Ponce Medical school- what its deal?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
W

woodhorse22

Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2006
Messages
338
Reaction score
3
I am applying to medical schools this summer and I found that Ponce Med. school comes under US medical schools but has a very low MCAT requirement. Why is that? Are they very picky? I know Puerto Rico is involved but please explain. thanks.
Members don't see this ad.
 
(removed)
 
Members don't see this ad :)
I think that medical schools outside the US should be a last resort. If you don't get in do a post bac and if you don't get in following that then do the abroad route but don't do it without giving an adequate amount of effort into gettting in in the US
 
TheRealMD said:
It's a Caribbean medical school. You'll have a much harder time finding a desireable US residency, especially if you want to specialize.

My advice is to stick to the US, even if you have to apply again next year. I'm sure other people more eligible than me will tell exactly why Caribbean medical schools aren't the best option.
Click to expand...

PR is a US territory and so it's not a 'caribbean' med school. Ponce and Universidad are LCME accredited and graduands of these two schools have a good shot at any US program provided they have all their ducks lined up in a row.
 
woodhorse22 said:
I am applying to medical schools this summer and I found that Ponce Med. school comes under US medical schools but has a very low MCAT requirement. Why is that? Are they very picky? I know Puerto Rico is involved but please explain. thanks.
Click to expand...

Can you speak (are you fluent in) spanish? Coz spanish is a requirement applying and besides some of their classes could taught in spanish rather than in English.
 
TheRealMD said:
It's a Caribbean medical school. You'll have a much harder time finding a desireable US residency, especially if you want to specialize.

My advice is to stick to the US, even if you have to apply again next year. I'm sure other people more eligible than me will tell exactly why Caribbean medical schools aren't the best option.
Click to expand...

Um no. While PR is in the "caribbean", the phrase "caribbean school" when used on SDN tends to mean the non-LCME accredited offshore MD factories (ie SGU, Ross etc). As others have indicated, the two PR schools in fact aren't considered in that category and will not create the same residency impediments. They are US schools. Reasons the numbers are lower I suspect tend to be that people need to be very fluent in spanish to attend the PR schools, which is a big limiting factor in the number of applications they get to choose from.
 
Ponce and Universidad are meant for native Spanish speakers that are US Citizens. In case you havent noticed, a lot of immigrants to the US solely speak Spanish and graduates of those schools tend to serve those communities.
 
TheRealMD said:
It's a Caribbean medical school. You'll have a much harder time finding a desireable US residency, especially if you want to specialize.

My advice is to stick to the US, even if you have to apply again next year. I'm sure other people more eligible than me will tell exactly why Caribbean medical schools aren't the best option.
Click to expand...

Completely wrong, but said with such confidence.

If you dont know why would you answer, especially as the first responce to the OPs question? I forgot...it's SDN. Continue.
 
TheRealMD said:
It's a Caribbean medical school. You'll have a much harder time finding a desireable US residency, especially if you want to specialize.

My advice is to stick to the US, even if you have to apply again next year. I'm sure other people more eligible than me will tell exactly why Caribbean medical schools aren't the best option.
Click to expand...


I will be applying to Ponce as well. Living in paradise and going to med school, having a few Coronas and Pina Coladas with a hot PR babe/! How good is that?? Anyway, Ponce is a great choice if you have low MCAT's and GPA. You'll need 2 years of Spanish on your transcripts...
 
woodhorse22 said:
I am applying to medical schools this summer and I found that Ponce Med. school comes under US medical schools but has a very low MCAT requirement. Why is that? Are they very picky? I know Puerto Rico is involved but please explain. thanks.
Click to expand...

OK the reason average MCAT scores at Ponce are low is because more than half the entering class at Ponce are PR residents who speak mostly spanish. As an accredited school, Ponce school of medicine (PSM) requires applicants to submit the AMCAS and take the MCAT, which is in English. Now imagine US residents taking a standardized exam which is universally considered dificult in spanish. I am pretty sure that the overall scores would be very low. Keep in mind that while they do scale MCAT scores for PR residents (> 20), they do look for higher scores from US residents (>24), so dont rely on this as your sole criteria for applying.

One problem with most SDN posters is that they base their opinions on that fact alone and dont give a second thought to the social and geographical issues that are important. They try to pass off their opinons as fact, like the first poster tried to do, based on some numbers they read on the MSAR. They somehow correlate MCAT scores with the overall quality of the school wothout doing any research, and in the end do a disservice to themselves (end up looking like misinformed know-it-alls) and those that are genuinely interested in PSM or UCC.

They also state that going to a PR med school is the same as going to a non accredited caribbean med school, which also is not correct. They are considered US medical schools and students who graduate from those schools compete with all other US med students for residency positions. There are many of us on SDN who would be more than happy to answer any questions you might have about PR and its schools. Feel free to post here or PM any of us.

Dr Who
 
Dr Who said:
OK the reason average MCAT scores at Ponce are low is because more than half the entering class at Ponce are PR residents who speak mostly spanish. As an accredited school, Ponce school of medicine (PSM) requires applicants to submit the AMCAS and take the MCAT, which is in English. Now imagine US residents taking a standardized exam which is universally considered dificult in spanish. I am pretty sure that the overall scores would be very low. Keep in mind that while they do scale MCAT scores for PR residents (> 20), they do look for higher scores from US residents (>24), so dont rely on this as your sole criteria for applying.

One problem with most SDN posters is that they base their opinions on that fact alone and dont give a second thought to the social and geographical issues that are important. They try to pass off their opinons as fact, like the first poster tried to do, based on some numbers they read on the MSAR. They somehow correlate MCAT scores with the overall quality of the school wothout doing any research, and in the end do a disservice to themselves (end up looking like misinformed know-it-alls) and those that are genuinely interested in PSM or UCC.

They also state that going to a PR med school is the same as going to a non accredited caribbean med school, which also is not correct. They are considered US medical schools and students who graduate from those schools compete with all other US med students for residency positions. There are many of us on SDN who would be more than happy to answer any questions you might have about PR and its schools. Feel free to post here or PM any of us.

Dr Who
Click to expand...

are you even eligible to apply there if you dont speak spanish? i've been to puerto rico a couple of times but i dont speak a word of spanish.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
questionstoask said:
are you even eligible to apply there if you dont speak spanish? i've been to puerto rico a couple of times but i dont speak a word of spanish.
Click to expand...

There are three accredited schools in PR. The state school is pretty much reserved for island residents or those that have "strong ties" to the island so that school is pretty much not an option. The other two schools prefer that you have at the very least an you can understand spoken spanish and communicate somewhat with spanish speakers. This is important because much of your clinical experiences will be with spanish speakers.
I know of cases where both Ponce and UCC accepted people who spoke very little spanish, but at least understood the language. The first two years you can probably get by with limited spanish, but after two years of total immersion, believe me when I say that you will be very fluent in spanish. I myself spoke very limited spanish, but after a couple of years I speak the language very well. Most people are surprised to learn that spanish is not my native language, so it does have its benefits.
 
Dr Who said:
There are three accredited schools in PR. The state school is pretty much reserved for island residents or those that have "strong ties" to the island so that school is pretty much not an option. The other two schools prefer that you have at the very least an you can understand spoken spanish and communicate somewhat with spanish speakers. This is important because much of your clinical experiences will be with spanish speakers.
I know of cases where both Ponce and UCC accepted people who spoke very little spanish, but at least understood the language. The first two years you can probably get by with limited spanish, but after two years of total immersion, believe me when I say that you will be very fluent in spanish. I myself spoke very limited spanish, but after a couple of years I speak the language very well. Most people are surprised to learn that spanish is not my native language, so it does have its benefits.
Click to expand...

thanks for the reply. this school is not for me though. no spanish whatsoever.
 
UMMMM while this all sounds good the truth is that the MCAT scores are lower as are the gpa's as are the step 1 USMLE scores. Don't fool yourself and think that a bunch of kids from outside the mainland medical schools get great US residencies because it doesn't happen often. Some residency programs refuse to accept any students from such medical schools. If you want to specialize, surgery, etc. you basically don't stand a chance.
Sorry to sound like a Debbie Downer but.... wah wah wah
WAKE FOREST CLASS OF 2011
 
Dr Who said:
OK the reason average MCAT scores at Ponce are low is because more than half the entering class at Ponce are PR residents who speak mostly spanish.
Click to expand...

I'm curious how this affects these students when they apply for residency. Speaking Spanish is certainly an asset, but not speaking English well would be a huge problem for most residency spots. Am I wrong in thinking that?
 
I have been thinking about applying to Ponce too, I assume the 2 yr requirement is just basic/intro Spanish I and II, and intermediate Span I and II....? Does anyone know for sure? I have read in other threads that the vast majority of the classes are in English as are the texts and lecture notes (if provided), but some teachers will use the two languages interchangeably. Those who arrive w/ minimal Spanish are able to speak fluently by the time the clinical years arrive. But does anyone know if one's ability to write in Spanish is necessary? I thought this might be a good school because I want to work in underserved areas (blk/span) and figure it would be very useful by the time I practice. Thoughts?
 
UVABranch said:
I have been thinking about applying to Ponce too, I assume the 2 yr requirement is just basic/intro Spanish I and II, and intermediate Span I and II....? Does anyone know for sure? I have read in other threads that the vast majority of the classes are in English as are the texts and lecture notes (if provided), but some teachers will use the two languages interchangeably. Those who arrive w/ minimal Spanish are able to speak fluently by the time the clinical years arrive. But does anyone know if one's ability to write in Spanish is necessary? I thought this might be a good school because I want to work in underserved areas (blk/span) and figure it would be very useful by the time I practice. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Med school is hard enough without having to learn spanish to understand it. If you aren't already fluent you are probably better off with an english based school. Which is why Ponce etc get many fewer applications than the other LCME accredited schools.
 
UVABranch said:
I have been thinking about applying to Ponce too, I assume the 2 yr requirement is just basic/intro Spanish I and II, and intermediate Span I and II....? Does anyone know for sure? I have read in other threads that the vast majority of the classes are in English as are the texts and lecture notes (if provided), but some teachers will use the two languages interchangeably. Those who arrive w/ minimal Spanish are able to speak fluently by the time the clinical years arrive. But does anyone know if one's ability to write in Spanish is necessary? I thought this might be a good school because I want to work in underserved areas (blk/span) and figure it would be very useful by the time I practice. Thoughts?
Click to expand...


The school states 12 credit hours of spanish....thats it....
www.psm.edu
Hey class of 2012 or 2013 see you at the beach!
 
Dookter said:
I'm curious how this affects these students when they apply for residency. Speaking Spanish is certainly an asset, but not speaking English well would be a huge problem for most residency spots. Am I wrong in thinking that?
Click to expand...

You should understand something about med school in PR. While some lectures are taught in spanish, ALL handouts, powerpoint presentations, books, quizzes, exams, shelf exams and the USMLE are in english. Everything is basically in english except for certain professors that prefer to lecture in spanish.

Most people here are concentrated on spanish but they have to look at the other side of the equation. While english might not be their native language, ALL PR residents who enter med school must have a certain proficiency in english or they will basically not get through the first block. I said that english is not their native language, I never said that they dont speak or read english well.
I am a med student here and I have to say that it is like any other med school. Some students struggle to get by, others are right in the middle of the curve while others would kick ass in any med school in the US. From my experience I havent heard of any students here having problems obtaining residencies in the states. A couple of times a year my school sponsors activities whereby residency programs from the US come to the school and try to "sell" their programs to the students. I went to the last one and it was full of kiosks with residencies from all over the US. So I can honestly say many come here to actively recruit med students.

My school in particular has many combined programs with mainland schools. For those interested in combined MD/ PhD, MD/ Ms, MD/ MPH programs they offer programs with many schools in the US, such as Mayo clinic, Columbia U and other well known schools. They also offer other career tracts such as MD/ JD for those interested in law. For those of you that might not know my school, UPR, actually began as a branch of Columbia University school of medicine in the 40's and 50's. It was then called the school of tropical medicine of Columbia University. This summer a large group in my class are going to do research at MD Anderson, Mayo Clinic, Spain and other places. Next year MD Anderson Cancer center will open a branch right next to the campus.

My point in all this is that while most of you are asking about spanish, med school in PR is so much more than language, beaches or parties. The fact is that if you dont know much spanish it will not be a huge impediment as you will learn it pretty quickly as I did. Island students MUST know english as it would be impossible to succeed in med school without it. Med school is hard for everyone, those that say it is easy are either super human mutants or are lying through their teeth. It does require commitment and sacrifice. For some, learning a new language and experiencing a new culture is a great opportunity, as it was for me, while for others it might seem like a mountain too high to climb. In the end coming to the island to study medicine is not for everybody, so think long and hard about your choices. You will spend at least the next four years of your life in med school and it is important that you go somewhere that you feel comfortable.

Dr Who
 
med school in PR is so much more than language, beaches or parties.
Click to expand...

Yes, you can't forget the Chupacabras...... 😉 :meanie: Sorry.....had to throw that in here.....I will be applying 👍
 
I was just going off of your explanation for the low MCAT scores. I have no idea what the MCAT scores are, so I do not even know how low they are. I just assumed that if the explanation for a school having low MCAT scores is the inability to take a test in English that practicing medicine in English might also pose a problem.....
 
Law2Doc said:
You didn't read the next paragraph where it says: " In addition, the applicant must: * Be completely bilingual in English and Spanish"...
Click to expand...

I would think you would be ok....at least those I know who take 2 years foreign language can hold a conversation....
 
FutureDoctorJ said:
I would think you would be ok....at least those I know who take 2 years foreign language can hold a conversation....
Click to expand...

In my mind holding a conversation in a foreign language isn't necessarilly "completely bilingual". I took more than two years of a foreign language and still wouldn't describe myself as such.
 
Nyu2004 said:
UMMMM while this all sounds good the truth is that the MCAT scores are lower as are the gpa's as are the step 1 USMLE scores. Don't fool yourself and think that a bunch of kids from outside the mainland medical schools get great US residencies because it doesn't happen often. Some residency programs refuse to accept any students from such medical schools. If you want to specialize, surgery, etc. you basically don't stand a chance.
Sorry to sound like a Debbie Downer but.... wah wah wah
WAKE FOREST CLASS OF 2011
Click to expand...

wow, proof that idiots do get into US med schools...
 
I am a fully bilingual (English was my first language though) applicant, and Ponce never contacted me. I sent in my application, verified that they had received it, and never heard another word. I got into a mainland med school and will be attending that school, but I thought it was very odd that they never even bothered to reject me. I guess if your MCAT score is significantly higher than their average score they expect that you will get into a mainland school? I have no idea. But if you do apply make sure you follow up all the time. My 2 cents.
 
GuzzyRon said:
The poster seems to have a point. If you have a problem with that poster's comments give reasons why. Be nice.
Click to expand...

one troll post deserves another...especially since his post was no different from the ones attacking Morehouse, Howard, etc.

and
report.gif
has already been used.
 
SalseraDoctora said:
I am a fully bilingual (English was my first language though) applicant, and Ponce never contacted me. I sent in my application, verified that they had received it, and never heard another word. I got into a mainland med school and will be attending that school, but I thought it was very odd that they never even bothered to reject me. I guess if your MCAT score is significantly higher than their average score they expect that you will get into a mainland school? I have no idea. But if you do apply make sure you follow up all the time. My 2 cents.
Click to expand...

Congrats on the acceptance.
SalseraDoctora does have a point. If you apply to Ponce make sure you follow up on your status.
 
Law2Doc said:
In my mind holding a conversation in a foreign language isn't necessarilly "completely bilingual". I took more than two years of a foreign language and still wouldn't describe myself as such.
Click to expand...

Well, the time to reach fluency greatly relies on the language. Spanish is considered one of, if not THE, easiest language to learn for English speakers. Two years of college-level Spanish and you will be fluent. Two-years of Japanese, Korean, Finnish, etc., you will probably still only be conversational. I only took one semester of Japanese and got an A, but I can barely remember a word of it.
 
Zolar Czakl said:
Well, the time to reach fluency greatly relies on the language. Spanish is considered one of, if not THE, easiest language to learn for English speakers. Two years of college-level Spanish and you will be fluent. Two-years of Japanese, Korean, Finnish, etc., you will probably still only be conversational. I only took one semester of Japanese and got an A, but I can barely remember a word of it.
Click to expand...
Hell, I learned German as a child from my great-grandmother, but I still have problems due to a lack of practice (she died in 1988 and I went several years with no practice at all).....granted, it's enough to get me A's in the classes for my minor though 😉
 
SalseraDoctora said:
I am a fully bilingual (English was my first language though) applicant, and Ponce never contacted me. I sent in my application, verified that they had received it, and never heard another word. I got into a mainland med school and will be attending that school, but I thought it was very odd that they never even bothered to reject me. I guess if your MCAT score is significantly higher than their average score they expect that you will get into a mainland school? I have no idea. But if you do apply make sure you follow up all the time. My 2 cents.
Click to expand...


Maybe the processor at PSM couldnt understand English😀😀
 
Zolar Czakl said:
Well, the time to reach fluency greatly relies on the language. Spanish is considered one of, if not THE, easiest language to learn for English speakers. Two years of college-level Spanish and you will be fluent. Two-years of Japanese, Korean, Finnish, etc., you will probably still only be conversational. I only took one semester of Japanese and got an A, but I can barely remember a word of it.
Click to expand...

I've heard a lot of people say that, but I've never believed it. There are a lot of people in my med school who, by virtue of taking 2-3 years of college level Spanish, claimed to be "fluent." What they meant was they could hold a marginally understandable conversation with someone who spoke standardized Spanish clearly, loudly, somewhat slowly, and without much slang.

Moving those skills onto patient care, however (where most patients talk SUPER fast, mumble, have extremely strong Spanish/Argentinian/Puerto Rican accents, and/or punctuate their sentences with mountains of slang words that are specific to their country of origin) is a different matter.
 
smq123 said:
I've heard a lot of people say that, but I've never believed it. There are a lot of people in my med school who, by virtue of taking 2-3 years of college level Spanish, claimed to be "fluent." What they meant was they could hold a marginally understandable conversation with someone who spoke standardized Spanish clearly, loudly, somewhat slowly, and without much slang.

Moving those skills onto patient care, however (where most patients talk SUPER fast, mumble, have extremely strong Spanish/Argentinian/Puerto Rican accents, and/or punctuate their sentences with mountains of slang words that are specific to their country of origin) is a different matter.
Click to expand...

I grew up in the states (NYC) and barely knew spanish. I basically spoke a few words and phrases and that was it. That was then, now I sudy medicine on the island and I have to say that after a couple of years my spanish is flawless. You have to see the look on the faces of native spanish speakers when they learn that I barely spoke a word of spanish before I got here. My point is that for those that want to learn spanish, perfectly, the best way is to immerse yourself in the language. Here you learn because you have no choice. You arrive on the island and from day one you start learning without even knowing it. I cant say it was a conscious thing, I just learned "without learning".

A friend of mine who is also from NYC decided to go to grad school in Boston, and after a couple of years of living in the city he developed a Boston accent. He didnt even realize it until I pointed it out to him. When you live in a place long enough the local customs, language and mannerisms grow on you. Many people refuse to "integrate" into the local culture and shut themselves from the place. In my med school, which by the way is the state school, there are many professors that just will not speak spanish for whatever reason. They have probably lived on the island decades but still prefer english, which is just fine with me and all of my classmates.

For those of you that might have doubts about the language I say that is the best reason to come here. I garantee that you will come out of here not only an MD, but a fully bilingual one a that. If I did it and hundreds of other current and former med students have done it, then why not many of you? I wouldnt use language as the sole excuse to discard med schools in PR.

By the way, bilingual docs are in demand in most places in the US. That would be a huge plus in any resume if you ask me. But in the end its up to the personal preferences of each person. PR is not for everyone, so if you are considering med school on the island I recommend that you first research and visit the place to get a feel for island life.
 
Dr Who said:
My point is that for those that want to learn spanish, perfectly, the best way is to immerse yourself in the language. Here you learn because you have no choice. You arrive on the island and from day one you start learning without even knowing it. I cant say it was a conscious thing, I just learned "without learning".

By the way, bilingual docs are in demand in most places in the US. That would be a huge plus in any resume if you ask me.
Click to expand...

I agree. I think that 2 years of immersion study would definitely make you fluent (in the true sense of the word) in a language.

But my biggest peeve here at med school (well, one of them) is hearing of cases where the medical student/intern claimed to speak Spanish "fluently" because he/she had taken a few years of classroom Spanish in college, or had spent a few months in Tijuana. Then, when you talk to the patient, it turns out that the patient has NO idea what's wrong with him, isn't really sure why he's in the hospital, and doesn't understand what treatment he's being given or why. Why is the patient so clueless? Because the student/intern vastly overestimated his/her Spanish speaking abilities. (Maybe in an effort to impress the attending - who knows.)

This happened to a friend of mine. She actually DOES speak Spanish very well (she is Caucasian, but speaks with a strong Mexican accent - it always takes people by surprise). On her peds rotation, she met a couple from Venezuela whose 6 month old was comatose (meningitis). As if that wasn't distressing enough, they had been in the hospital for 4 days and they STILL had no idea what was wrong with their kid. It turned out that the resident, who had "studied quite a bit of Spanish in college," spoke it so poorly, and had such a hard time understanding them, that she couldn't communicate effectively. In fact, her Spanish comprehension was so poor, she thought that she HAD communicated well, and didn't bother to call a real translator.

You're right - the US does need more bilingual physicians. Are you planning on coming back to the US to practice? 😉
 
dang, the TheRealMd got owned by so many people at once 😀
 
smq123 said:
I agree. I think that 2 years of immersion study would definitely make you fluent (in the true sense of the word) in a language.

But my biggest peeve here at med school (well, one of them) is hearing of cases where the medical student/intern claimed to speak Spanish "fluently" because he/she had taken a few years of classroom Spanish in college, or had spent a few months in Tijuana. Then, when you talk to the patient, it turns out that the patient has NO idea what's wrong with him, isn't really sure why he's in the hospital, and doesn't understand what treatment he's being given or why. Why is the patient so clueless? Because the student/intern vastly overestimated his/her Spanish speaking abilities. (Maybe in an effort to impress the attending - who knows.)

This happened to a friend of mine. She actually DOES speak Spanish very well (she is Caucasian, but speaks with a strong Mexican accent - it always takes people by surprise). On her peds rotation, she met a couple from Venezuela whose 6 month old was comatose (meningitis). As if that wasn't distressing enough, they had been in the hospital for 4 days and they STILL had no idea what was wrong with their kid. It turned out that the resident, who had "studied quite a bit of Spanish in college," spoke it so poorly, and had such a hard time understanding them, that she couldn't communicate effectively. In fact, her Spanish comprehension was so poor, she thought that she HAD communicated well, and didn't bother to call a real translator.

You're right - the US does need more bilingual physicians. Are you planning on coming back to the US to practice? 😉
Click to expand...


I could not agree more. This is my biggest pet peeve. IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND SPANISH SPOKEN BY NATIVE SPANISH SPEAKERS AND IF THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND YOU then you are not fluent. It is not rocket science.
 
Nyu2004 said:
UMMMM while this all sounds good the truth is that the MCAT scores are lower as are the gpa's as are the step 1 USMLE scores. Don't fool yourself and think that a bunch of kids from outside the mainland medical schools get great US residencies because it doesn't happen often. Some residency programs refuse to accept any students from such medical schools. If you want to specialize, surgery, etc. you basically don't stand a chance.
Sorry to sound like a Debbie Downer but.... wah wah wah
WAKE FOREST CLASS OF 2011
Click to expand...

Sigh. A residency program that would refuse a student simply because they didn't go to a mainland US Allopathic school has serious issues.

Also, aren't you in the postbacc program at Wake rather than the medical school class of 2011?
 
Medikit said:
Sigh. A residency program that would refuse a student simply because they didn't go to a mainland US Allopathic school has serious issues.

Also, aren't you in the postbacc program at Wake rather than the medical school class of 2011?
Click to expand...
😆
 
Actually no, I was waitlisted at Wake and got in last Thursday. Otherwise I was going to do their post bac. And look it up, many medical schools don't except students into their residencies if they don't go to a mainland school. Not saying its fair, but that's how it is.
 
Medikit said:
Also, aren't you in the postbacc program at Wake rather than the medical school class of 2011?
Click to expand...
A great example of the SDN equivalent of smurfing someone..... :meanie: Nicely done.....
 
Nyu2004 said:
Actually no, I was waitlisted at Wake and got in last Thursday. Otherwise I was going to do their post bac. And look it up, many medical schools don't except students into their residencies if they don't go to a mainland school. Not saying its fair, but that's how it is.
Click to expand...

again, apparently the concept of LCME accreditation is completely lost on you...
 
Look it up. Accredidation doesn't matter, some schools refuse to accept students from outside the mainland US medical schools. Again I didn't say that it is fair, but it is a fact. UCLA surgeon residencies are an example. That is why students going abroad should be sure before they go.
 
I know somebody (not Puerto Rican) who went to Ponce and is now doing a residency at Mt. Sinai. Like all US med schools, it doesn't matter really if you go to Ponce or Rosalind Franklin or Stanford or Drexel--what matters is how well you do while you are there.

That said--would it have killed Ponce to send me a note rejecting me? Or acknowledging my existence? I want to work with Latin Americans in the United States when I am physician, so I might actually have gone there over a mainland school had they done me the honor of communicating with me in any way. Siiiigh
 
Nyu2004 said:
Look it up. Accredidation doesn't matter, some schools refuse to accept students from outside the mainland US medical schools. Again I didn't say that it is fair, but it is a fact. UCLA surgeon residencies are an example. That is why students going abroad should be sure before they go.
Click to expand...

you want to post a citation? because the PR schools are essentially the same ballpark as JAB by your definition.
 
Nyu2004 said:
UMMMM while this all sounds good the truth is that the MCAT scores are lower as are the gpa's as are the step 1 USMLE scores. Don't fool yourself and think that a bunch of kids from outside the mainland medical schools get great US residencies because it doesn't happen often. Some residency programs refuse to accept any students from such medical schools. If you want to specialize, surgery, etc. you basically don't stand a chance.
Sorry to sound like a Debbie Downer but.... wah wah wah
WAKE FOREST CLASS OF 2011
Click to expand...

JABSOM in Hawaii is outside the mainland. I've heard that their match list is extremely impressive. They had people match at UCLA, Harvard (for DERM, no less), UW-St. Louis.

Or are you not including Hawaii in your "outside of the mainland" thing?

Ponce is LCME accredited. That's all that really matters.
 
Nyu2004 said:
Look it up. Accredidation doesn't matter, some schools refuse to accept students from outside the mainland US medical schools. Again I didn't say that it is fair, but it is a fact. UCLA surgeon residencies are an example. That is why students going abroad should be sure before they go.
Click to expand...

"Abroad" doesn't just mean "over the water" or "off the continental US." It means going to a country that is outside of the US jurisdiction. Puerto Rico, being LCME accredited doesn't count as "abroad."
 
Nyu2004 said:
Actually no, I was waitlisted at Wake and got in last Thursday. Otherwise I was going to do their post bac. And look it up, many medical schools don't except students into their residencies if they don't go to a mainland school. Not saying its fair, but that's how it is.
Click to expand...

It is difficult to prove that it is actually because they went to that school. You said yourself that the average MCAT is lower. This is due to the test only being offered in English. Based on that I wouldn't be surprised if the USMLE scores are low as well and that's a much more important factor for deciding one's residency.


Also, first off, you applied to Wake's postbacc program but not the med school's program: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=4937142&postcount=40
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=5153573&postcount=1

Second, you claimed to be in Albert Einstein's c/o 2011 when you got into your AMS postbacc: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=5157803&postcount=5

Finally your history shows that you've pretty much posted every acceptance you received so far but you never mentioned your Thursday acceptance.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Lunar_Cr3m3Puff
  • Locked
What made YOU choose your medical school?
Replies
15
Views
2K
GoSpursGo
GoSpursGo
G
Medical School Application Updates?
Replies
6
Views
1K
golfduck23
G
J
Choose your medical school
Replies
1
Views
853
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
M
Medical School as a Paraplegic
Replies
7
Views
1K
gyngyn
gyngyn
F
  • Locked
What kind of school to apply
Replies
4
Views
391
chilly_md
chilly_md
Top