MUA? Maybe?

[strunghighly]

Hi everyone

Just got offered admission to Med. University of the Americas on Nevis (MUA.) I know that it's often hard to get an objective answer to the "is carib school X better than carib school y" question, and that many people say they're more or less equal, but it seems to me that some are more equal than others....So here goes:

My main concern has to do with Y3-4 rotations--I can't seem to find the posts now, but I have a recollection of reading in the not-too-distant past about MUA students who had to basically line up all their rotations themselves. About long waits between rotations (1-3 months) and about how the school repeatedly offered non-greenbook rotations (ie rotations not accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education). Obviously I don't want to spend $30k for pre-clin classes only to spend four years drumming my fingers in some cafe waiting to do a psych rotation. And while I certainly wouldn't be averse to RESEARCHING different spots for rotations, or having a dean or someone say "Well you can go here or here, you decide," I'd rather not spend time making international calls to the US when I should be studying for the USMLE. If anyone here is AT MUA, or is GOING to MUA, or has READ about MUA (and can refer me to the info they found) I would appreciate it!! (I guess rotations are the bete noire of Caribbean schools; I remember reading that Ross had or is having a similar problem.)

*I did go to the MUA website, but while they do have match info and an alumni list, they're decidedly mysterious about the actual rotation locations.

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[JonathanMD]

Hello,

You really want to be asking these questions on the valuemd.com forums:
http://www.valuemd.com/medical-university-americas-mua-nevis/

As far as ranking Caribbean schools, they are generally not created equal at all. To simplify it, they are basically divided into three categories:

I. The Big 4:
St. George's University
Ross University
American University of the Caribbean
Saba University

They are the only schools out of the 30+ that allow graduates in all 50 states as physicians once they complete their programs. SGU and Ross are over 30 years old and have the the largest alumni networks. I've heard some success stories from the other two as well.

II. 2nd Tier Schools
St. Matthew's University
American University of Antigua

There are other schools but I can't list all of them because I really don't know, but I know someone personally who graduated from St. Matthews who is doing great, and I've heard other success stories here and there. They are not approved in all 50 states, they have a much harder time finding rotations & residency, and you'll run into a lot of people who have never heard of these schools and have never met any graduates from these schools. Still, you get out what you make of it. I think it's still possible.

III. Schools that are just out to take your money.
There are some schools that are complete scams. They set up, advertise everywhere, try to grab as many students (and their money) as possible, and eventually get shut down. Threads are made constantly that are titled, "Has anyone ever heard of an alumni from this school???" "So what happened to the inaugural class? What are they doing now? Why doesn't anyone know?" and things like that. Eventually they shut down, relocate, rebrand themselves and start again.

 

[dragonfly99]

I don't know anything about this particular school, but my advice to you is to not go to any school that has significant problems with its 3rd year rotations. This is a MAJOR big deal and should be a deal breaker for you, IMHO.
It would be much better to wait for a different school, either in the US or abroad, or to just do a different health care career in the US (i.e. physical therapy, pharmacy school, PA, etc.). Infinitely better than having a useless degree that cost you >100,000.

 

[ChairmanMao]

Never heard of it. Did you get accepted to any other Carribbean medical schools or American DO schools? What's your MCAT and GPA? If you're competitive for DO schools or the Big 4 Carib schools, you might want to wait an additional year and apply there instead of attending a school which is virtually unknown and may not be accredited in most US states.

 

[RussianJoo]

I think they're a sister school of SABA. I applied there when i was first applying, and the bastards didn't even call email me or call me or anything. no rejection no acceptance. just took my $60 or $90 whatever the application fee was and that was it. This was very surprising to me considering I got into SABA, AUC, ROSS and SGU without any problems.

if you're grades are that low that you have to apply to MUA i suggesting applying AUA and St. Mathwes, they're much better alternatives.

 

[McGillGrad]

AUA would be better choice.

 

[anesthesio]

I know people who have graduated from MUA and currently attend. It is a sister school of SABA and with that said is a reasonably good second tier school. You will not get 50 state approval but as mentioned before you won't get that with any school outside the big 4. It's on the same level as AUA and some, me included, would say better (better Island, slightly cheaper, etc). The physicians I know who have graduated have had no problems with their rotations and consequently none with their residencies. AUA and MUA are both decent so I would apply to both