So I’m aware of the stigma that the Carib schools have, and the difficulty that a FMG from a Carib school may have in getting a competitive residency, as well as the fact that most people go to them as a last resort.
That being said, what if I voluntarily would prefer to go to a Carib school? I have an insatiable hatred of cold weather, to the point where even the winter in Northern California pisses me off, so I’m pretty sure I would completely hate life if I had to go to medical school in the midwest or east coast which rules out the majority of schools. If I had my preference, the only schools I would want to apply to would be the schools in southern Cali (USC, UCLA, UCSD, UCI) and UC Davis as well, and then probably the Big 3 in the Carib. Does this seem like a pipe dream or a reasonable attempt to stay in a reasonable area as far as weather and living conditions go?
I figure that since I normally study by myself, and don’t require any babysitting, the high attrition rate in the Carib is not going to affect me. Competitive residencies probably won’t be an issue since I plan to go into emergency medicine and that’s about a middle-of-the-road residency as far as competitiveness goes from what I understand. And as far as the stigma goes…well, I never really have cared what other people think about inane/pointless crap like that so I have no intention of starting now.
So is this a ridiculous idea or a reasonable one? I guess I should also point out that in the sparse free time I have, the locations of the CA and Carib schools are also preferable for the fact that there’s excellent SCUBA diving close enough that I’d actually be able to do that; which would probably be priceless since it’d be a great form of stress relief.
You could also try Miami (UM, FIU as of '09) if you’re into warm weather, as well as some of the medical schools in Puerto Rico, and since it is part of the U.S. they are LCME accredited. This would give you less hassle as far as getting your degree recognized.
Getting into med school period, though, is a hell of an accomplishment, and you’re most likely to be accepted within your own state.
- code blue Said:
Getting into med school period, though, is a hell of an accomplishment, and you're most likely to be accepted within your own state.
True, although I'll have to look into how OOS-friendly the Florida schools and the Puerto Rico one is...if I recall correctly, most Florida schools strongly prefer in-state applicants.
The statement "most likely to be accepted within your own state" doesn't apply to California residents; we're basically screwed as far as having an in-state school as a backup.
Arizona’s a warm place, too 
There’s not much scuba opportunity here (as far as I know). But, LA is only a six hour drive. I would have to think that once you’re in med school you’re not going to find that much time for scuba diving.
Going to the Caribbean just so you can scuba dive once in a while doesn’t sound worth it to me, but at least you won’t have to worry too much about getting acceptances.
Tim, don’t forget to think about why you’re doing all this. Are you out to become the best physician you can, to get into the best residency training program you can? Will you achieve your goals by attending one of these schools (SGU, Ross)?
- ttraub Said:
There's not much scuba opportunity here (as far as I know). But, LA is only a six hour drive. I would have to think that once you're in med school you're not going to find that much time for scuba diving.
Going to the Caribbean just so you can scuba dive once in a while doesn't sound worth it to me, but at least you won't have to worry too much about getting acceptances.
Tim, don't forget to think about why you're doing all this. Are you out to become the best physician you can, to get into the best residency training program you can? Will you achieve your goals by attending one of these schools (SGU, Ross)?
Not only that, but iirc, Arizona is one of those schools that hates OOS applicants.
That's the whole point as far as Carib being an advantage for scuba diving though...I won't have time to drive 6 hours to go do it...if I'm not already on or right next to a beach, I doubt I'll have enough time to steal away for an hour or two. I'm sure I'll have time here and there to scuba dive in med school /if/ I was right next to the beach, however, since I find it hard to believe there's not an hour of leisure time here and there.I'm not interested in the Carib just for the scuba diving opportunity, actually. Like I said, I absolutely hate cold weather, so it's also so I'm not completely miserable during med school without the misery of med school itself even added on yet.
I don't see why I wouldn't achieve my goals of becoming the best physician I possibly could by going to a Carib med school since everyone has to take the same standardized tests, and if they pass, then they have been judged competent enough to practice medicine in the U.S. Plus with my mindset and attitude, I don't settle for mediocre anyway, so I'm sure what school I go to (as long as it's accredited so it is indeed reputable) will have no bearing on my success because I'll have the desire to learn as much as I can so my patients can benefit from that knowledge. I'd imagine my patients would also benefit if I wasn't already burned out and hateful by the time I saw my first one because I absolutely hated the place I was stuck living in for four years.
Residency I'm not sure on, that's part of why I posed the question, I'm curious as to how big of an issue that is for graduates of Carib med schools. After reading about DFRP's experiences with SJSM, I'm also interested about the student loan situation, although I understand the Big 3 do offer U.S. federal financial aid.
- Tim Said:
- ttraub Said:
There's not much scuba opportunity here (as far as I know). But, LA is only a six hour drive. I would have to think that once you're in med school you're not going to find that much time for scuba diving.
Going to the Caribbean just so you can scuba dive once in a while doesn't sound worth it to me, but at least you won't have to worry too much about getting acceptances.
Tim, don't forget to think about why you're doing all this. Are you out to become the best physician you can, to get into the best residency training program you can? Will you achieve your goals by attending one of these schools (SGU, Ross)?
Not only that, but iirc, Arizona is one of those schools that hates OOS applicants.
That's the whole point as far as Carib being an advantage for scuba diving though...I won't have time to drive 6 hours to go do it...if I'm not already on or right next to a beach, I doubt I'll have enough time to steal away for an hour or two. I'm sure I'll have time here and there to scuba dive in med school /if/ I was right next to the beach, however, since I find it hard to believe there's not an hour of leisure time here and there.I'm not interested in the Carib just for the scuba diving opportunity, actually. Like I said, I absolutely hate cold weather, so it's also so I'm not completely miserable during med school without the misery of med school itself even added on yet.
I don't see why I wouldn't achieve my goals of becoming the best physician I possibly could by going to a Carib med school since everyone has to take the same standardized tests, and if they pass, then they have been judged competent enough to practice medicine in the U.S. Plus with my mindset and attitude, I don't settle for mediocre anyway, so I'm sure what school I go to (as long as it's accredited so it is indeed reputable) will have no bearing on my success because I'll have the desire to learn as much as I can so my patients can benefit from that knowledge. I'd imagine my patients would also benefit if I wasn't already burned out and hateful by the time I saw my first one because I absolutely hated the place I was stuck living in for four years.
Residency I'm not sure on, that's part of why I posed the question, I'm curious as to how big of an issue that is for graduates of Carib med schools. After reading about DFRP's experiences with SJSM, I'm also interested about the student loan situation, although I understand the Big 3 do offer U.S. federal financial aid.
I believe you're right about U of A; however there are two osteopathic schools here that get lots of out of staters.
I am not a Caribbean expert so rather than just pass along hearsay (mostly negative) about such schools, I would defer to Bill and others who have gone through the experience. A classmate from Sri Lanka from my post-bacc days went to SGU; she probably could have gotten into somewhere on the mainland but SGU was there, easier to get into, and she liked that the student body is quite multicultural--Africans, South Asians, etc. And she was planning to return to Sri Lanka and stated that an MD from SGU was "good enough". I like that SGU (I think) lets you start in January so you can get it over with sooner and have more time to study for boards.
I think it's pretty definite however that residencies will be harder to match into. Rightly or wrongly, you will experience prejudice from program directors. You'll be the leftovers, the ones they select after all the mainland MD/DO candidates have gotten their slots. Some doors will be closed to you. However once your training begins you'll be a physician and few will know or care where you graduated from.
Good luck,
Tim,
You might browse the EM residency forum on SDN and get a feel for competitiveness of EM and also see if you can find out any info on how going to the carib might affect residency apps. There are very knowledgeable people who post there, including a couple of program directors. Alternatively, if you want to be a little more anonymous, there is a EM thread in the recently created “mentor” forum, where people whose credentials have been verified by SDN answer questions.
EM is more competitive than you might think and becoming more and more so every year as it is becoming viewed as a “lifestyle” specialty. Check out the various data offered by the NRMP. One table is here. Another excellent resource is the Match Results summary published by the NRMP each year. This year’s document can be found at http://www.nrmp.org/data/resultsanddata20 07.pdf .
Another consideration not just specific to EM is the fact that US medical schools are increasing the number of spots, while the number of residency spots is not necessarily increasing by the same rate. What this will end up doing is making it even more difficult for FMGs to match into US positions.
You might also check out various residency program websites and check out where their grads come from - especially those programs that are in areas of the country where you would ideally like to match. The coastal EM programs are far more competitive than the midwestern programs, because of where people want to live.
You might want to check out ValueMD for tons of info on Carib med schools, In all turthfulness, I’d go this route too if I couldn’t make it here in the US. In fact, after mentioning it to DH and watching an episode of dream home on HGTV, it wouldn’t take much for me to convince DH to relocate to a place where we could have a dream home 50 feet from the sands of some groovy beach!
When the forecast low for March 6th is -4 with a significantly lower wind chill, I seriously consider the Caribbean too! Actually I seriously consider anywhere else!!!
I don’t think there is a universal or inherent ‘right vs. wrong’ answer to this question. As long as you evaluate the risks & benefits within the context of your own situation and make your choice logically & objectively, who could fault you? And, as my region of New Hampshire is within 2 inches of breaking its ALL TIME snowfall record AND we have a massive Nor’easter predicted for this weekend “…with significant & substantial snowfall totals possible…”, the Carib does sound very tempting. Just in care you are curious, the current & looooooooong standing record whole-winter snowfall total record for my area is 122inches…yes, 122 inches. Our current total stands at 120inches - that is 10 FREAKING FEET OF THE WHITE SHIT!!!
- OldManDave Said:
Yeah, see I really don't want to see 10 feet of snow, lol. I don't even want to see temperatures below 70 degrees, for that matter.
I'll be pulling for UCI, UCLA or UCSD SOM.