Recent Caribbean Medical Grads: Was it worth it?

[neolium]

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Hi guys,

I don't know to much about Caribbean Medical Schools. I know a lot of Caribbean medical who graduated 10-15 years ago and are doing fine. What is the case like now? Are Caribbean Med grads able to practice in the U.S.A? Is an MD an MD? I'm actually interested in DO. Why did you guys chose Caribbean over DO? Any limitations to a IMG graduate? I am trying to start a respectful conversation, since I don't know to much about Caribbean medical schools. Thanks for your honest input!

 

[neolium]

oh by the way, I'm asking as a USA citizen applying Caribbean Medical school.

 

[McGillGrad]

Recent grads are busy working their tails off in residency, so you probably won't get a reply from them.

 

[lobelsteve]

SGU 2000
UVA IM prelim 2001
EVMS PMR 2001-2004
Emory Pain 2005

Private practice.

No issues, all good.

 

[Meatwad]

SGU 2000
UVA IM prelim 2001
EVMS PMR 2001-2004
Emory Pain 2005

Private practice.

No issues, all good.

Except the impending doom of Hilary Clinton's reign of physician-terror that may be on the horizon. But, of course, that will affect all MDs and DOs, regardless of where they went to school.

 

[oldpro]

Except the impending doom of Hilary Clinton's reign of physician-terror that may be on the horizon. But, of course, that will affect all MDs and DOs, regardless of where they went to school.

Will it be "Dr. MEATWAD"? LOL I wanna be there for that.😀

 

[JoeNamaMD]

Meatwad is too negative, the demand for physician services will only increase in the US, with an aging population as well as increased obesity in the US, I don't see the demand for health care professionals decreasing any time in the near future.

Universal healthcare is good in my opinion, every other industrialized nation has it, why not the US?

The only issue with going to a foreign medical school is that it will be more difficult to get into a competitive residency compared to US graduates.

 

[AlleghenyPOD]

Doesn't matter. There is a LACKING of doctors in the 'states. Period. We're actually importing foreign medical graduates from abroad to barely satisfy our deficit in the medical community. In the nursing area alone, the US is in need of 2 million nurses to properly augment the health industry.

Why should there be any bias against American Citizens attended an off-shore carib school, who are trained in AMERICAN clinical settings?? The only difference is that the first two years (basic sciences) are taught in the island of choice, however, clinical sciences are didactic in green hospitals in the United States

As for universal health care, it wont work. Can't work. Not for a country like the US. There are over 300 million Americans; nations that have socialized health care have a population of less than 100 million. And none of them are as advanced as the American medical industry.

I mean, think about it. Why are they dying to immigrate to our USA to work as a physician? lol

Use your logic. 🙄

 

[McGillGrad]

Both of the posters above have it partially right. There is a lack of primary care physicians in the US (especially in non-urban settings), but there is an overabundance of specialists, in general, and especially in urban areas around metropolitan areas.

That means that if you want to be a primary care physician in an underserved area then you will be chased around the block with offers. Otherwise, it will be more difficult to find a specialty in a big city as a Carib grad versus an American grad.

As for universal healthcare, it has been proven through numerous studies that universal healthcare works best in homogeneous nations with moderate-to-low populations because people do not mind paying high taxes when it is going to people just like them.


The US is too heterogeneous and highly populated to successfully implement European-style universal healthcare. The best option would be universal healthcare for children under 16 in order to prevent long-term diseases (diabetes, obesity, repairable birth defects...etc) that would otherwise drain the system and their wallets in the future. Universal healthcare as a preventative tool for children will save money in the future.

 

[AlleghenyPOD]

LOL. Okay im going to use a personal example on this one to back up what McG reiterated.

I have a good friend who graduated form the University of Santo Tomas School of Medicine (one of the best medical schools in Asia-Pacific by the way). He immigrated to the Dominion of Canada back in the early 1990s as part of the 'brain drain effect' of the Philippines--and settled in Toronto, Canada. Worked as a general Internist (tho he was trained as a General Surgeon in the Philippines). His wife was recently given a green card to work in the United States as a nurse (she was a Trauma RN in Toronto), and he followed his wife and now practices as Internist here in the States. He's a close friend of the family. His view? He gets paid more in the 'states; makes about ~250 k a year, compared to what he made in canada for the same job (which was a fraction to what he makes in the states). And oh btw, Canada does abides by a 'universal health care' system.

Says alot about your system, when your own doctors are migrating to greener pastures in the US.

Says alot about OUR medical system. Keep it the way it is!

 

[Meatwad]

Meatwad is too negative, the demand for physician services will only increase in the US, with an aging population as well as increased obesity in the US, I don't see the demand for health care professionals decreasing any time in the near future.

Universal healthcare is good in my opinion, every other industrialized nation has it, why not the US?

The only issue with going to a foreign medical school is that it will be more difficult to get into a competitive residency compared to US graduates.

Uhh, what? Where did I post anything that disagrees with that? My post didn't imply anything about the need for doctors. I only mentioned the conditions under which doctors will be working.

McGillGrad said all that needs to be said on the issue of universal healthcare, in my eyes. The end.

 

[JoeNamaMD]

Both of the posters above have it partially right. There is a lack of primary care physicians in the US (especially in non-urban settings), but there is an overabundance of specialists, in general, and especially in urban areas around metropolitan areas.

That means that if you want to be a primary care physician in an underserved area then you will be chased around the block with offers. Otherwise, it will be more difficult to find a specialty in a big city as a Carib grad versus an American grad.

As for universal healthcare, it has been proven through numerous studies that universal healthcare works best in homogeneous nations with moderate-to-low populations because people do not mind paying high taxes when it is going to people just like them.


The US is too heterogeneous and highly populated to successfully implement European-style universal healthcare. The best option would be universal healthcare for children under 16 in order to prevent long-term diseases (diabetes, obesity, repairable birth defects...etc) that would otherwise drain the system and their wallets in the future. Universal healthcare as a preventative tool for children will save money in the future.

Please explain Australia and Canada. Both countries are multicultural and have socialized healthcare schemes. The problem that the USA faces these days, is that it is not as competitive in the global economy today as it was in the past. The USA could afford to have privatized medicine because the free market worked well enough to allow for robust economic growth. The USA is losing economic ground to Europe(the Dollar is constantly losing ground to the Euro), China, and India. A social system might be better used to promote social stability in the US, the Europeans developed these systems post ww2 when they were completely dominated by the US.

I have lived in Europe, these days, its very difficult to consider Europe heterogeneous, the EU is becoming a popular destination for immigrants from the Middle East, Africa, former Soviet bloc, and Asia. Post 9-11 USA has all but shut its doors.

 

[AlleghenyPOD]

Uhh, what? Where did I post anything that disagrees with that? My post didn't imply anything about the need for doctors. I only mentioned the conditions under which doctors will be working.

McGillGrad said all that needs to be said on the issue of universal healthcare, in my eyes. The end.

I concur. 👍

 

[McGillGrad]

I'm from Canada (29 million people) and saw the miserable failure of the universal healthcare system every day. It is impossible to find a general practitioner, which makes it impossible to see a specialist, since a GP must refer you. Until very recently, there has not been a pay-for-service system available, so everything goes through your GP. Waiting times in emergency rooms are unacceptable all over the country. They are the worst in the places with the highest taxes (Quebec and the Maritimes). Elective surgery such as hip replacement, knee surgery etc have waiting times from 6 months to a year. Canadian women have to travel to the US to get treatment for premature babies.

Higher taxes and increases socialization of services only complicates matters. Money should be spent on education...that is where we are losing our edge, not healthcare.

Next time you talk, do some research or shut your ignorant mouth.

Please explain Australia and Canada. Both countries are multicultural and have socialized healthcare schemes. The problem that the USA faces these days, is that it is not as competitive in the global economy today as it was in the past. The USA could afford to have privatized medicine because the free market worked well enough to allow for robust economic growth. The USA is losing economic ground to Europe(the Dollar is constantly losing ground to the Euro), China, and India. A social system might be better used to promote social stability in the US, the Europeans developed these systems post ww2 when they were completely dominated by the US.

 

[McGillGrad]

I have lived in Europe, these days, its very difficult to consider Europe heterogeneous, the EU is becoming a popular destination for immigrants from the Middle East, Africa, former Soviet bloc, and Asia. Post 9-11 USA has all but shut its doors.

I have lived in Europe, too. Even the most heterogenous countries still maintain 90%+ local populations (Germnay, France etc). Don't judge a country by large cities such as Paris and Berlin. The majority of immigrants live in one or two large cities.

Try doing research before looking like a tool again.

 

[AlleghenyPOD]

hahaha. Good job keeping him in check McG.

 

[oldpro]

Looks like the AMA is embracing Universal Health Care no matter what we say so it may be here soon in one form or another.

August 24, 2007
American Medical Association Stumps for Universal Health Care

The American Medical Association on Thursday launched "Voice for the Uninsured," a three-year, multimillion-dollar advertising campaign intended to influence the health care debate in the 2008 election and promote its plan for providing health coverage for the uninsured, the Los Angeles Times reports (Lauer, Los Angeles Times, 8/24).

AMA's proposal includes the use of tax credits to help individuals purchase health insurance, and the group supports increasing federal funds to expand government health programs, such as SCHIP (Tanner, AP/Houston Chronicle, 8/23).

The campaign will promote AMA's health care plan in three stages. In the first stage, AMA this year will spend $5 million to advertise in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, which all have early primaries, and in Washington, D.C. The ads will appear in radio, television and print, as well as on billboards, prescription bags at pharmacies and placards on mass transit, according to the Times.

"These early states are going to be the first people to cast their vote for who goes to office next year," Nancy Nielsen, AMA president-elect, said.

In the second stage, which will occur in 2008, the ad campaign will extend nationwide. During the final stage, AMA will lobby Congress to pass health care reform legislation by the end of 2009.

Nielsen said, "We want to make sure when voters go into the voting booths ... they will keep the issue of the uninsured in their minds."

The association does not endorse candidates or provide contributions; instead, it encourages candidates from both political parties to incorporate AMA's ideas into their health care platforms rather than support a single-payer system (Los Angeles Times, 8/24).

 

[McGillGrad]

You are confusing universal healthcare with basic healthcare. The AMA is trying to protect private healthcare by removing its most damaging side-effect, the legions of working poor stuck in healthcare limbo. In short, the responsibility of the gov't will be extended beyond the strict parameters Medicaid with a system similar to what Massachusetts implemented under Romney. Pay what you can afford and the gov't will help out with the rest.

Looks like the AMA is embracing Universal Health Care no matter what we say so it may be here soon in one form or another.

 

[oldpro]

You are confusing universal healthcare with basic healthcare. The AMA is trying to protect private healthcare by removing its most damaging side-effect, the legions of working poor stuck in healthcare limbo. In short, the responsibility of the gov't will be extended beyond the strict parameters Medicaid with a system similar to what Massachusetts implemented under Romney. Pay what you can afford and the gov't will help out with the rest.

True but thats not what the new Democratic President will do nor the Congress, and you know the US will have the Democrats in power after this mess we have.

 

[McGillGrad]

True but thats not what the new Democratic President will do nor the Congress, and you know the US will have the Democrats in power after this mess we have.

Interest groups rule the US, not political parties. Luckily at least one of those groups is on our side...big insurance and the medical industry.

BTW- Ron Paul in 2008!