Western/COMP versus Carribean

[calisurfdoc]

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I was wondering if anyone currently at COMP or in the Carribean can provide insights into what helped them make a similar decision. Of course it is the DO vs MD, US vs Carribean, and etc type of debate, but I would really appreciate some honest opinons.

 

[Jinyaoysiu]

If to you, COMP or Carribean schools is even a subject of contemplation, then I'd strongly recommend Carribean schools to you. It has the beaches, clean air, blue skys, and it is a MD degree. Good luck.

 

[LINY]

I would defend staying on US soil if you are considering competitive specialties 🙂

 

[Robz]

If to you, COMP or Carribean schools are even a subject of contemplation, then I'd strongly recommend Carribean schools to you. It has the beaches, clean air, blue skys, and it is a MD degree. Good luck.

Of course you will have to deal with being an IMG/FMG with all the paperwork, hassle, and wondering cause you had to leave the country.

I am pretty sure that Los Angles is known for its beaches and lifestyle. Its way crowded and expensive to live there but the school has its own nitch having been there for a long time. They have some kicking rotations, I often look back and wish i at least interviewed there but I never even applied. Plus your in one of the biggest cities in the world and its incredibly diverse (important in rotational years in the LA hospitals).

I just know there is more to things then Oh...I'll just go carribbean. Not that for some people its a bad choice (for some its great), but if you have a family...I think its bad. There is no quality control standards like there is in the US. A lot of the things you take for granted at your local grocery store are not going to be there. Your in a forgein country and you'll have to adjust to things. Some people go through and are rock stars...others have a hard time. All I am saying is you should count up all the pros and cons before you make a decision. I thought about it for a while and SGU called me and called me. After my first acceptance to a US medical school...I knew I wasn't going out of the country. (I like to see my family and I get cheap plane tickets too here 🙂 )

 

[JMC_MarineCorps]

I was wondering if anyone currently at COMP or in the Carribean can provide insights into what helped them make a similar decision. Of course it is the DO vs MD, US vs Carribean, and etc type of debate, but I would really appreciate some honest opinons.

I would say COMP, that's because I go to COMP and I like it there, but I don't think you'll be doing a whole lot better either way. My pre-med advisor made a solid case against the likes of Ross and the others so I decided US soil was best for me.

Your best bet is to get into a US MD school...other than that flip a coin and forget about it.

 

[FowlersGap]

I would say COMP, that's because I go to COMP and I like it there, but I don't think you'll be doing a whole lot better either way. My pre-med advisor made a solid case against the likes of Ross and the others so I decided US soil was best for me.

Your best bet is to get into a US MD school...other than that flip a coin and forget about it.

i agree; stay in the US;
if you go to the carib be prepared for megafauna, 7-10$ a box for cereal and hurricane season

 

[(nicedream)]

If you want anything competitive, definitely go to COMP.

 

[that dr. jack]

i've never understood why anyone would seriously debate between a DO school and a carribean school.

on one side: third world country, iffy resources and facilities, doing rotations all over the place, discrimination as an FMG. money up the booty for all of it. oh, and no guarantee you'll even get to train or practice here after all that. if that's your thing, cool.

on the other side: having DO after your name, and not being able to train at vandy or some other malignant elitist place i'd never want to be anyways. big deal.

like it has been said before- if you have to have to have MD after your name in order to live, go carribean. but understand that it's not like you can fool people into thinking you went to harvard just because you have those two letters on your business card. likewise, don't fool yourself into thinking it's exactly the same as a US MD, cuz it ain't by a longshot.

 

[Shinken]

I would love it if the medical schools at Harvard, Yale and Johns Hopkins decided to get together and do an experiment. All three med schools would offer 100 seats each in their entering classes to people that applied to allopathic schools but were rejected. The catch is that after they graduate, their diplomas will be DO diplomas issued by KCOM (or PCOM, or whatever DO school they choose). I wonder how many unsuccessful allopathic applicants would take their offer? My guess is not too many (maybe three or four).

Yes, to many people it's not about becoming a physician, it's about the ego.

 

[snuffles04]

dude why is this even a problem?
US med school graduates (DO and MD) get priority over foreign medical graduates when it comes time to getting residencies. And if you ask any doctor working in a hospital today, DOs and MDs get paid the same amount, compete for the same residencies, etc etc etc.... its pretty much all the same nowadays!
So if you want to be stuck with only IM or Peds as your residency options go ahead and go to the Carib. But otherwise COMP is a much cheaper, safer option. I even know people who have given up MD school acceptances to go to COMP instead (because it was better location/family-wise).
Get rid of this DO-prejudice!!!

 

[frank51]

If you want to do family practice or possibly internal medicine go for either Carribean or Mexico, on the other hand if you’re looking at doing surgery, radiology, etc.(granted you’re willing to study very hard) go with the D.O degree.

 

[chocotaco]

from talking to doctors and students in both MD and DO schools, they recommend that staying in US is better than going out of the country.
First of all, it is MUCH harder to come back to the US to get a decent residency spot. As we all know, MDs still get the priority for residency because there are still a lot of people who feel DOs aren't in the same level as MDs so we still gotta deal with that. I heard people coming from foreign medical schools into the U.S. have a very hard time finding a decent residency, because MDs get top choice usually and then DOs. They know that people going out of the country usually went there, because it is easier to get into.
Second, to pass the boards, it is a lot easier to pass from the U.S. because the curriculum is designed to help you with this.
So i recommend you stay in the U.S. and become a DO. Remember, in the end we all do the same thing!

 

[calisurfdoc]

thank you to everyone for the comments... i've been reading almost every single blog related and even semi-related, and COMP here i come unless harvard/hopkins decides to include me w/ some sort of outreach program, j/k.

edit... i actually bumped into a physician who graduated from SGU today, and he actually told me if that if he had to do things again and had the choice, he'd go to western.