Latin America xochicalco mexico

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mtmdfan

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HELLO TO EVERYBODY


IM PLANNING TO START MEDICAL SCHOOL AT XOCHICALCO UNIV. IN MEXICO
THIS AUGUST. CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME SOMETHING ABOUT THE PLACE? IVE NEVER BEEN THERE BEFORE AND IM A LITTLE NERVOUS. ANY INFO YOU CAN GIVE WILL BE VERY APPRECIATED.
THANKS.
mtmdfan.
 
I attended the Ensenada Campus of C.E.U. Xochicalco from 1985-1989, did a 5th yr rotating internship at ISSSTECALI in Tijuana and a 6th yr Social Service in Sonora.
I passed the ECFMG and FLEX and the 1st try, did FP residency in NYC and have worked in Florida for 10 years. I worked my ass off, didn't go to night clubs and leaned to speak Spanish extremely well.
 
I attended the Ensenada Campus of C.E.U. Xochicalco from 1985-1989, did a 5th yr rotating internship at ISSSTECALI in Tijuana and a 6th yr Social Service in Sonora.
I passed the ECFMG and FLEX and the 1st try, did FP residency in NYC and have worked in Florida for 10 years. I worked my ass off, didn't go to night clubs and learned to speak Spanish Extremely well.
 
The medical text books are essentially the same ones used in the US. You simply need to read and learn them all from cover to cover. You can not depend on professors to prepare you, spoon fed, to pass the USMLE. Do not assume that becase you are able to earn perfect scores on exams in a foreign school, that you will pass the USMLE. In fact, I recommend taking the Stanley Kaplan review course in San Diego after completion of the 2nd academic year and then sitting immediately for Part1. Do not wait to take part1 2 years later after completion of the 4th year of clinical rotations. Get an apartment close to school and share with a serious spanish speaking student. There are plenty of rentals besides the ones the school has next door if yo speak enough spanish to read and inquire in the local classifieds.
 
do not go. you will have many problems especially if you do not speak spanish. make sure your documents are perfect. no class is in english. no class translation is available. you will have a very hard time.
 
There adminitration is centralized, that means that only one person or maybe two take all the decisions there, already been there. So take my word for it there a lot more cheaper and pro student universities than Xochicalco, they will extort you for money and will delay and make your life msierable if you are not on their good side. If you have any financial problem they will not help you out, basically you get the feeling is a "cash making" school, always with the "money upfront" attitude that bothers me. If you need to god to Mexico, stay with the UAG, Guadalajara. But if you can go to Ross or St George, just anywhere but there.

The problem is they are not a pro student school, tehy dont care for the problems of their students nor are they willing to help them out finishing the med degree. It is not like you are at a Univeristy in the States where you matter and officials are willing to help you out.
 
I'm also going to the Ensenada campus of Xochicalco Univ. The place is really pretty and I've already heard horror stories about some of the teachers, but that's the same for every school. If you haven't gotten your registration process done then do it IMMEDIATELY or you might not get in, that includes paying the registration fee, that's what reserves your spot at the school. The requirements are a validation of you passing high school, taking the entrance exam (pretty easy, it's like the SAT almost, it might even BE the SAT) it consists of half spanish and half math, i recomment that you start reading a spanish dictionary and brushing up on your algebra and geometry, you can request a study guide from them and you have to solicit admission online, here's the link; (just copy paste it) http://www.xochicalco.edu.mx/nueva/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=574

If you have any questions just shoot me an E-mail, I literally just finished my own admissions process on the 19th of June so ask away. And if you decide to go to Xochicalco and get in then I'll see you come August!
P.S. I have REALLY good spanish
 
Like somebody said before, this school is a money-making-machine. They don't care about you but your money. If you ever need something from them they will first check your balance to see if you owe them anything before helping you.

Why should you believe what I'm saying? Well, I attended that school for one and a half year until I had enough of it and decided to quit.

Professors are REALLY bad. They often forget what they are teaching or they often give you the material erroneously (sometimes you or other med students end correcting them). Some of them are students that just recently graduated from there and went teaching so go figure.

Labs are totally under-equipped and badly maintained.

You have very little amphitheater (cadaver) practice time and that's only until you have reached the 4th semester.

Very little surgical practices too. You just operate on a tiny rabbit ONCE (this is different from the many rabbits, frogs and dogs you kill, yea KILL, in the physiology lab) in the 4 years you study there.

You can easily have good grades by doing easy essays and power point presentations because those essays and presentations have a weigh of 40-60% of your grade while the rest is divided between the written exam (50-30%) and 10% participation or attendance. So if you like to study hard and really learn the material you will get highly disappointed to see that your fellow classmates, with a very aesthetically pleasant power point presentation and 30 minutes of studying prior to the exam, will get them further than your 4 days of hard studying.

And now that we are speaking about exams, ALMOST ALL of your fellow classmates CHEAT in those exams in so many ways you wouldn't have ever imagined. They even do so in the face of the teacher (most of those teachers don't really care if you cheat or not, some of them even laugh at it when a student is caught red handed). And if you try to denounce this, you will find deaf ears and a very angry group of fellow classmates when they learn that you blew the whistle.

Even with all the cheating going on people still fail to pass classes and so they have to take second chance exams (called extraordinary exams) which sometimes they fail again and have to re-take the class. If they pass these second chance exams they are allowed to continue even if they just barely passed them. I'm telling you this because I want you to realize, that those students that barely made it to the next course after cheating and taking a second chance exam, will be out later on attending a real person. So imagine what kind of medical service will those persons give? In other words, this school is playing with people's lives with out any regards to it.

Teachers also have favoritism to some students. This means that if you manage to make friends with a professor, or you are a girl and a male professor considers you attractive, you wont have any problems passing his or her class with little or no effort.

On the other hand, if you are hated or not liked by a professor you will have a very hard time trying to pass the class.

They have a unique curriculum made in such a way that if you decide to quit their school you wont be able to transfer the classes you took to another school be it in the U.S. or in Mexico itself because of this non-standard system.

I discussed all of those issues directly with the director of the school of medicine and he just totally ignored me. He said, in his own words, that "this is the way the school works and if you don't like it you can quit." And so I did.

After that, I decided to study hard on my own to get acceptance at WAY more prestigious university which I successfully did, and what a difference!!!

The only thing I regret was not doing that earlier in first semester when things started to look disappointing.

So if you are considering this school to get your medical education, please look elsewhere. It is a big waste of time, effort, and money. Unless of course the only thing you are looking for is to get your medical degree with as little effort as possible and without lerning, in which case this is the school for you.
 
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For some reason, I cannot PM anybody to ask them about their experience at Xochicalco medical school. My wife and I are thinking about attending this school soon. Can students only start there in August? How much math was really on the entrance exam? (I suck at math, but do well at most everything else including science, as long as no math is required). I am graduating from college with a BA in liberal studies in december. My wife does not have a HS diploma, but has attended some college and also graduated from massage therapy school. If she gets a GED, will Xochicalco recognize that for admission? Is their program 4 or 5 years? If I plan on practicing only in the States, do I have to do Mexico's social service requirement? Is the school air conditioned (sorry, im from las vegas and this is important to me). I speak fluent spanish, have lived in tijuana before for almost 3 years, and other parts of mexico for another 2.5 years. My wife is from Mexico City. please post in the thread or just pm me with any and all information regarding americans attending xochicalco.
thanks!
 
My wife and I visited Xochicalco this past Monday for a tour of the campus and to learn more about it. After our visit, we started researching online for references from students who have studied there and since taken the USMLE and continued with a residency program in the U.S. Admissions requirements: they have a standardized test, called the "College Board" which is similar to an SAT; the math is basic algebra, some geometry, and logic / word problems. There are some additional requirements tied to U.S. requirements for providing loans to pay for school, but if you don't go that route, then I don't think you need to meet all those addtl requirements. Program is 5 years + 1 year of social service. All 6 years are required to get your degree, and your degree is essential to move forward with applying to take the USMLE. No air conditioning, but you will probably be cold. The whole weekend, I don't think the temperature was over 70 degrees. The climate is very mild due to the Pacific Ocean. Hope that helps!

This school is well located for us, since we live in Los Angeles. But my wife isn't convinced yet that she will attend there primarily based on the feedback that we have received so far in this and other similar forums.
 
my friend goes to panamericana university! she is enjoying the course load and the interaction with the prof! already from the first year students get hands-on experience. i agree with the previous post. one day this school might be up to par with anahuac, etc.
 
Hi, can anyone tell me how much you get every semester or year from student loans? I know FAFSA/STAFFORD loans cover 100% of tuition but I need to know how much you are left with after tuition is paid? I'm starting in AUgust at xochicalco and already moved to tijuana last december with my wife and two kids (my wife is from mexico city, and I studied to become a CCI, Certified Court Interpreter for the supreme courts of Nevada, CA and UT so Spanish is no problem at all). I would rather my wife not work while i am in school so she can focus on our two girls (ages 2 and 4). We live in a very comfortable house in an OK neighborhood where we pay roughly $375 dollars/month in rent and then another, oh I'd estimate $200 in utilities including water, gas, electric, garbage, 24-hour neighborhood private security/controlled access as well as broadband internet and satellite TV etc. We can maintain a comfortable lifestyle for under $1000 per month so I just need to know if that is going to be possible with the federal loans I'll be getting by attending Xochicalco Tijuana Campus.
Also, if anyone can please tell me or email me or whatever a basic list of required or at least recommended textbooks for 1st and second semester, I'd appreciate it. I would like to get a head start on acquiring used textbooks well before August so i can read up over the summer and feel more prepared when August rolls around. English or spanish textbooks, really doesnt matter to me. I just need a list please.

thanks and please forgive the long, rambling post, haha
 
Hi, Thats exactly what I am planning to do, I am a medical student in Xochicalco campus Mexicali, and I want to practice in the US, I am currently living in San Luis Arizona, and I drive every day to Mexicali to attend school, I would love to get some help from you, like some orientation in what steps to take...thanks
 
DrJoeNystrom said:
I attended the Ensenada Campus of C.E.U. Xochicalco from 1985-1989, did a 5th yr rotating internship at ISSSTECALI in Tijuana and a 6th yr Social Service in Sonora.
I passed the ECFMG and FLEX and the 1st try, did FP residency in NYC and have worked in Florida for 10 years. I worked my ass off, didn't go to night clubs and leaned to speak Spanish extremely well.
Click to expand...

Can i ask you something, what was your final gpa? Do you think 3.8 is low? I have so many doubts, i do not what to do to become a doctor in usa. Could you please help me? Thank you. =)
 
Universidad del Noreste is 70th?? LOL. I was there in the early eighties and they billed themselves as the "Quality School of Medicine." But they never really got going until about two months into the Semester, the Physiology teacher would not show up or would have the students give the class, there were only a few cadavers dug up from pauper's graves (Rotten) and the Dean and Assistant Dean were Autocratic Bastards. Most of us did Basic Science for two years and then with the "anywhere but there" mentality (Tampico Sucks) often paid thousands of Additional dollars to do rotations-typically in Inner City places back in the States. When there, you may expect to be scutted and abused, and not taught anything. When I was turned out, you had to pass the FMGEMS (two day version of the ECFMG) and not many people DID on any given taking. YES, there is extortion too. They used to not charge for verifications, then, around twenty years ago charged relatively small fees, but, NOW, it's in the hundreds of dollars.

OH, and UNE had a New York office that was supposed to help us with clerkships. Said help consisted of generating paperwork for us, and promising hospitals, but not delivering. I did a Fifth Pathway in Brooklyn-I REFUSED to do two years of Social Service in Mexico. But THAT costs ten grand and a year of your life, with some Very questionable treatment. If you get a residency-I DID in Internal medicine-you may expect double standards there as well.

LOOK-the whole THING is FUBAR now. The Managed care Debacle-and get THIS-we have to recertify in our specialty every ten years. I'm so TIRED of jumping through Hoops!
 
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