POST BACC VS. CARIB MED

[maddiehartmann]

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Okay so I am applying to 3 post bacc programs and 2 Caribbean medical schools (my undergrad gpa was garbage due to some factors that are no longer in play). Assuming I get into all of them, what should I actually do? Here's my thinking:

Carib Med School
Pros: Will be done quicker than if I did post bacc, get to live on a caribbean island for two years, smaller classes, good facilities, not too expensive, could prob get a wicked tan Cons: Would have to work my ass off to even be compared to US med school students (aka MURDER my steps & clinicals), will the fact that I went to a sub par med school follow me throughout my entire career? or will my performance in the UMSLEs/clinicals/residency programs outweigh it? Not a ton of people from that school placed into my desired specialty (surgery)

Post Bacc (Temple, Drexel, Upenn)
Pros: I could be in a better medical school and only delay a year, maybe I'll end up better prepared for med school and I'll do better?, get to stay in the city I live in and don't have to deal with the mess of moving out of the country, stay near current friends Cons: Starting career later, still a chance I won't be able to automatically matriculate into the med school if I don't do well enough, its a ****load of work (apparently equivalent to the first year of medical school, so I'll have to do it 2x basically)

 

[SpoiledMilk]

Read @Goro Goro's advice for pre-meds who need reinvention

If those are your only two choices, choose the post-bacc and stay away from the Carib...

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Do not go to the Caribbean. You will be in six-figure debt with less than a 50% chance of practicing medicine in the US. You can get into a US med school from any gpa deficit with enough reinvention. I have a classmate who had a 0.67 gpa in his freshman year. He is going to be a doctor now.

 

[Dares Dareson]

American MD > American DO > Post-bac or delay to beef up resume or graduate degree and then American MD/DO > Caribbean MD

I have great love and respect for my friends from Caribbean schools but these days it is a very risky decision.

 

[willow84]

You're "delaying" yourself by one year. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Put in the work. Do the post-bacc

 

[KP2AZ]

American MD > American DO > Post-bac or delay to beef up resume or graduate degree and then American MD/DO > Caribbean MD

I have great love and respect for my friends from Caribbean schools but these days it is a very risky decision.

This is so true. If you do the post bac you will be better prepared for first year. And that is something you shouldn't overlook

 

[Forever Geebs]

What is your actual cumulative and BCPM GPA? What do the other areas of your application look like such as volunteering, shadowing, research, etc.? Having an understanding of how steep you'll have to climb would be helpful.

Either way, I would certainly invest additional time in repairing/reinventing yourself rather than rushing to a Caribbean medical school. You say that your poor academic performance is behind you, but what have you done to address the issues so they are not repeated? Medical school is unforgiving to those that have poor study habits and the like, and this is exponentially more difficult for those enrolled in Caribbean schools.