Puerto Rican Medical Schools

[adamant]

I would recommend applying to the 2 LCMA accredited medical schools in PR. Their names are Ponce and Caribe both take 5-10 out of staters each year and the stats you need to get in are lower than in the U.S. Most of the out of state people have GPA'a around 3.4 and MCAT of 27-30.
From what I can see many people applying to Ross/SGU would be competitive in PR IF you can speak good conversational level Spanish. You don't need to be 100% fluent or anything just able to communicate well. Most of what we do here is in English anyways.
The best part is since the schools are LCME accredited there is no FMG hassle/stigma associated with them. Plus it is way easier to live in PR than in Dominique or Granada.

Any questions I will try to answer as best I can.

Good luck,
Adam

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[naija_pinoy]

hi, i thought there were 3 LCME accredited schools or isn't University of PR still LCME accredited?

hope you don't mind but i've got a couple of questions:

1. what school d'yu attend?

2. how easy is it for IMG's (who are non us citizens or permanent residents) to transfer into the third year at UCC or PMS?

3. how fluent d'yu have to be in spanish? gimme a stiuation, like d'yu have to be able to take a px's history?

4. for #2 do you need to have taken step 1 to be allowed to transfer into the thrid year?

thanks.

 

[Stephen Ewen]

I want to back up that, if one can gain entrance into one of the three LCME PR schools (one other is non-LCME), particularly Caribe or Ponce (listed alphabetically)--this is simply an excellent option that is not generally well-explored by many potential med school applicants.

In my view, the option represents "the best of both worlds," in that one has full LCME accreditation, PLUS the many "softer" benefits that come by doing medical school "abroad." The U of Hawaii SOM is similar.

In my view, the combination of the "hard" and "soft" benefits is simply excellent. People often ask me what I consider "the best" US med schools to attend. I watch many jaws drop when I reply that, for those who will take the right appoach, it is the med schools mentioned above that I think are "the best," according to the criteria of them being; (1), LCME accredited, and; (2) making one "unique" in a measure unlike that which many others have. I specifically forward that I think PR med schools are "the best" by these criterion.

My feelings in this extends to many of the low-paying (though ok when considered from the standards from within) FP residencies that can be obtained in PR, since these offer an exposure to pathologies not as widely found in the U.S. mainland coupled with the need for both overall breadth and depth in learning the needed skills to treat them, as well as ones more common. The interested researcher can easily discover these residencies.

This all, of course, presupposes that one actually partakes deeply of the given culture(s) involved during their tenure. Without this factor the "asset" of PR med schools can be turned into a mild to moderate "liability," when compared against more "traditional" or even "elite" approaches. But I think this all is sufficient for one to understand why, in this perspective, I hold PR med schools to be "the best" "U.S." med schools.

 

[jms2002]

I assume PR schools are not part of AMCAS application process. Is this correct? Are classes taught in english at any of these schools? Is U of Hawaii SOM part of AMCAS?

 

[adamant]

Actually you do apply through AMCAS to the Puerto Rican medical schools just like you would to a school on the mainland. I don't know anything about the Hawaii SOM but the schools in PR are definitely more laid back and friendly places than you would find in the U.S. That said I don't feel that the educational level is significantly different from any other U.S. medical school. At Ponce we have many excellent faculty memebers form the U.S., Europe and from PR of course. Most of the professors do lecture in Spanish however ALL books, handouts, tests, quizzes, labs etc a 100% in English.
They do take transfers into 3rd year, mostly from Univ of Guadalajara in MExico but also from Ross. You have to have a good passing on score on Step 1 at least 215 I would say and have conversational level Spanish.

Let me know if you have any other questions,

Adam

 

[Skip Intro]

Funny... we just had four students that transferred from the "non-accredited" medical school in PR to Ross last semester, three of whom became part of my class.

All else aside, I agree with comments thus far.

 

[Peeshee]

Why is it that a lot of Puerto Ricans go outside of Puerto Rico for medical school (especially to Mexico)? I would think they would be given preference over mainland Americans. Is it just that their scores are lower and their statistics not as good? I would also think that they would try to transfer back to Puerto Rico if they have passed the USMLE bec. from what I have heard, many of them are not happy in a foreign country bec. the living standards are not as high as in the majority of Puerto Rico.

 

[Bevo]

it was my understanding that you had to be fluent in spanish for the PR schools

 

[adamant]

It is true that many students from PR go to Mexico or the Dominican Republic for Medical school. In order to be accepted to the 3 LCME accredited schools they must have at least a 20 on the MCAT AND be nearly fluent in English in addition to all the usual pre-med requirements.
Ponce and Caribe do favor in state residents but both accept 5-10 out of state students as well each year. They are looking for people with GPA =>3.3 and MCAT=>27.

As far as being fluent in Spanish it does help but really all that you need is good converstational level Spanish. There are students at Ponce that barely speak Spanish and they are doing very well. Although most of the professors lecture in Spanish they always give handouts or overheads in English. All the tests, labs, notes, books etc are 100% in English. Most of my classmates are also very fluent in English.

There is 1 non-accredited school here as well called San Juan Bautista but it is only for people who only want to practice medicine in PR. I don;t believe the graduates from that school can qualify for U.S. residencies.

 

[Stephen Ewen]

I understand that interviewees are typicaly asked a few questions in Spanish to see if they have coversational-level Spanish skills. But I also know a doc who went to Ponce and still hardly speaks a lick.