IMHO beware… research Caribbean schools very carefully to understand the reality of options available to you post med school by different schools. This means basing much of your research on info NOT provided by the schools. There are a few options in the Caribbean with proven records depending on what you want to be doing after med school, but those schools are the minority.
You should check with your local state to see which schools are on their medical board’s approval list, and you should check those schools that have solid, long-term reputations for quality education (often gauged by high pass rates on the boards), quality linkages for their residencies (i.e. place students in reputable residencies at high rates). Currently, in my home state of California, schools that fit such criteria include:
Ross University
St. George’s University
Saba
American University of the Caribbean
I have been told that the American University of Antigua is also being considered for this list.
Even these schools are struggling, as stateside schools are expanding and putting more and more graduates into competition for a static number of residency positions.
I have not even persued that route but I have also been warned that the schools are really hinkey with their numbers on passing the steps and what not. Basically it sounded like you could be 2 years in debt and they would kick you out if you weren’t scoring well on practice tests, b/c they only let those who they know will pass take the step exams.
- datsa Said:
You should check with your local state to see which schools are on their medical board's approval list, and you should check those schools that have solid, long-term reputations for quality education (often gauged by high pass rates on the boards), quality linkages for their residencies (i.e. place students in reputable residencies at high rates)
Medical school has nothing to do with residency. Some residencies are affiliated with medical schools, but that's not considered to be "linkage". In other words, being a graduate of that school doesn't mean you automatically continue through your GME at that school's residency program. Also, Carribean medical schools don't have teaching hospitals. The ones you mention do have linkage to some stateside teaching hospitals for clerkships (years 3 & 4 of med school), but they are not linked in any way to any stateside residency programs.
Medical school does have quite a bit to do with residency, actually. The use of the term “linkage” was probably a little misleading, though. A better term would be “placement”. Linkage implies that successful completion of medical school helps guarantee a spot in residency and I can think of almost no case where that is true.
The medical school you attend can impact your odds of residency placement. US schools have significantly higher rates of graduates matching in their top choices than off-shore schools. Even among US schools, graduates from “top-tier” schools tend to match more successfully than graduates from less well thought of schools.
There can be a certain advantage to going to a medical school that is affiliated with a teaching hospital (vs just placing students at various teaching hospitals for clerkships). A great many of them hold prelim medicine and surgery spots out of the match to offer to their graduates who are unsuccessful in the match and scramble (typically people who were applying for uber competitive specialties like derm, plastics, urology).