oldpro said:
This very insulting, and is wrong on a few point's
1. the schools outside the US are Chartered by the countries they are in.
2. The US does not have a accredation body outside the USA.
3. Price? SO what? I'm paying less then the US overall
4. SOme of us do not have a choice in schools
5. If and when we pass the USLME we are equals (goes back to the special olympics comment)
6. If a school is not on the Cali list then you can never practice in Cali, for ever as far as I understand this, there are 4 Caribbean schools and numerous European schools on the list.
7. Asking what are the top 10 schools is a good question since there are 30+ plus out here.
😡 Lets not turn this into a BASH and DASH in the Caribbean forum please
I'm not bashing anything - except for the fact that it's stupid to try to rank the Caribbean med schools.
If you're at the point that you have to go to one, then go to the one that has the most success in matching students in what you're interested in or the most competitive specialties. That's the only possible standard for comparison that makes sense. That, along with going where you'd be happiest.
And you're right - if you go to one of these schools, you'll be labeled as an FMG for residency application purposes, but many state medical bodies have "recognized and approved" certain schools in the Caribbean. If you know that you want to live in a particular state, then going to a school that has been recognized by the State Board isn't such a bad idea. And regarding your point #6, I already said that in my previous post.
And kudos to you for not paying as much as going to a U.S. school - I hope that's not why you chose to go to a Caribbean school.
I don't want to break anyone's spirits here, but other than the "recognition and approval" point I made earlier, no one really cares which Caribbean med school you went to. It's NOT going to be an asset in applying for residencies whether you went to the "best" or "worst" med school in the Caribbean, and it's not going to be something you can claim to make your situation less difficult for you. It's still a stigma that you're going to have to work against in order to convince a residency PD to give you a spot. Sorry to burst your bubble, but getting into a residency here in the U.S. is what makes us "equals", if that's how you want to think about it. Passing the USMLE exams does not, however. It's just a number. You haven't done anything to change your status other than passing a test that may or may not help you get into a residency program.
Research the programs, find out which teaching style you prefer, find out if you can do your last two years in the U.S. or not, find out where their graduates match, and then make your decision. If you don't have options, then clearly go where you got in - this seems beyond obvious.
If your goal is to get your M.D. and match somewhere in the U.S. in a relatively non-competitive specialty, you'll do it. If your goal is to match into a highly competitive specialty in a geographically-attractive part of the country, you've got your work cut out for you, and it's going to take hard work and lots of planning to achieve your goal.
Good luck.
