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To answer the OP's question: here are the pros and cons of going the Carribean route
PROS
1. MD title- for whatever it's worth, you will be an MD when it's all said and done while DO's will forever be DO's.
2. Certain hospitals in New York City and the north east may favor Carribean grads particularly SGU grads over DO's
CONS
1. Red tape, red tape and more red tape. You will endure a ton of headache and bureacracy as an IMG. States like Texas and California will give you a very hard time.
2. Poor Living Conditions- Living in the Carribean is not living in the Bahamas or Hawaii. You are living in third world conditions. It's another burden you will have to deal with in addition to large volume of studying that all medical students are responsible for. It can be very frustrating to lose power for 3 days when you are cramming for finals. Basic comforts of life will be denied to you. It's not that you can't handle it but it's one more nuisance you have to deal with in addition to all the studying.
3. Unstructured Clinical Rotations - unlike US grads, you will be traveling during your clincial rotation period. One month here; one month there. After a while, it can be expensive as hell. And I hope you like New York or Michigan because that's where you will be doing your rotations during 3rd year for the most part. Unlike U.S. grads, you will have very little say where you do your rotations particularly third year. And the best rotation sites are usually reserved for the best students of the school. And these hospitals you rotate at aren't exactly in the nicest areas or have the best reputations to put it politely.
4. You are the lowest person on the totem in most PD's eyes. The hierarchy goes MD - DO - FMG/IMG. There are exceptions, particularly on the east coast but in the rest of the country particularly the west coast, you will be seen as third tier. DO's not only have access to their own osteopathic residencies, they have access to the allopathic ones as well. And only DO's can apply for their osteopathic versions so it's much easier specializing as DO then as foreign MD.
5. You must have higher USMLE scores than US grads to be competitive- as an IMG, it's practically a REQUIREMENT that you have better than average board scores to be competitive. That is why the foreign graduates spend 6 months at Kaplan prepping for Step I because they absolutely must have higher board scores than their U.S. counterparts to be competitive.
6. COST - for all the traveling you will do in addition to the quarterly tuition rates etc, the cost of attending a foreign medical school can be astronomical
BOTTOMLINE: If you deal with all of these incoveniences, then do the Carribean route because you will be an MD in the end.
PROS
1. MD title- for whatever it's worth, you will be an MD when it's all said and done while DO's will forever be DO's.
2. Certain hospitals in New York City and the north east may favor Carribean grads particularly SGU grads over DO's
CONS
1. Red tape, red tape and more red tape. You will endure a ton of headache and bureacracy as an IMG. States like Texas and California will give you a very hard time.
2. Poor Living Conditions- Living in the Carribean is not living in the Bahamas or Hawaii. You are living in third world conditions. It's another burden you will have to deal with in addition to large volume of studying that all medical students are responsible for. It can be very frustrating to lose power for 3 days when you are cramming for finals. Basic comforts of life will be denied to you. It's not that you can't handle it but it's one more nuisance you have to deal with in addition to all the studying.
3. Unstructured Clinical Rotations - unlike US grads, you will be traveling during your clincial rotation period. One month here; one month there. After a while, it can be expensive as hell. And I hope you like New York or Michigan because that's where you will be doing your rotations during 3rd year for the most part. Unlike U.S. grads, you will have very little say where you do your rotations particularly third year. And the best rotation sites are usually reserved for the best students of the school. And these hospitals you rotate at aren't exactly in the nicest areas or have the best reputations to put it politely.
4. You are the lowest person on the totem in most PD's eyes. The hierarchy goes MD - DO - FMG/IMG. There are exceptions, particularly on the east coast but in the rest of the country particularly the west coast, you will be seen as third tier. DO's not only have access to their own osteopathic residencies, they have access to the allopathic ones as well. And only DO's can apply for their osteopathic versions so it's much easier specializing as DO then as foreign MD.
5. You must have higher USMLE scores than US grads to be competitive- as an IMG, it's practically a REQUIREMENT that you have better than average board scores to be competitive. That is why the foreign graduates spend 6 months at Kaplan prepping for Step I because they absolutely must have higher board scores than their U.S. counterparts to be competitive.
6. COST - for all the traveling you will do in addition to the quarterly tuition rates etc, the cost of attending a foreign medical school can be astronomical
BOTTOMLINE: If you deal with all of these incoveniences, then do the Carribean route because you will be an MD in the end.