity and focus at a young age. I'm not turning my back on my fellow Carib students by noting this. Many US IMGs have been playing catch up with working hard, but it's no substitute for doing it right from the beginning. It is what it is. Much respect to my AMG colleagues.

Most Carib students know what we've gotten ourselves into. These schools gave us a shot at our dream (thank you, Carib school!), but they are for profit organizations. End of story. If we wanna match? Work hard, be thankful and stay humble. Be honest about who you are and where you came from. Ahem, the Caribbean--to those of you who probably already forgot halfway through reading this.

I had to work my little Carib ass off to even dip my pinky toe into Rads, which is a major reach for us. All this just to pray to God that I can match at my top choice program, which has graciously offered me an interview (prayers are welcome from all, thanks). My top choice program is a mid-tier (maybe even low-tier? Idk) University program in a big city that many AMGs would probs be bummed to match into. That's fine with me. I'm realistic and thankful to even have an interview there.

No med student should ever be cocky, but for Carib students this is especially true. At one of my prelim interviews, it was obvious to me that the PD invited me purely out of curiosity. Or as she said, "To see what you're all about." Ugh, but you know what? I'll take it. This is what I signed up for.

I'm a Caribbean student, but I'm not a goddamn idiot.

This is completely out of pure curiosity, but do most of your classmates choose Carib over DO because of the title? Because i imagine a large percentage of those who do well in your class including yourself would have excelled at a DO school and been able to stay in the states.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
This is completely out of pure curiosity, but do most of your classmates choose Carib over DO because of the title? Because i imagine a large percentage of those who do well in your class including yourself would have excelled at a DO school and been able to stay in the states.
curious to know
 
This is completely out of pure curiosity, but do most of your classmates choose Carib over DO because of the title? Because i imagine a large percentage of those who do well in your class including yourself would have excelled at a DO school and been able to stay in the states.

I'm sure that's important to some people. I applied to a few DO schools and was waitlisted at NYCOM. And that was only after writing them a nice letter. I really wanted to go there and was super bummed at the time.

But I ended up meeting my (now) fiancé in the Caribbean, so I like to think that life sometimes takes you where you need to be.

Probs total BS but hey, it made me feel better.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
I'm sure that's important to some people. I applied to a few DO schools and was waitlisted at NYCOM. And that was only after writing them a nice letter. I really wanted to go there and was super bummed at the time.

But I ended up meeting my (now) fiancé in the Caribbean, so I like to think that life sometimes takes you where you need to be.

Probs total BS but hey, it made me feel better.

You have a great attitude and seemed to have worked very hard to get where you are! I think some apply Carib as a last resort like you did, but many do out of ignorance about the odds of finishing/matching, not knowing enough about DO as an option, or getting very bad advice from undergrad pre-med counselors.

Best of luck! Let us know how things turn out
 
I'm sure that's important to some people. I applied to a few DO schools and was waitlisted at NYCOM. And that was only after writing them a nice letter. I really wanted to go there and was super bummed at the time.

But I ended up meeting my (now) fiancé in the Caribbean, so I like to think that life sometimes takes you where you need to be.

Probs total BS but hey, it made me feel better.

Damn thats ridiculous. Someone like you would have done really well there i imagine. Either way im glad things have gone well for you. Goodluck!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Beautiful thing about caribbean is that if ya don't match... you will probably walk out of there with $200K debt AND a gf/wife/significant other.

Not even joking... the last 4 people I know who went offshore have come back with significant others. LOL What do they put in the water over there???
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5 users
Beautiful thing about caribbean is that if ya don't match... you will probably walk out of there with $200K debt AND a gf/wife/significant other.

Not even joking... the last 4 people I know who went offshore have come back with significant others. LOL What do they put in the water over there???

Desperation, longing, and shared adversity? Those are often conducive to the formation of pair bonds.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 18 users
We started a new rotation this week and our school rotates with SGU students at the hospital. As part of the standard process the attending asked all of us what we wanted to go into. Everything seemed natural until one SGU student said they wanted to go into ortho and then another one afterwards said they were interested in urology. It was hard not to have a physical reaction to their answers but surely they must have seen the change on all of the faces of the kids from my med school. Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the match rate for the surgical subspecialities extremely low for Carribean students and that statistically speaking it is very hard for those students to match into something like ortho or uro? I almost felt compelled to pull them aside afterwards and implore them to change their decisions lest they face a very disastrous road ahead. Surely someone from their school must've talked to them about the whole process? Now don't get me wrong. The majority of the Carribean students I've worked with have been pleasant and very realistic about their future. But this isn't the first time something like what I just described has occurred.
I can only say that my observation is that those students who go offshore or the Caribbean--in the old days Guadalajara--then if they are honest "something is wrong in their background" and that is why the traditional US schools rejected them I am certain there are exception to every rule but most of them had "some problem" either it was a low MCAT, a sophomore slump at college of some other defect that caused their rejections. unfortunately most of them can not accept this so they went offshore to "run and end run pass" or circumvent the system " to me they would be better off going into something else
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Members don't see this ad :)
Desperation, longing, and shared adversity? Those are often conducive to the formation of pair bonds.

I can see it.

Also because most of the students that go there are brown and Desi... and mommy and daddy would prefer it for them to find someone that is a nice doctor to get hitched to and kill two birds with one stone.

See this all of the time.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
I agree. I went from angry, to curious, to the sad feeling you get while talking to someone you know might be living under a bridge in a few shorts years...

Late. Just went through his twitter and sadly the confrontation here has not slowed him down. His friends on Seeking Alpha have also seemed to call him out. So sad.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
I can see it.

Also because most of the students that go there are brown and Desi... and mommy and daddy would prefer it for them to find someone that is a nice doctor to get hitched to and kill two birds with one stone.

See this all of the time.

Damn, I did it wrong. Should have gone to the Carib!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3 users
I'm sure that's important to some people. I applied to a few DO schools and was waitlisted at NYCOM. And that was only after writing them a nice letter. I really wanted to go there and was super bummed at the time.

But I ended up meeting my (now) fiancé in the Caribbean, so I like to think that life sometimes takes you where you need to be.

Probs total BS but hey, it made me feel better.

What is this "nice guy" routine you're puting on?!
 
What is this "nice guy" routine you're puting on?!

Not sure what you mean. I'm a girl and I'm a nice person. Is that, like, weird or something to you?

Anyway I wanted to come back and give an update. I matched at my top Rads program! I can hardly believe it, to be honest lol. Yesterday was one of the best days of my life.

Thanks everyone for your kind words in this thread. I wish everyone the best!!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 37 users
Don't tell the DO's. They will be livid.

But congrats on that major feat!!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
Don't tell the DO's. They will be livid.

But congrats on that major feat!!!
Dude the DOs are 100% for PD's picking candidates based off their individual accomplishments, not where their degree is from. I'm sure she matched rads because she's a baller.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 7 users
@NEVERSURRENDERMD

Are you a Nigerian prince who needs us to wire you some money? I got u fam
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3 users
Not sure what you mean. I'm a girl and I'm a nice person. Is that, like, weird or something to you?

Anyway I wanted to come back and give an update. I matched at my top Rads program! I can hardly believe it, to be honest lol. Yesterday was one of the best days of my life.

Thanks everyone for your kind words in this thread. I wish everyone the best!!!

**** yeah, dude. Congrats.
 
I actually read her entire article. God help us
CtIKMYf.jpg



If you feel like stabbing yourself;
Why U.S. Healthcare System Needs More Foreign Medical Grads, As Told By A Millennial Med Student | The Huffington Post
.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
I actually read her entire article. God help us

.

I was actually wondering if it was satire when she called SGU the "Harvard of the Caribbean" and whined about suffering "3rd world" conditions for a few paragraphs. This could be on Gomer Blog, but it would have been better written...
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5 users
Not sure what you mean. I'm a girl and I'm a nice person. Is that, like, weird or something to you?

Anyway I wanted to come back and give an update. I matched at my top Rads program! I can hardly believe it, to be honest lol. Yesterday was one of the best days of my life.

Thanks everyone for your kind words in this thread. I wish everyone the best!!!
Yay! Congrats! I'm not a Carib grad, but I had my share of hardships and ****ups, these last 4 years and I felt I could relate to your post a bit. My top choice would have been a safety for most of my classmates, but just being able to match there was a big deal for me, and something I'm incredibly thankful for. Really happy to see things worked out for you too. You definitely worked your tail off for it. Wish you the best of luck!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Did the wizard of the wards end up matching or will she continue her wizardry in some other profession. Also she was nominated for Forbes under 30 , lol.
 
Did the wizard of the wards end up matching or will she continue her wizardry in some other profession. Also she was nominated for Forbes under 30 , lol.

Wow. Not that I really ever thought about Forbes, but I definitely have no respect for them now.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Since this thread got revived, I went back and re-read. Something else about Angela whatever-her-face is wrote that just doesn't make sense:

6. "I not only proved that women are stronger than men but that we as a species are equipped to be in the same ring and to play on the same field as men."

I never realized women were a separate species from men, now I'm wondering what else I was taught wrong by getting a degree in science instead of english...
 
  • Like
Reactions: 4 users
Since this thread got revived, I went back and re-read. Something else about Angela whatever-her-face is wrote that just doesn't make sense:



I never realized women were a separate species from men, now I'm wondering what else I was taught wrong by getting a degree in science instead of english...
Honestly, the depth of thought and style reminds me of edgy 8th grade essays.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 6 users
Did the wizard of the wards end up matching or will she continue her wizardry in some other profession. Also she was nominated for Forbes under 30 , lol.

no idea... her twitter says "student physician" and LA (and it's too jumbled to make sense, other than she recently followed NEOMED) but her Facebook says London and "Contributor at The Huffington Post"

upload_2017-3-29_17-12-26.png
I'll just leave that there.
 
Additional confirmation the huffington post is a grotesque excuse for journalism.
 
Last edited:
I just want to go on record as saying i have never heard so much dribble from such a group of entitled dinguses in my life. I have 30 years experience as an RN in critical care advance practice my wife and i have raised 4 kids one the oldest of which is a critical care physician here in the US, now it is my turn to go to medical school and at 54 my best and probably only shot is the FMG pathway. so grow up and stop assuming your the brains of the medical community, not all doctors are made right here at home in the old USA.
I was born here, raised here and fought for my country can any of you say the same and hell yes im headed to an island to attend school so one day i can pull your harvard trained ass out of the fire when it comes to patient care.
 
I just want to go on record as saying i have never heard so much dribble from such a group of entitled dinguses in my life. I have 30 years experience as an RN in critical care advance practice my wife and i have raised 4 kids one the oldest of which is a critical care physician here in the US, now it is my turn to go to medical school and at 54 my best and probably only shot is the FMG pathway. so grow up and stop assuming your the brains of the medical community, not all doctors are made right here at home in the old USA.
I was born here, raised here and fought for my country can any of you say the same and hell yes im headed to an island to attend school so one day i can pull your harvard trained ass out of the fire when it comes to patient care.
I wish you the best and I hope you make it through their pipeline. If you don't, it will be a significant burden on your family for years to come. It isn't that we are all necessarily "against" the Carribean but the problem with it is that many kids, unlike yourself, make rash, immature decisions, and decide to just go to the Carribean to attend medical school instead of actually putting in some effort to get accepted in the US. I realize your path is different from most of theres. Thank you for your service.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
I just want to go on record as saying i have never heard so much dribble from such a group of entitled dinguses in my life. I have 30 years experience as an RN in critical care advance practice my wife and i have raised 4 kids one the oldest of which is a critical care physician here in the US, now it is my turn to go to medical school and at 54 my best and probably only shot is the FMG pathway. so grow up and stop assuming your the brains of the medical community, not all doctors are made right here at home in the old USA.
I was born here, raised here and fought for my country can any of you say the same and hell yes im headed to an island to attend school so one day i can pull your harvard trained ass out of the fire when it comes to patient care.
Why not attend an osteopathic program? Much better option.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 4 users

i can pull your harvard trained ass out of the fire when it comes to patient care.

Yeah uh ok. When your finished with your FM or community IM residency at 61 (that's if you don't get caught by the island's terrible attrition rates and actually match) I'm sure we will definitely need you to save our butts because we are all so dumb. Why not go to a DO school? What are your reasons for doing medicine in the first place? That's a lot of debt burden to undertake and out in a family with such a risky path where half don't make it out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5 users
I just want to go on record as saying i have never heard so much dribble from such a group of entitled dinguses in my life. I have 30 years experience as an RN in critical care advance practice my wife and i have raised 4 kids one the oldest of which is a critical care physician here in the US, now it is my turn to go to medical school and at 54 my best and probably only shot is the FMG pathway. so grow up and stop assuming your the brains of the medical community, not all doctors are made right here at home in the old USA.
I was born here, raised here and fought for my country can any of you say the same and hell yes im headed to an island to attend school so one day i can pull your harvard trained ass out of the fire when it comes to patient care.
You've had enough computer for today.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 18 users
Top