Young black guy for phil med school.

[kito1906]

Hi I am a young Physician assistant(Google it) (24yrs old) looking to apply to the US MD and do schools as well as the phillippines as a 3rd choice.
1.)My questions are very basic. What schools are the BEST in the phillippines for Americans or in General?

2.)Also how would being a PA affect me once they see my college transcripts?

3.)Finally, would being black affect me in anyway.

4.)Lastly what schools are in manila and if so what cities in the metro(For example makati)

I have spent a good amount of time in the phils, and it is quite enjoyable, and please either post to the board or IM me privately thanks!!!

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[AlleghenyPOD]

Why the Philippines? Its harder dude, dont go to the Philippines. You'll not only have to sit for their boards, but have to take the usmle1 and usmle2 as well as the EFMG exams etc. If i were you id apply to US MD and US DO schools as well as Caribbean MD schools. Caribbean MD schools, you only study in the caribbean for the first 2 years (basic sciences) and your clinical sciences (third and fourth years) are spent doing clinical rotations in the United States. Carib MD schools are also licensed in the states, and you can find residencies easier.

Im warning you, do not go to a Philippine school unless its a last resort. Its harder to get out and find decent residency match. You'll be considered an FMG whereas carib MDs are IMGs (more acceptable for the states, because you actually DO clinical rotations in the 'states).

If you have more questions, just message me.


Good luck on your endeavors.

 

[pccst8]

Hi I am a young Physician assistant(Google it) (24yrs old) looking to apply to the US MD and do schools as well as the phillippines as a 3rd choice.
1.)My questions are very basic. What schools are the BEST in the phillippines for Americans or in General?

2.)Also how would being a PA affect me once they see my college transcripts?

3.)Finally, would being black affect me in anyway.

4.)Lastly what schools are in manila and if so what cities in the metro(For example makati)

I have spent a good amount of time in the phils, and it is quite enjoyable, and please either post to the board or IM me privately thanks!!!

If you can get into and afford to go to a US medical school go for it!

There are numerous threads that can answer you questions but here are some answers just to get you started.

Word of mouth top 3 med schools
1. Univ. of Philippines
2. Univ. of Santo Tomas
2. Univ. of the East

I think being a PA will only positively affect your application to medschool Might even make it a little easier than being an Anthropology major like me.

I dont think you'll face any more discrimination than the other foreigners. THere are indian, african american, nigerians, etc. in med programs currently i dont mean to stereotype, they will expect you to be good at basketball and be in the intramural basketball team for your school.

There are tons of medical schools in manila

UST, UERM, UP, Fathima, St. Lukes, Ateneo are just off the top of my head. do a search in this forum.

hope this helps!

 

[pccst8]

just to let you know there are a couple of med schools in the philippines that offer clerkships based in NYC. My sister just completed her clerkship in St. johns in far rockaway ny.

 

[AlleghenyPOD]

Yea but they're limited in those sites. There are no wide distribution of green schools for Philippine med grads in the United States. And phil med students doing clinical rotations in the United States? Um...never heard of that. Philippine medical students do clinical rotations in the Philippines, and take their own boards. You're only giving one example out of ...how many?

Be realistic.

additionally, you're not even a medical student. How are you giving me information about this? Makes no sense.

 

[pccst8]

Yea but they're limited in those sites. There are no wide distribution of green schools for Philippine med grads in the United States. And phil med students doing clinical rotations in the United States? Um...never heard of that. Philippine medical students do clinical rotations in the Philippines, and take their own boards. You're only giving one example out of ...how many?

Be realistic.

additionally, you're not even a medical student. How are you giving me information about this? Makes no sense.

I have this information because I'm a filipino american trying to get into medical school in the philippines. All the information that i've spouted off have been discussed in this forum. I have a sibling who is a filam student in UERM who just completed her clerkship in NYC along with 12 other filipino ameirican students and students from other countries. I'm not going to repeat myself.

I'm not pushing him to go to medical school in the philippines. I'm just trying to answer some of his questions since we're in the same boat. I even told him if can get into a US med school he should. I personally cant afford to go to a US medical school.

Chill out man.

 

[WaZoBia]

Yea but they're limited in those sites. There are no wide distribution of green schools for Philippine med grads in the United States. And phil med students doing clinical rotations in the United States? Um...never heard of that. Philippine medical students do clinical rotations in the Philippines, and take their own boards. You're only giving one example out of ...how many?

Be realistic.

additionally, you're not even a medical student. How are you giving me information about this? Makes no sense.

AlleghenyPOD, you really don't know what you're talking about. No one uses the acronyms AMG and FMG anymore, all students who graduate outside of North America (Hawaii included) and Puerto Rico are IMGs. Please do some research before you give peeps on the board wrong advice.

Secondly, off the top of my head I know at least four medical schools in the Philippines that allow their med students rotate in the states. Schools like Fatima, UERM, St Lukes and even UST and those are only the ones I know.

I'm sure you mean well but please get your facts straight. I do agree, however, that if one intends to practice medicine in the states it is best to exhaust every possibility of getting into an MD or DO school before considering medical schools outside the country and I agree that it might be best to rank carib schools over schools in the PI as carib schools enable you get more US clinical experience.

 

[WaZoBia]

Hi I am a young Physician assistant(Google it) (24yrs old) looking to apply to the US MD and do schools as well as the phillippines as a 3rd choice.
1.)My questions are very basic. What schools are the BEST in the phillippines for Americans or in General?

2.)Also how would being a PA affect me once they see my college transcripts?

3.)Finally, would being black affect me in anyway.

4.)Lastly what schools are in manila and if so what cities in the metro(For example makati)

I have spent a good amount of time in the phils, and it is quite enjoyable, and please either post to the board or IM me privately thanks!!!

Hi Kito 1906, to answer your questions

1) I would say for Americans in general Fatima has got to be the best as it is affiliated with US hospitals and allows you travel for rotations in the states. This is important cos when it comes time for residency application you will need to turn in LORs (letters of recommendation) and I think the program director reviewing your application is more likely to be impressed by an LOR from a US physician than one from a foreign physician.

2) I don't think the fact you were a PA would be viewed negatively if that's what you're asking. In fact I believe that during the interview (if you get one, I hear UST has scrapped the pre-admission interviews) you can use this to your advantage. Having been around doctors you are probably more certain about your decision and it is more likely that you will stay the course.

3) Overt discrimination is almost non-existent in the Philippines. Having said that, it is not unusual for you to hear the following comments from your classmates
a- "you must be happy that you don't need to comb your hair" (no matter how hard you try they most likely will not believe that there is a difference between combed and uncombed African hair)
b- when you walk into a room you might here someone say "parang madilim" which means "it's kindda dark" in here.
c- some people might say "nigg%8" when they mean a person of African descent, most people hear it all the time in the movies and on TV and think it's normal, they don't know it's derogatory. This will test your patience but if you do experience this look at it as an opportunity to educate your fellow man or woman.
d- people on the street might refer to you as Joe (a shortened form of GI Joe), having visited the Philippines before you must have heard this once or twice.

If you do decide to go to the Philippines, keep in mind that racial issues have not been a big part of the country's history as a result people are not as PC as say people in the states. Most times, however, people are just kidding or think that what they are saying is normal, you might feel offended which is normal but don't let it get to you. I had a few friends who almost lost it a couple of times.

4) Schools in Manila and the immediate region that you'll probably want to look at are:

UERM - on Aurora Boulevard in Quezon City
UST - in Sampaloc
UP - on Padre Faura in Malate
St Lukes Medical Center - on E. Rodriguez, There's another St Luke's Hospital going up in the Fort, I've been outta the country for a while and don't know if they're done building yet)
Ateneo (this school only opened it's doors this year)
Fatima - in Valenzuela
De La Salle University - in Cavite

The names of the areas might sound a bit foreign but you can google or wikipedia them and I'm sure you'll get a better idea of where the schools are located.

All the best

 

[tantrum]

I would like to make some correction on AlleghenyPOD posts. If you are not a Filipino citizen you do not have to take the Philippine medical boards (you are not allowed anyway). You are also not required to take the 5th year internship required for Filipinos to take the local boards.
As for US clinical rotations, there are some schools (Fatima and UERM) where you can take most of your clerkship rotations in the US.

Unfortunately, a lot of people especially those med students in the Caribbeans still uses the term IMG and FMG to distinguish themselves (supposedly they are superior). His definition is quite limited though as an IMG is any US citizen who finished their medical school OUTSIDE North America (and Puerto Rico), not just the Caribbeans. FMG are non-US citizens who finished their med school somewhere else. Basically program directors for residency look at AMG's then DO's then USIMG, then FMG's if they have similar scores. I agree that you can have better shot at competitive residencies (surgical, EM, Anesthesia) coming from the Caribbeans because of their US clinical experience ( I taught at one of them). But for Primary Care (IM, FM, Peds ) it's all about USMLE scores. IF you are sure that you want to go into primary care, why would you spend so much money going to the Caribbean?

 

[kito1906]

thanks. I am considering ER(Which i already do as a pa) FM, or IM. and those are not worth going to the Caribbean for due to the small amount they make.

eric

 

[AlleghenyPOD]

Heres how how US residency directors see things:

USMD>USDO/CARIBMD>FOREIGNMD

Thats just the way it is. Residencies are determined on your USMLE1s and your USMLE2s as well as your relation and first impression towards resident directors during your clinicals. By right, CaribbeanMDs will get residencies faster than foreign medical grads due to the fact that Carib MDs do clinical rotations in Family medicine, emergency medicine, surgery, psychiatry, internal medicine, pediatrics, ob-gyn, nephrology, neurology, cardiology, radiology etc. IN the United States of America UNDER the supervision of US physicians.
I will not lie to you that most residencies that Carib MDs get are usually primary care (emergency medicine, internal medicine, family practice, peds), however if you make a great impression on residency directors during your clinical years---AND if your USMLE scores are high enough, you will get specialized residencies. I know a lot of graduates from Saint George, Ross, St. Eustatius, St. James and AUC that are on their 2nd and 3rd year of residency in neurology, derm, surgery.

It helps alot if you're also a US citizen. Patients like you more.

Whatever you do, good luck. Make the right decision. Im just warning you, as a medical student, to exhaust all your powers in trying to apply to US med schools before trying to step out of the country (caribbean, european, asian schools etc). If you're smart, then im sure you'll do fine. Dont think that by going to the philippines, you can party more etc, because they have a TOTALLY different way of teaching as compared to the ones in the US or in the Caribbean (which are styled after US med schools). God speed in your endeavors.

Peace.

 

[WaZoBia]

It helps alot if you're also a US citizen. Patients like you more.

Hahaha, what do you mean it helps if you are a US citizen, cos patients like you more. I've never heard a patient ask a doctor whether or not he/she is a US citizen.

Do you mean it helps if you have an American Accent? or If you are Asian/Caucasian/African-American? What exactly do you mean?

 

[AlleghenyPOD]

lol well ill be honest. Some elderly patients bias against foreign docs.
Med students with American accents and/or are US citizens.

You know how we YANKEES do things

 

[WaZoBia]

lol well ill be honest. Some elderly patients bias against foreign docs.
Med students with American accents and/or are US citizens.

You know how we YANKEES do things

Hahaha, Yankees??? You're definitely an immigrant or you probably grew up in Malaysia. No one talks like that

 

[kito1906]

From what i have heard and seen.....Car. med students are seen a lot of the time as a joke(please don't get offended when I say this) and this been said by other M.D.'s (some that are in VERY respected fields) and I have actually heard that many residency programs would rank schools from Ireland and England ahead of MANY (not all...I have heard Ross , SGU, and Saba if I remember correctly would be placed at the same level as the LOWEST tier med schools on a GOOD day). So while you say there are many Car. school docs in high place just remember the law of numbers, do the math and just take a gross(no way to do this exactly unless you have a lot of free time and money) guess at the percentages of car. med students in upper level positions...

PS-Remember as a PA i rotated with medical students when i did my training and it was quite amazing that the carribbean medical students didn't know MANY of the diseases brought up on our Psych rotation, FM, IM, and a lot of the kids even from the respectable schools had classmates that had to retake Step 1 more than once which is quite ashame at 200k....(at least 10-20%). Some of these were even my Friends sadly from major schools in Floridia,Texas,etc... and I do think he is right. People in the USA do prefer to be treated by Doctors that are American(White), you wouldn't believe how many times I have been asked to be treated by a doctor because of my skin color by older patients and we do have one foreign doctor no one like because of his descent, and then they would ask me to come back LOL. Also i would think you would party a lot less in the phillippines than you would in the Carr. but that is ONLY my opinion....

 

[tantrum]

Yeah, partying is rare in Phil med schools (although they still occur usually as a group or class activity). You also have to consider that they will not prep you for USMLE unlike most Carib schools (although there are some Kaplan centers in the Philippines). But they teach the basics based on the textbooks, although they love quizzing you on minutiae and trivias.
The school or places that might be more foreign-friendly are Fatima, AUF (Angeles close to a former US military base). Baguio (although I doubt whether St. Louis Univ. in Baguio has a lot of foreigners).

 

[Meatwad]

I would like to make some correction on AlleghenyPOD posts. If you are not a Filipino citizen you do not have to take the Philippine medical boards (you are not allowed anyway). You are also not required to take the 5th year internship required for Filipinos to take the local boards.
As for US clinical rotations, there are some schools (Fatima and UERM) where you can take most of your clerkship rotations in the US.

You sure about that? I've heard if you don't do the internship, you could run into licensing problems in the US due to the number of weeks in core clinical rotations. Many states require 72 weeks of rotations, with x amount on certain fields (FM, OBGYN, IM, Surgery, Peds, Psych). From what I've heard, Filipino schools fall short of 72 weeks if you exclude the 5th year.

All the doctors I know practicing in the US did their 5th year in PI as well.

 

[AlleghenyPOD]

From what i have heard and seen.....Car. med students are seen a lot of the time as a joke(please don't get offended when I say this) and this been said by other M.D.'s (some that are in VERY respected fields) and I have actually heard that many residency programs would rank schools from Ireland and England ahead of MANY (not all...I have heard Ross , SGU, and Saba if I remember correctly would be placed at the same level as the LOWEST tier med schools on a GOOD day). So while you say there are many Car. school docs in high place just remember the law of numbers, do the math and just take a gross(no way to do this exactly unless you have a lot of free time and money) guess at the percentages of car. med students in upper level positions...

PS-Remember as a PA i rotated with medical students when i did my training and it was quite amazing that the carribbean medical students didn't know MANY of the diseases brought up on our Psych rotation, FM, IM, and a lot of the kids even from the respectable schools had classmates that had to retake Step 1 more than once which is quite ashame at 200k....(at least 10-20%). Some of these were even my Friends sadly from major schools in Floridia,Texas,etc... and I do think he is right. People in the USA do prefer to be treated by Doctors that are American(White), you wouldn't believe how many times I have been asked to be treated by a doctor because of my skin color by older patients and we do have one foreign doctor no one like because of his descent, and then they would ask me to come back LOL. Also i would think you would party a lot less in the phillippines than you would in the Carr. but that is ONLY my opinion....

Um, you need to do some more research on Carib medical schools, bud.

 

[tantrum]

You sure about that? I've heard if you don't do the internship, you could run into licensing problems in the US due to the number of weeks in core clinical rotations. Many states require 72 weeks of rotations, with x amount on certain fields (FM, OBGYN, IM, Surgery, Peds, Psych). From what I've heard, Filipino schools fall short of 72 weeks if you exclude the 5th year.

All the doctors I know practicing in the US did their 5th year in PI as well.

Most nonlocals did not have any problems not taking the 5th year internship except for California where they are usually short in areas like Psych. Many doctors from PI definitely did their internship to avoid any problems with some states. The weeks they measure in the Philippines contain more hours per week but this can be a problem in a few states.

 

[jeesapeesa]

From what i have heard and seen.....Car. med students are seen a lot of the time as a joke(please don't get offended when I say this) and this been said by other M.D.'s (some that are in VERY respected fields) and I have actually heard that many residency programs would rank schools from Ireland and England ahead of MANY (not all...I have heard Ross , SGU, and Saba if I remember correctly would be placed at the same level as the LOWEST tier med schools on a GOOD day). So while you say there are many Car. school docs in high place just remember the law of numbers, do the math and just take a gross(no way to do this exactly unless you have a lot of free time and money) guess at the percentages of car. med students in upper level positions...

PS-Remember as a PA i rotated with medical students when i did my training and it was quite amazing that the carribbean medical students didn't know MANY of the diseases brought up on our Psych rotation, FM, IM, and a lot of the kids even from the respectable schools had classmates that had to retake Step 1 more than once which is quite ashame at 200k....(at least 10-20%). Some of these were even my Friends sadly from major schools in Floridia,Texas,etc... and I do think he is right. People in the USA do prefer to be treated by Doctors that are American(White), you wouldn't believe how many times I have been asked to be treated by a doctor because of my skin color by older patients and we do have one foreign doctor no one like because of his descent, and then they would ask me to come back LOL. Also i would think you would party a lot less in the phillippines than you would in the Carr. but that is ONLY my opinion....

So how can those from Ireland and England be better prepared than those from a caribbean medical school, which rotate most if not all of their students in ACGME spots in the United States? I would like to see their residency placements in the United States by number and their faculty appointments. If you want me to provide those from the Caribbean, I would gladly do so. I don't agree with you since a doctor's competency is measured by their work ethic and dedication to their patients, no matter where they graduated. I don't know where you are working as a PA, but you are grossly misinformed, so please do yourself a favor since you seem ignorant.

 

[AlleghenyPOD]

From what i have heard and seen.....Car. med students are seen a lot of the time as a joke(please don't get offended when I say this) and this been said by other M.D.'s (some that are in VERY respected fields) and I have actually heard that many residency programs would rank schools from Ireland and England ahead of MANY (not all...I have heard Ross , SGU, and Saba if I remember correctly would be placed at the same level as the LOWEST tier med schools on a GOOD day). So while you say there are many Car. school docs in high place just remember the law of numbers, do the math and just take a gross(no way to do this exactly unless you have a lot of free time and money) guess at the percentages of car. med students in upper level positions...

PS-Remember as a PA i rotated with medical students when i did my training and it was quite amazing that the carribbean medical students didn't know MANY of the diseases brought up on our Psych rotation, FM, IM, and a lot of the kids even from the respectable schools had classmates that had to retake Step 1 more than once which is quite ashame at 200k....(at least 10-20%). Some of these were even my Friends sadly from major schools in Floridia,Texas,etc... and I do think he is right. People in the USA do prefer to be treated by Doctors that are American(White), you wouldn't believe how many times I have been asked to be treated by a doctor because of my skin color by older patients and we do have one foreign doctor no one like because of his descent, and then they would ask me to come back LOL. Also i would think you would party a lot less in the phillippines than you would in the Carr. but that is ONLY my opinion....

Absolutely erroneous. Please provide facts and raw data before you start typing ludicrous misinformation. Your gross misinformation and ignorance is rather shameful. Good luck in your endeavor in medical school.

 

[AlleghenyPOD]

thanks. I am considering ER(Which i already do as a pa) FM, or IM. and those are not worth going to the Caribbean for due to the small amount they make.

eric

Are you serious? You do understand that schools such as SGU, ROSS, AUC, SABA (in the caribbean) are graduating hundreds of MDs a year and are placing into well rounded residencies in the US right? Students in 2nd tier Carib schools such as St. James, St. Eustatius, Windsor, St. Matthews are also sending graduates into multifaceted residencies. Sure a large component of caribbean MDs go into primary care (Internal medicine, family practice, emergency medicine, pediatrics, ob-gyn), but there are those who land onto surgical residencies, dermatology, neurology etc (of course this depends on your GPA as well as USMLE scores) You, as a person who hasnt even BEGUN medical school yet, are not in the position to question what kind of residency is good or not, any residency is good---that is if you pass the USMLEs. To increase your understanding on the situation, if one lands on an internal medicine residency (which is 3 years) and is certified by the ABIM, one can go into specialties such as:

Gastroenterology
Immunology
Allergy
Hematology
Rheumatology
Pulmonology
Cardiology
Nephrology
Critical Care Medicine
Medical Oncology
Geriatrics
Infectious Diseases
etc.

Money is out there, you first need to get into a proper medical school (and most Carib medical schools are acknowledged by the US--by all 50 states or by 45 states--depending on which school). Nonetheless, all medical schools in the caribbean send their students to the US to finish clinical rotations in green schools throughout the United States. Do most Philippine schools boast that? Caribbean medical schools prepare their students pass their boards and practice medicine in the US; and are heavily exposed to American patients during clinicals.

Btw, here are some samples of salaries by 'Primary Care Physicians---and their subspecialties'

Family Practice: ~150-200k
Emergency Med: ~200-300k
Pediatrics: ~120-150k
Internal Medicine: ~150-200+k
Gastroenterology: 300+k
Nephrology: 300-400+k
Cardiology: 400++k
Pulmonology: ~300-500k

etc etc. you get the point.

 

[jeesapeesa]

thanks. I am considering ER(Which i already do as a pa) FM, or IM. and those are not worth going to the Caribbean for due to the small amount they make.

eric

HAHA. I think the Filipino med school administrators will see right through you. I would hate to be responding to a troll, but you might just be some naive kid who doesn't know what he's getting into. I would suggest researching medicine and your priorities before you mail in that application.