Does anyone know anything about this school? We had an applicant for a basic bench scientist position . This person documented that she is a medical doctor with 400 clock hours from this school and spent 8 years training there. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Hi there,
This institution has a website that can give you some information. It appears to be a school that is based Antigua, WI that offers on-line coursework leading to an MD. If your prospective employee was accepted, paid tuition and fees and completed the course work then a degree was probably granted.
The website takes careful pains to tell you that the school is not accredited by LCME (no offshore school is). They also take great pains to list the hospitals that have received their graduates so you might want to contact some of these hospitals for information.
The person may very well have been granted an MD from this institution but ability to practice medicine or to do scientific research may be suspect. Again, you need to find out if this person has the ability to do the job that you are hiring for same as any other candidate.
On the web, the institution exists. In reality, this may be a warehouse somewhere that sends out a diploma if you send in tuition money. I find it very interesting that they have a track for DO’s who want to “study” to become an MD. I can’t understand why anyone who already has the ability to become a licensed physician in this country would want to unload thousands of dollars to an offshore school for two letters.
Natalie
How could anyone study medicine online 
The thing to keep in mind when looking at claims such as this is that one can earn the degree of Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) but that does not give you a license to practice as an M.D. A license is only earned after passing Steps 1, 2, and 3 of the United States Medical Licensing Exam. (and there is extra stuff which graduates of non-US medical schools must take that I can never keep straight so I won’t try to explain it, and will hope that one of our off-shore colleagues will chime in)
So an off-shore school can grant an M.D. after someone completes whatever curriculum that school feels is appropriate. But if you want to actually work as an M.D. you are going to need to take the steps Natalie describes to find out if their students/graduates take and pass the USMLE, do clinical rotations at US hospitals, obtain US residency positions, etc. etc.
Something else to think about: I’ve spoken to some folks at off-shore programs who have had to work their tails off to obtain US clinical rotations. They seem to spend an awful lot of their third and fourth years of medical school uncertain as to what is going to happen next in their education. It sounds rather unnerving. You want to be at a school that has well-established partnerships with hospitals in the US, and a good support network for its students. It can be hard initially to even know what questions to ask. Just imagine if you were moving to a new city, starting a new job, what sorts of questions you’d ask, and that’ll give you a start.
Mary
PS licensing nitty-gritty in case someone asks: yes, I’m practicing as an M.D. but will not take Step 3 until next spring. My license is a restricted one, good only for a year, and reads “practice permitted within program only.” Generally to START work in a residency program after graduating from med school, you’ve passed Steps 1&2.
All the replies above are truly great, one thing was left out to my dismay to since they usually nail it:
Check with whatever states you’d be interested in practicing in on the web or on the phone to see if the degree is valid or if the state has any qualms with it.
Federation of State Licensure Boards
keep in mind that clinicals are a whole other ball of wax. Some states won’t even LET you come close to them from any school outside their state until you have passed Step 2. Some, not at all.