If there is a 40-50% attrition rate and then a 60% match rate from a school like SGU, why isn't there a thread on SDN or some other website FILLED with people's horror stories?
I'm trying to find the thousands upon thousands of stories but they seemingly don't exist on the internet. Did the Caribbean schools hire firms like reputation.com to protect what people see?
There is potentially some serious deception occurring by the Caribbean schools, is this illegal?
Oops I mispelled Caribbean in the title
This is exactly why it needs to be difficult to get into Medical School. Some people are deluded into thinking that despite their complete lack of work ethic and/or intelligence that have prohibited them from studying medicine in the US, they can still become a doctor simply because they were extended an admission letter by some school on an island that will let nearly anyone in who has enough money to pay for it. They think admission to medical school means they are handed an MD on a silver platter. Then when these people get there and realize they are living in a developing country without many luxuries they take for granted, and on top of that they are made to actually do a lot of work, a third of them just throw up their arms and drop out.
Another third of Caribbean students will do the bare minimum to pass medical school, just like they did to pass undergrad (which is the exact attitude that held them back from getting into an allo school in the first place). They will graduate from the Caribbean with a 195 on the step I, perhaps after a couple of attempts at it, and a couple mediocre reference letters from clinicians who are willing to write something entirely generic about their entirely unremarkable efforts on the ward. They are then shocked that they don't get into a residency with a track record like that. They will b|tch and complain about how they were tricked into thinking that becoming a doctor was a guarantee, an entitlement even... because after all, they went to medical school! Just coast your way through with the bare minimum of effort and you'll still be handed a guaranteed 200k job at the end of it right?!?
Then the final third of Caribbean students are the ones who will make legitimately good physicians. These are people, who for whatever reason, did not put forth enough effort in undergrad, or were struggling with something in life during the years that matter most, and now it is simply too late to fix it. These are the people who feel genuinely grateful for a second chance at living their version of the American dream, and they make damn sure to make the most of it and not repeat their mistakes. A lot of these people will end up with step scores well above the US average because they are genuinely bright and motivated individuals, who simply didnt know what they wanted to do in life yet, or made mistakes in their past studies that they now genuinely regret. They know they have to bust their ass now to make up for it, as they are already at a disadvantage. Because of IMG status, they may not secure the most prestigious or desirable residencies, but the vast majority of this demographic will attain US residencies, and deservingly so.
Basically, someone's success at a Caribbean school is not entirely a "gamble" and is not left entirely up to chance. It is largely dependent on one's own abilities and efforts. The system is not broken or unfair, it rewards those who work hard and perform highly. It always has and it always will. If they score high, get raving LoRs, and a solid EC they'll most certainly match
somehwere, even if its not a top program or their first choice of specialty. The problem is that such a huge portion of students moving off to study medicine in the Caribbean do not belong in a medical school at all (hence why they were not admitted in the US), and are entirely delusional about their own abilities and the fact that becoming a physician in the US requires much more than just being sent a letter of admission from some Caribbean medical school. Nobody likes to think that they aren't good enough to become a physician, but the harsh reality is that a lot of people really aren't. The tragedy is that there are plenty of institutions out there that are fully aware of this and will continue to take their money, feeding into their delusional fantasies that will ultimately come crashing down in a heap of financial ruin.
