Which is the best Caribbean Medical School?

[gyngyn]

PDs indeed know this, which is why it's still such a gamble. A student like this is fairly likely to graduate, at which point it's a 50-50 chance that they'll match. With great grades, stellar test scores, and excellent LORs the odds of winding up in that matching 50 percent increase.

A high Step score and good grades only increase the odds that the reason for the Caribbean "choice" was exclusion criteria at an on-shore school (IA, arrest record...).

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

A high Step score and good grades only increases the odds that the reason for the Caribbean "choice" was exclusion criteria at an on-shore school (IA, arrest record...).

Quite possible. The stellar grades and scores can't hurt the Carib grad compared to someone with mediocre scores, though, can they?

 

[gyngyn]

Quite possible. The stellar grades and scores can't hurt the Carib grad compared to someone with mediocre scores, though, can they?

It all depends on the situation.
A canny PD can sniff out the real reason for a Carib matriculation without too much effort.
Some PD's are so desperate they need to take the risk, though.

 

[deleted859689]

Hi . I would suggest Texila American university in Guyana is one of the best medical school.I have seen good reviews from the students for that college.check out their website to know more details

Dang, I'm sold (sarcasm).

 

[DrStephenStrange]

Hi . I would suggest Texila American university in Guyana is one of the best medical school.I have seen good reviews from the students for that college.check out their website to know more details

Are you kidding me? Seriously? For real? This can't be for real, right? Please, tell me I'm not dreaming because it's like 3 in the morning right now, so I must be still sleepy. Let me go back to sleep. Maybe, I'll wake up and find out that I was actually dreaming.

Sent from my SM-G973U using SDN mobile

 

[JoaoMoutinho]

Hi . I would suggest Texila American university in Guyana is one of the best medical school.I have seen good reviews from the students for that college.check out their website to know more details

I was hoping for a rickroll. I am now disappointed.

 

[Select All That Apply]

@BlackMathMajor For clarification, match application for Caribbean graduates is a bit more nuanced than the slight above/below 50% trend that Gonnif gave in his statistics. There are many "Caribbean friendly" residencies in NY for instance that students apply and aim for which tend to represent a significant baseline for those who are able to match. However, the competition for these limited spots is incredibly fierce as students are aware that residency spots are a premium as no other rotation sites will give them the same opportunity. Keep in mind that students have felt that these spots are so competitive when it comes to applicants applying that many times they feel like it is an advantage in averages only and not really all that friendly to the individual applicant. On the other side of the coin, program directors from programs that are not drinking the Jamba Juice are less incentivized and less likely to pick a Caribbean graduate over a DO/MD which means that these applicants are less likely to get into these sites especially with specialties becoming more competitive over time.

Ultimately, a lot of this comes down to whether you want to accrue burden from the beginning or at the end. A couple of years ago, the recommendation was that Caribbean students apply for 100 residency programs. This even includes inclusive fields like FM. If you take into account the cost and energy needed to actually get the training you need after graduaton, those resources would have been better appropriated during undergrad, when taking the MCAT, or even doing a post-bac. The fact that you need to put out 2 years in a starved learning environment in classes of 600 people with so many living bodies that there aren't even enough dead bodies to go around speaks volumes that the Caribbean schools do not give a **** about giving you a chance to be a doctor and are interested in collecting tuition to gain capital/influence. There is a reason why schools like Ross brag about state-of-the-art "digital anatomy lab" because putting anatomy lab on a USB is a more affordable option when willing students are so desperate that they would sign up to be the cadavers if it means they can be in a medical school.

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

Still sounds like a $300,000 gamble to me.

 

[lilixi98888]

St. James at Bonaire? Doesn’t even exist anymore?
Not sure how these schools work.

Picking which Caribbean medical school is best for your career is kind of like ranking which of your organs you would rather have a cancerous mass in (assuming that you were definitely going to have a tumor somewhere).

SGU is a decent school, my cousin went there and is now a surgeon and I have two colleagues in Ross and AUC who are doing well (OBgyn and internal). What terrifies me is the claim that AUA is a top school. I did not want to do the MCAT and was looking a my options there. Beware!!!!!!! I and 80% of the class failed the first semester. AUA= no formal instruction AUA=greediness AUA=o support for students

 

[SGUreality]

HI I would like to shed a little light as to why I personally decided to go to a SGU (a Caribbean Medical School) (now I can't speak to why anyone else would do so because I can't read minds, I also don't think it is fair of you to make a blanket statement such as the one that you have made). First of all I want to make it clear that SGU's match data doesn't fall into that category. SGU may not have been my first choice but they provided me (and so many of my peers) the opportunity to move to a beautiful country and pursue my dream. I did not want to wait another year and apply a to US medical schools a second time - there is no guarantee that I would have been accepted which would have been a waste of another year o my life. For what it's worth I did well on my MCAT and graduated magna cum laude from a top 50 school.

https://www.fsmb.org/siteassets/advocacy/publications/us-medical-regulatory-trends-actions.pdf
SGU is the 2nd largest source of physicians for the entire US workforce - this means that SGU graduates are competent, excellent providers.

So. Much. kool-aid. You are absolutely paid or affiliated with SGU. If not, then I need to be what you’re on.

I’ve yet to meet another student (current or former post 2014) thrilled with SGU. It’s a miserable environment and very harmful to student doctors. Even professors know how terrible it is here and dislike the system.

 

[Isoval]

HI I would like to shed a little light as to why I personally decided to go to a SGU (a Caribbean Medical School) (now I can't speak to why anyone else would do so because I can't read minds, I also don't think it is fair of you to make a blanket statement such as the one that you have made). First of all I want to make it clear that SGU's match data doesn't fall into that category. SGU may not have been my first choice but they provided me (and so many of my peers) the opportunity to move to a beautiful country and pursue my dream. I did not want to wait another year and apply a to US medical schools a second time - there is no guarantee that I would have been accepted which would have been a waste of another year o my life. For what it's worth I did well on my MCAT and graduated magna cum laude from a top 50 school.

Press X to doubt.

https://www.fsmb.org/siteassets/advocacy/publications/us-medical-regulatory-trends-actions.pdf
SGU is the 2nd largest source of physicians for the entire US workforce - this means that SGU graduates are competent, excellent providers.

God where do I even start with this comment...

SGU enrolls over four times the number of medical students that are in my US medical school's class every single year. No s*** it's the second-largest source for US physicians, it's larger than every single US medical school system, let alone every US medical school proper. Frankly, the fact that it isn't #1 is alarming.

N-No...this most certainly does not mean that "SGU graduates are competent, excellent providers". The amount of mental gymnastics required to arrive at that conclusion must be profound. It means that if you throw enough s*** at a wall, some will stick. (this is not me referring to SGU grads as s***, simply an expression)

 

[SGUreality]

Press X to doubt.



God where do I even start with this comment...

SGU enrolls over four times the number of medical students that are in my US medical school's class every single year. No s*** it's the second-largest source for US physicians, it's larger than every single US medical school system, let alone every US medical school proper. Frankly, the fact that it isn't #1 is alarming.

N-No...this most certainly does not mean that "SGU graduates are competent, excellent providers". The amount of mental gymnastics required to arrive at that conclusion must be profound. It means that if you throw enough s*** at a wall, some will stick. (this is not me referring to SGU grads as s***, simply an expression)

^ This. The quality of training here is so poor. Basically just memorizing blips of information for Step 1. There are a few quality professors, but most just read off lecture slides. By the time you use all your resources to understand the processes, there is little time to study especially given the fact that they expect students to be in mandatory sessions everyday with 1-2 hour gaps between sessions. Makes it very very challenging to succeeed.

 

[jurassicpark]

N-No...this most certainly does not mean that "SGU graduates are competent, excellent providers". The amount of mental gymnastics required to arrive at that conclusion must be profound. It means that if you throw enough s*** at a wall, some will stick. (this is not me referring to SGU grads as s***, simply an expression)

I think we can agree Caribbean schools HAVE graduated some great doctors. The reality is that a good portion will NOT make it through. They are selling a dream for huge $$, and for a lot of prospective students it's just that a dream. The ones that make it through are the ones who through one fault or another (and not necessarily their fault), they couldn't get into a US school and made the plunge, or those that identified what killed them in the beginning and made the necessary changes but the latter requires tons of self-honesty and dedication. And even then, you will have to fight for every scrap you can get.

In response to the original issue, the "best" are SGU, Ross, AUC as the big "three." they will all have the same problems as mentioned above but more resources.

 

[Isoval]

I think we can agree Caribbean schools HAVE graduated some great doctors. The reality is that a good portion will NOT make it through. They are selling a dream for huge $$, and for a lot of prospective students it's just that a dream. The ones that make it through are the ones who through one fault or another (and not necessarily their fault), they couldn't get into a US school and made the plunge, or those that identified what killed them in the beginning and made the necessary changes but the latter requires tons of self-honesty and dedication. And even then, you will have to fight for every scrap you can get.

In response to the original issue, the "best" are SGU, Ross, AUC as the big "three." they will all have the same problems as mentioned above but more resources.

Of course, and that’s what I was trying to allude to by my addendum. I generally do not believe that those who graduate from SGU are inferior.

However, the phrase I was referring to absolutely does not imply that their school graduates good physicians.

 

[lilixi98888]

So. Much. kool-aid. You are absolutely paid or affiliated with SGU. If not, then I need to be what you’re on.

I’ve yet to meet another student (current or former post 2014) thrilled with SGU. It’s a miserable environment and very harmful to student doctors. Even professors know how terrible it is here and dislike the system.

.,..the worse three Caribbean schools in terms of attrition rate, lack of teaching and support for clinical learning are AUA, Spartan and St James....avoid!

 

[sharkattack2020]

At least in my dealings with students at the "big 3/4" (though I would argue there are only two left), I would say about a third are "good" US MD/DO applicants who from: 1) poor school targeting; 2) less than well written applications and/or interviews; 3) weaker first MCAT scores; 4) unlucky state or demographics; 5) not applying DO; 5) desire not to wait to reapply and/or retake MCAT; 6) and extremely effective both direct marketing as well as secondary marketing to premed advisors; chose to go to off shore. I would guess that California, from lack of state med school seats, and New York and Florida, just from marketing, probably send more "qualified" applicants off shore that could have likely gained entrance in US.

thank you for this! I am from California and I found it very hard to to apply to med school in california. I interviewed at two schools in the states but I was waitlisted. and I did not want to wait to reapply!

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

With two waitlists at California schools, might it be best to turn down the Carib acceptance and reapply? I know turning down an acceptance is a big black mark against you...but Carib schools aren't connected to AMCAS or AACOMAS, and most schools don't ask whether you've been previously accepted. Also, it's a Carib school, and that might be treated differently than turning a US acceptance down.

 

[DrStephenStrange]

With two waitlists at California schools, might it be best to turn down the Carib acceptance and reapply? I know turning down an acceptance is a big black mark against you...but Carib schools aren't connected to AMCAS or AACOMAS, and most schools don't ask whether you've been previously accepted. Also, it's a Carib school, and that might be treated differently than turning a US acceptance down.

Turn down the Caribbean school now before you make a huge mistake you will regret 4 years later. And no, turning down an off shore school isn't the same as turning down a US MD/DO. If you're waitlisted at a US school, my guess is your app is decent/competitive enough to gather some interviews. So if you don't end up getting accepted this year, figure out what you can improve in you app and go at it stronger and earlier next cycle.

Sent from my SM-G973U using SDN mobile

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

Yeah. It may be better to never be a doctor at all than to attend a Caribbean school. Flip a coin. Heads, and you're a primary care doctor. Tails, and you're as much as $300,000 in debt. And no closer to practicing medicine than you were when you started at that Caribbean school. Do you like those odds? In your shoes, I'd turn down the Carib acceptance, apply MD and DO broadly, build up the weak points in my app, and consider Plan B for if the whole medschool thing does not work out.

 

[Goro]

With two waitlists at California schools, might it be best to turn down the Carib acceptance and reapply? I know turning down an acceptance is a big black mark against you...but Carib schools aren't connected to AMCAS or AACOMAS, and most schools don't ask whether you've been previously accepted. Also, it's a Carib school, and that might be treated differently than turning a US acceptance down.

Turning down an accept at a Caribbean school would be considered a good judgment in any applicant.

 

[LeaveNoTrace]

Turning down an accept at a Caribbean school would be considered a good judgment in any applicant.

We have it from an adcom member: If you've been asked if you've been accepted to medical school and you say it's a Carib acceptance that you have turned down, it won't be a black mark against you. OP: Turn down the Carib acceptance. Apply broadly to MD and DO schools. If you were strong enough to get a waitlist at California MD medical schools, you're probably strong enough to get a DO acceptance at least.

 

[sharkattack2020]

So you didnt have the patience to wait... a mistake

wait for what? there is no guarantee that even if I applied the next cycle it would have turned out differently. I was ready to get my career started, that is just what was best for me! Everyone is different. Do what is best for you.

 

[DrStephenStrange]

50% chance of graduating × 50% chance of getting a residency spot (most likely primary care) = 25% chance of success. Considering a $250,000 debt, how is that ever what's best for you? I can never understand that reasoning

Sent from my SM-G973U using SDN mobile

 

[BuildingMyOwnLuck]

50% chance of graduating × 50% of getting a residency spot (most likely primary care) = 25% chance of success. Considering a $250,000 debt, how is that ever what's best for you? I can never understand that reasoning

Sent from my SM-G973U using SDN mobile

To be fair, it's not just like a lottery, if OP has good reason to believe he will be top 25% of class (which won't be too hard with the kind of people admitted to Carribean) the chances are better. Not good, but alright at best, however with the current DO openings it will be pretty rough in 4 years I'd assume

 

[Sephirakra]

To be fair, it's not just like a lottery, if OP has good reason to believe he will be top 25% of class (which won't be too hard with the kind of people admitted to Carribean) the chances are better. Not good, but alright at best, however with the current DO openings it will be pretty rough in 4 years I'd assume

Everyone thinks they'll be in the top 25% before they start the real work. And board exams don't just compare you to your classmates.

 

[Splenda88]

How many times do I have to say in SDN that the best Caribbean Medical Schools are located in Puerto Rico?

 

[CoitusInterruptus]

As there are many Caribbean Medical schools in the Caribbean region, which is bet to pursue medicine

Whatever school you go to

 

[IsleyOfTheNorth]

To be fair, it's not just like a lottery, if OP has good reason to believe he will be top 25% of class (which won't be too hard with the kind of people admitted to Carribean) the chances are better.

I'd estimate that 25% of people who believe they'll be in the top 25% of the class are correct.

 

[SGU2021]

SGU M3 here.
Idk about the stats that are being thrown around on this thread, but here's how my class worked out:
We entered w/ about 600 students in our class (a January class..which I think now are around 800 students in size).
Quickly, we lost about 50 of those students just to them not handling being away from their home country, or difficulty with the workload, or whatever else. There's some timeframe (I think ~30days) where SGU will give you your money back if you just decide to leave. I don't think those count toward "attrition" by SGU's numbers.
Anyway, those people left, and then between then and the end of Year 2 our January class lost maybe another 100 due to them repeating parts of the curriculum, getting into a US school, or failing (According to SGU the attrition rate is ~8%) I know lots of people don't believe the numbers SGU puts out, and I agree that sometimes they are skewed, but I think this one seems pretty accurate from my experience.
Our class size is big and I mostly focus on studying and my group of friends, so I don't know even half of the people in our class. I say that to qualify that I only personally know 1 person who transferred to a US school, ~5 people who repeated a term, and 1 person who failed out. There are obviously plenty more who did according to the stats, but I just don't know them.
After M2, we took Step 1 and personally I only know 1 person who failed. I'm not going around asking people their scores, but according to SGU's data that they share with us to prepare for Step 1, the average score last year was 226. A 226 isn't stellar but for an SGU grad with no failed steps, and a good work ethic in M3/M4, and decent interview skills, that will definitely be good enough to land a lower tier Family Med, Internal Med, Pscyh, Peds residency. Clearly you have to be realistic if you're going to SGU. You're almost definitely not going to get into Ortho/Derm/Optho/Neurosurgery, etc... People do, but it's a LONG shot, and you need great USMLE scores, tons of research, and to be a hell of a networker.

My partner goes to a upper tier US MD school, so I have a decent idea of the comparison of our curriculums, and I'd say academically they were comparable. SGU students often complain that our curriculum is harder to "weed out" students, but I think the issue is that SGU just starts with a lower tier of students on average. So, there will obviously be a higher percent who fail out or struggle with standardized testing.
SGU has great academic assistance, and students imo are very collegial. Well performing students create groups to teach lower term students how to succeed, we share our study materials, honor society has 1:1 tutoring available for free to other students, and the Department of Educational Services has lots of study strategizing resources. I felt very academically supported there. I definitely also felt home-sick, and being from a big US city, I got pretty bored and had to come up with new hobbies to fill my time. Luckily I had a strong group of friends to keep me motivated.

The prices SGU charges are INSANE and they go up constantly. On the positive side, US citizens are eligible for federal student loans, and therefore certain loan repayment and forgiveness programs. As a previous poster mentioned SGU has a HUGE alumni network, which is very much in your favor in comparison to other IMGs. If you can perform at or above average, you will be fine at SGU. As the famous yet controversial line by SGU goes "98% of eligible US citizen SGU students match within 1 year". The school is very careful about protecting its stats, so they encourage even very good students to apply to >100 programs and scare the sh** out of you before you start studying for Step 1. They will also encourage you to take a research year before applying if they don't think you're going to match. If you don't match they will pay for you to get an MPH or to do research for a year while you build your resume and reapply. If you still can't get in, SGU is dual accredited in the US and UK, so you could apply again in the US or apply to the UK programs. Unfortunately/Fortunately (depending on your perspective), the US match is highly skewed to favor students from US schools. While a US MD student can get a 210 on step 1 with a strong record otherwise, and still get a handful of low-tier interviews in a field like OBGYN, an SGU student wouldn't even be considered at <220. Being from SGU will definitely put you at a disadvantage when it comes to matching, but the drama queens on SDN who tell you it's impossible to match are most definitely wrong the vast majority of the time.

As always MD>DO>SGU>otherIMG when it comes to matching. Be realistic about the workload you can handle and effort you're willing to put in to becoming a physician. If the disadvantages of SGU are worth it to you, then take the risk and come.

 

[Magyarzorag]

Carribbean medical schools are designed to be for-profit Universities. You have to meet stringent requirements along the way, and you can be kicked out at any checkpoint. Failed an exam, they don't think you'll do well on USMLE, you're out $250K. Also, do you think you can really study well while living a 3rd world lifestyle.

If you have at least a 3.0 GPA and 500 MCAT, definitely apply to DO school. PA/Podiatry are also viable options, since they can also make 6 figures a year but without the 6 figure debt. If you really covet the MD title, go to Med School in Poland. Tuition is $5K/year, Poland is cheap to live, and their schools are pretty accredited in the EU and you are protected by EU Laws. Yes, you may not have a good chance of matching into the USA, but if you don't mind learning a foreign language, I'm sure Germany, France, Austria, or Sweden would be happy to have you.

 

[dunkey]

My n=1

My Medicaid-assigned family doctor went to Ross. He is hands down one of the least competent and ethically questionable clinicians I’ve ever met. I’m sure there’s plenty of good docs that come from there but it definitely turned me off to the Caribbean.

IMHO, if you can’t wait and do it right then don’t do it all.

I'm in no way supporting going to a Caribbean med school, but pretty meaningless post even with the "n=1" disclaimer. One of my colleagues has pretty poor patient rapport and he went to Stanford for medical school. Guess that should turn me off as well?
Your PCP's incompetence is on himself and his residency program. I would never blame a medical school for their struggles as a licensed physician.

 

[dunkey]

Feel free to come to whatever conclusion you want. My experience is my own.

And I'm calling you out on your inexperience. Your post was just as insightful as saying "N=1, but Larry Nassar is a convicted child molester" in an MD vs DO thread.

 

[Dr panda]

The numbers I use below come from SGU website and are linked to the sources

What is the difference between place and match?

 

[dunkey]

And indeed many on SDN have brought up Dr. Nassar and his reputation as a possible reason not to apply to MSUCOM. No one is saying that they train child rapists, but many are hesitant because it generally reflects badly on the school.

I sincerely question my PCP’s clinical judgement, and by at least some tangential relationship, the school that graduated him. It’s not just about “patient rapport”. I don’t understand the hostility, it’s an anecdote. If you’re so concerned about the level of “insight” of every posting then maybe you should look into becoming a moderator.

Also, it’s not a question of “inexperience”. I posted about about my experience with my doctor who went to the Caribbean. The fact that you (from your 2-month post history) are a practicing physician and I’m just a pre-med is immaterial to my story.

It's inexperience because as I said, a person's medical school has 0 bearing on their "clinical judgement". You're not only going by your limited experience shadowing this doctor as a pre-med, but you're basing his expertise on a place he only spent 2 pre-clinical years at. Does it not make more sense to criticize his clinical judgement on the program he did his clinical training in?
Going to Ross might have matched him in a residency program with poor training, but again, his inefficiencies are then still due to the residency program.

My residency didn't accept any IMGs, but some of the best in my cohort by graduation were from what people here would say "lower-tier" MD schools. Once you match, every intern is on the same level. We're all deer in headlights and the program trains us to be efficient clinicians. The medical school we attended is irrelevant.

 

[SGU2021]

The numbers I use below come from SGU website and are linked to the sources

I think you did a pretty good job there of analyzing the numbers. The only thing to think about is that SGU has been ramping up the enrollment over the last 2-3 years. Therefore right now the M1/M2 classes are significantly larger than the M3 class, which is larger than the M4 class. On top of that, a good number of students repeat a term. So, the M2/M3 class are even larger than the original enrollment. This alone would mess with the numbers and account for some of the "unmatched" you're calculating -- due to the class size being nowhere close to evenly divided into 4x1450.

The point of my post wasn't to give an unquestionable defense of SGU or convince people to go there. For all I know the numbers could be even worse than you predicted... I'm just relaying my subjective experience with my class. The university has problems and obviously for most people who go there, they had deficits on their application and are at a higher risk of having difficulties doing well in a graduate school setting, especially out of their home country.

The bottom line is: I've never felt less prepared than the students from other schools next to me on rounds, and I've been told more than once by residents/attending that I should apply to residency at the hospital I rotate at. Though imo your analysis is a relatively neutral one, most of SDN is a cesspool of hating on international schools/graduates. I appreciate your analysis for trying to triangulate the truth. The fact is, IMG's make up ~25% of US physicians and SGU makes up the second largest number of licensed physicians in the US. The people on SDN will run into SGU grads whether they like it or not, so I just wanted to give my perspective on my experience, shed some light on the truth, and say who I think is a good candidate to do well at SGU.

 

[gyngyn]

Though imo your analysis is a relatively neutral one, most of SDN is a cesspool of hating on international schools/graduates.

We don't hate the graduates. We hate the business model that destroys so many of their students.

 

[Goro]

We don't hate the graduates. We hate the business model that destroys so many.

To add to this, The point here isn't that there are successful Carib grads. The point is how many additional obstacles to success you face by going to a Carib school.

 

[deleted1022107]

As there are many Caribbean Medical schools in the Caribbean region, which is bet to pursue medicine

I would always suggest St. George's University, they have a high track record of match percentage. They have matched between 93-96% typically and have less than a 8% attrition rate. They are the safest bet for a caribbean medical school. I had the opportunity to visit their MD program as well as a few Do programs and i would recommend SGU over a lot of DO programs in the United States. Their curriculum is often taught by visiting faculty members that teach at US med programs and have a ton of resources to use. They are actually the 2nd largest source of physicans currently practicing in the united states which is pretty impressive.

 

[deleted1022107]

We don't hate the graduates. We hate the business model that destroys so many of their students.

You are putting a lot of quality schools together with schools that should be removed. Just because there are a lot of bad options in the carribean does not mean their are not a few great options. I would challenge you to review St. George's University and look at their list of graduates that they house on their website. They keep a detailed track record of where all students are practicing and where. Its a far fetched idea that somehow they fail students out on purupose to get their match rate percentage up as the DOE would remove their Federal Funding if their attrition rate is attrocious. Additionally carribean medical schools pay hospitals between 400-700 a week per student and prepay so they would be losing millions of dollars if all they did was fail out students. Last point, we have SGU students in our resideny program as well as other US and DO school students. SGU students are often the most prepared and work the hardest.

 

[IMGASMD]

The end of the thread is near?

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

I would always suggest St. George's University, they have a high track record of match percentage. They have matched between 93-96% typically and have less than a 8% attrition rate. They are the safest bet for a caribbean medical school. I had the opportunity to visit their MD program as well as a few Do programs and i would recommend SGU over a lot of DO programs in the United States. Their curriculum is often taught by visiting faculty members that teach at US med programs and have a ton of resources to use. They are actually the 2nd largest source of physicans currently practicing in the united states which is pretty impressive.

So how much does SGU's PR department pay? I need a post graduation job yall hiring?

 

[DrStephenStrange]

You are putting a lot of quality schools together with schools that should be removed. Just because there are a lot of bad options in the carribean does not mean their are not a few great options. I would challenge you to review St. George's University and look at their list of graduates that they house on their website. They keep a detailed track record of where all students are practicing and where. Its a far fetched idea that somehow they fail students out on purupose to get their match rate percentage up as the DOE would remove their Federal Funding if their attrition rate is attrocious. Additionally carribean medical schools pay hospitals between 400-700 a week per student and prepay so they would be losing millions of dollars if all they did was fail out students. Last point, we have SGU students in our resideny program as well as other US and DO school students. SGU students are often the most prepared and work the hardest.

I would not call any school in the Caribbean great options. Especially with the dramatic increase in US grads coming in the next few years.

 

[Bonne Nuit]

I would always suggest St. George's University, they have a high track record of match percentage. They have matched between 93-96% typically and have less than a 8% attrition rate.

Can you please provide a source for these numbers?

 

[CyrilFiggis]

TL;dr - Caribbean programs are an easy way to become a medical student, but a harder way to become a resident.

 

[DrStephenStrange]

Can you please provide a source for these numbers?

He's probably gonna source the SGU website which is worthless anyway.

 

[Princeton Medical Student]

Willing to bet that his account IP is either from Granada or Great River, NY.

 

[Goro]

Can you please provide a source for these numbers?

A site near his ani lavator muscle.

 

[deleted1011020]

wait for what? there is no guarantee that even if I applied the next cycle it would have turned out differently. I was ready to get my career started, that is just what was best for me! Everyone is different. Do what is best for you.

your career as the most indebted jobless person on the planet or

 

[premed20172017]

Maybe instead of the caribbean, you could look at Oschner and Sackler? I know people who have completed both programs and gone on to get residencies in the US they're both very happy with.

 

[SGU2021]

We don't hate the graduates. We hate the business model that destroys so many of their students.

I'm sure that you, and many others feel that way, but there are also many people (including the dude on this thread who judged Ross grads based on his experience with one physician he doesn't like, to be of poor quality). SDN is full of people who hate on IMGs, but I'm glad to know that you are not one of them.
There are a lot of factors that go into making it harder for IMG's (carib and otherwise) to get residencies in the US. Most of the obstacles imo are d/t the uneven playing field for US vs IMG. Most residency programs in the U.S. have a strong preference for U.S. grads, regardless of the accreditation standards of the school. IMGs need higher scores to get into US residencies (See: charting the outcomes), most hospitals in the U.S. don't allow IMGs to do away rotations at all, and VSLO isn't available to ANY Caribbean school. These are things that Carib schools can't do anything about. On the other hand, there are some major things related to their business model that SGU can do, like lowering their tuition rates and tightening their admissions standards. It's important to realize that not all Caribbean schools are made the same though -- University of the West Indies is different than SGU, which is different than Trinity. People should be realistic about how much they want to be a physician, what their level of ability is, and then do their research to find out where they can get in and if it's worth it.