Residency in Puerto Rico?

[kdburton]

I know theres a bad stigma about going to Carib med schools, but have any of you US med students considered going there for residency? Are they accredited the same as US residency programs (i.e. programs in Puerto Rico come up in the FREIDA search engine on AMA's website)? I'm pretty far from applying to residency as an M1, but I'm almost positive that once I know what field I want to go into that residency location is going to be a big player in my decision...

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[NotAProgDirector]

Residency in Puerto Rico is equivalent to any training in the US -- i.e. you would still be licensable in any state and would qualify for board certification.

I believe you would need to be fluent in Spanish to function well there, but could be incorrect about that.

 

[Law2Doc]

I know theres a bad stigma about going to Carib med schools,

You ought not lump the PR schools with Caribbean schools in terms of "stigma", hurdles and the like. The two major PR schools are accredited by LCME, the other Caribbean schools aren't. So when folks talk about Caribbean or offshore schools, they aren't including PR. PR counts as a US allo school, not an IMG school.

 

[kdburton]

Thanks for the replies. I'm not fluent in Spanish but, yes, I imagine I'd have to be in order to operate there. Anyone else ever thought about going to PR for residency that might have some insight?

 

[DiveMD]

PM me your questions if you want to know about PR schools and residencies....

 

[Dr Who]

You ought not lump the PR schools with Caribbean schools in terms of "stigma", hurdles and the like. The two major PR schools are accredited by LCME, the other Caribbean schools aren't. So when folks talk about Caribbean or offshore schools, they aren't including PR. PR counts as a US allo school, not an IMG school.

Actually all 4 med schools in PR are fully accredited by the LCME. The residency programs there are also accredited by the LGME, just like any other residency program in the US. Any physician that graduates from med school and/ or a residency program in PR is in the same position as any other US grad. I would strongly advise perfecting your spanish before deciding on PR as almost all your patients speak spanish. If you speak the language reasonably well then there is no better place to polish your spanish.