puerto rico medical schools

[Member 331305]

...Side by side i wanted to compare the residency match rate and pass rate for the USMLE since it was already obvious that the advantage of PR is that it is accredited but that is only ONE factor to consider...

You need to understand that by the time you are a 4th year medical student, the number of US med school grads will be greater than the number of US residency spots (source). This means that there will be few/zero spots for IMGs to match. The match rates currently advertised by SGU should not be used to predict your chances of matching four to five years from now since the circumstances here in the US are changing so rapidly.

As far as info goes, please everyone try to give the most accurate info as possible...also I think it would be great if people would put their credentials in their posts. This would make it easier to differentiate between valuable responses and ones that are just opinion.

Care to lead by example?

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[Sophocles]

Hackensack is a community hospital no doubt about it. It does not have an attached medical school, it is a community program. Don't care it has University in its name. They only 2 University Programs in New Jersey are UMDNJ-RWJ and UMDNJ-Newark. Yes you are right there are a few IMG's at the Newark locations but NONE at RWJ.

Again anyone that thinks there are pro's and cons of SGU and a LCME accredited medical are quite frankly stupid. This is a no brainier, no debate about it. Try getting a visiting elective at a real university program (need to put this since you think Hackensack is a university progra,) from SGU and your going to have issues. Try it from one of the PR schools and it will fairly simple and you will have options.

Now one last time a University Hospital/Program are places like NYU-Langone medical center, Columbia-NYPD, Cornell-NYP, SUNY Downstate etc. places like Hackensack and Nassau Univsersity Medical Center are COMMUNITY programs. Despite throwing the word University in their names.

You need to understand that by the time you are a 4th year medical student, the number of US med school grads will be greater than the number of US residency spots (source). This means that there will be few/zero spots for IMGs to match. The match rates currently advertised by SGU should not be used to predict your chances of matching four to five years from now since the circumstances here in the US are changing so rapidly.



Care to lead by example?

+1

 

[ReeseC]

I will start attending a PR medical school this summer. As has already been stated - graduating from PR will make getting a residency spot in either the states or PR much easier. As far as education goes - from what I've heard about Carib schools, it sounds like it's largely based on the effort you are willing to put in. No doubt this also applies to all medical schools (including PR), but whether you succeed is dependent on you.

PR does have some weird requirements though, so if you don't have the required Spanish, English, and Math credits - you're not getting in. However, I don't think it is as difficult for non-PR residents to get in as people are saying. I have NO ties to PR and have average/slightly below average MCAT and
GPA for DO programs. I'm as white male as they come (granted, I'm gay... but that doesn't count for anything), speak spanish as a foreign language, and still have managed to get into two of the three private PR schools. I expect to get into 3/3, but have to get a letter explaining why I took advanced bio instead of general bio from my universities registrar. UPR is the only school where you really have no chance of acceptance without ties to PR.

It's unfortunate, but even if SGU's "education" is better than that of the PR schools - you are still better off at a PR school. An SGU MD will just be very expensive letters after your name if you can't get into a residency program.

 

[nysegop]

Just apply osteopathic. US DO schools are easier to get into but still have good job opportunities. MD schools and DO schools are of similar quality. DO schools just have an added class.

 

[Sophocles]

Just apply osteopathic. US DO schools are easier to get into but still have good job opportunities. MD schools and DO schools are of similar quality. DO schools just have an added class.

This is such a loaded statement that can, and probably will, start a huge debate (once again).

I do agree that DO is a great alternative, but the OP should definitely look into the nuances in each path. If you consider what has been said about the future of residency positions to medical graduates, going DO is by far a better option than Caribbean schools.

Whether it's better to go to a DO school versus a PR school is a better debate than the one being addressed in this thread. Anyone have any input?

 

[jackets5]

This is such a loaded statement that can, and probably will, start a huge debate (once again).

I do agree that DO is a great alternative, but the OP should definitely look into the nuances in each path. If you consider what has been said about the future of residency positions to medical graduates, going DO is by far a better option than Caribbean schools.

Whether it's better to go to a DO school versus a PR school is a better debate than the one being addressed in this thread. Anyone have any input?

DO school and a PR MD are both US Medical schools so thats pretty much a coin flip where you want to go and will not affect future licensing, ability to get a residency. But again
US DO >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> St. George or any Caribbean school.

Why the OP is so obsessed with St. George over a LCME-accredited medical school is beyond me. Its borderline stupid with a psych consult needing to be called for the total lack of judgement.

 

[Sophocles]

do school and a pr md are both us medical schools so thats pretty much a coin flip where you want to go and will not affect future licensing, ability to get a residency. But again
us do >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> st. George or any caribbean school.

Why the op is so obsessed with st. George over a lcme-accredited medical school is beyond me. Its borderline stupid with a psych consult needing to be called for the total lack of judgement.

+1

 

[Jose11b]

It's really not that hard to imagine, is it? Think of the attitude some Americans have towards Puerto Rico in general. They don't consider it part of the USA even though it technically is.

In any case, we're getting away from the point. PR >>> Carib

Even if "some Americans" don't consider PR part of the USA (your case) they have to understand PR is a US territory and they also need to stop posting vague and *****ic comments on blogs where there might be educated puertoricans that will put them (you) to shame. PR medical schools are fully LCME accredited and a lot of pre-med students from the states who fail to be admitted on stateside schools tend to make the mistake of applying to PR medical schools thinking their acceptance will be unanimous (big mistake). Truly, only about 7% of non-resident applicants (in the non-resident pool) are accepted. Puerto Rico medical schools; The University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine (Recinto de Ciencias Medicas), Ponce School of Medicine, Universidad Central del Caribe School of Medicine and San Juan Bautista School of Medicine are prestigious medical schools that carry a very exacting selection process and are highly competitive, (Especially Universidad de Puerto Rico SOM). On the other hand we have St. Georges, a nice medical school (Not LCME accredited though) (Big No, No) (Sad face) which is definately intended for those students who are missguided in their career paths. Sadly, for Mrs. Cuba, or Mrs. Sanchez, whatever really, her chances of being accepted in a Puerto Rico medical school are as slim as they might get. With a 3.0 in your BIO degree and a 3.4 in your french degree you COULD be a competitive aplicant for St. Georges and definately competitive for a Mexico or Dominican Rep. school. Good luck on your MCAT and application(s).

References,
AAMC, Pre-Med student, Mom a GP dad a Psych.

 

[Jose11b]

I'm not obsessed with the wrong things I'm simply restating what I was interested in finding out because I'm comparing the two schools. Some people might get strong residencies while others don't. Side by side i wanted to compare the residency match rate and pass rate for the USMLE since it was already obvious that the advantage of PR is that it is accredited but that is only ONE factor to consider. The purpose of the forum is to ask questions, and my response wasnt addressed to you so if you didnt have useful advice you shouldnt have responded. No need to be rude. I have done research and haven't found much since I just started thinking about this yesterday. I asked in case someone was familiar. It isnt like st george or ross or alot of the other caribbean schools which do post their match rate because its a major factor if youre going to go abroad. I also didnt ask anyone to do research for me, I said if they know to let me know where they got the information from. Its not uncommon for people to post stats in a forum and have them be incorrect.
No need to be condescending either, this is a discussion and as far as choosing a medical school for me personally I like to share things with my parents, and i dont think im alone. If PR schools are better then I'm all for going, but I want to have all my facts down. There is not as much information out there for Puerto Rico as there is for the caribbean schools and you cant deny that the 19-21 mcat requirement isn't questionable.

Since it doesn't seem like anyone is very familiar I'll have to call the school because I can't find anything online. If I find out anything Ill post it.

Thanks for your other useful responses.

I don't see how the first paragraph is relevant to what I said and how you contradict what I said in your post. You basically elaborated, if anything and reiterated what I said. If you read what I wrote carefully, I never said that if you only have good stats that you should be a shoe in; rather, if everything else is good, and you have higher stats than their averages that the applicant should have a good chance.

This isn't speculation. This is what I have been told after multiple conversations with the adcoms from these schools.

Also, most of the OOS applicants don't get interviewed due to the fact that they have no ties, haven't taken the required courses, and are not fluent in Spanish. People apply ignorantly to these institutions simply because they are US MD and they have low averages. I highly doubt many 30+ MCAT applicants apply that meet all of the requirements for the school get rejected- but this is just me using common sense. I never said anything relevant to the schools mission, but to insinuate that there are schools that do not care about stats is simply erroneous. All schools care about the aptitude and potential of their candidates to be successful at their schools- which can be correlated with certain aspects of their applications having to do with numerical quantification of their abilities.

I'm not obsessed with the wrong things I'm simply restating what I was interested in finding out because I'm comparing the two schools. Some people might get strong residencies while others don't. Side by side i wanted to compare the residency match rate and pass rate for the USMLE since it was already obvious that the advantage of PR is that it is accredited but that is only ONE factor to consider. The purpose of the forum is to ask questions, and my response wasnt addressed to you so if you didnt have useful advice you shouldnt have responded. No need to be rude. I have done research and haven't found much since I just started thinking about this yesterday. I asked in case someone was familiar. It isnt like st george or ross or alot of the other caribbean schools which do post their match rate because its a major factor if youre going to go abroad. I also didnt ask anyone to do research for me, I said if they know to let me know where they got the information from. Its not uncommon for people to post stats in a forum and have them be incorrect.
No need to be condescending either, this is a discussion and as far as choosing a medical school for me personally I like to share things with my parents, and i dont think im alone. If PR schools are better then I'm all for going, but I want to have all my facts down. There is not as much information out there for Puerto Rico as there is for the caribbean schools and you cant deny that the 19-21 mcat requirement isn't questionable.

Since it doesn't seem like anyone is very familiar I'll have to call the school because I can't find anything online. If I find out anything Ill post it.

Thanks for your other useful responses.

Look, you seem to be pretty confident and are pushing everyones idiot alert buttons with your comments. Please, stop posting like you deserve some extra respect and understand that applying for medical school is not like going to shop at a streetside market in cuba. Applying involves many personal factors that will affect your stay at your med school, nobody is going to know what school suits you best but yourself. Obviously you cant buy a ferrari with $20,000 so stick to caribbean schools or go back to college and step it up.