What would be the advantages be of going to a top notch medical school? Are there drawbacks to going to a less competitive school such as somewhere in the Caribbean?
How does this affect residency? Jobs opportunities?
I have read that the caribbean schools might make you less competitive when it comes to residencies, but other than that I don’t think it matters very much when you are looking at stateside schools. I have a friend who chose to go to an Ivy League med school rather than our state school. She told me that she might chose the state school if she did it all over again. She missed the support system that her family could have provided at the state school.
All US medical schools have to reach and maintain a certain level of academic integrity and you will be a well-trained physician when you graduate regardless of “pedigree.”
My two cents.
- nebula Said:
I have read that the caribbean schools might make you less competitive when it comes to residencies, but other than that I don't think it matters very much when you are looking at stateside schools. I have a friend who chose to go to an Ivy League med school rather than our state school. She told me that she might chose the state school if she did it all over again. She missed the support system that her family could have provided at the state school.
All US medical schools have to reach and maintain a certain level of academic integrity and you will be a well-trained physician when you graduate regardless of "pedigree."
My two cents.
All US medical schools have to reach and maintain a certain level of academic integrity and you will be a well-trained physician when you graduate regardless of "pedigree."
My two cents.
The two cents above are worth at least a a quarter and right on target.
For the most part, getting into a good residency in the specialty you want, depends on your doing well in medical school, letters of recommendations, medical board (USMLE), audition rotations, etc. And whether that is MD or DO, equal opportunity and generally equal chances abound.
Be warned of Caribbean and other foreign medical schools. Even those these schools offer the MD degree, for the most part, they are MUCH MUCH LESS valuable then an American DO degree. Any American medical school, Osteopathic or Allopathic, allows to practice in any state and are equal in opportunity and success for entering most residencies. FMG (foreign medical graduates, whether US citizen or not, have about 1/2 the overall success rate in residency matches and have virtually no chance of success in matching in the top 1/3 to 1/2 of residency programs. Anyone who says otherwise is just itching for fight and I will come armed with public data to show it (sorry, I get into arguments with the myths and mis-perceptions on that "other" website.)
For example, in anesthesiology, about 42 per 1000 MD students match into residency programs, 38 pet 1000 of DO, 11 per 1000 of MD-FMG (US citizen) and 7 per 1000 of MD-FMG (non-citizen)
There a few programs in the caribbean that are "okay" but I wouldn't trust there self-reported numbers. Lastly, there are several schools in the Caribbean whose graduates are "banned" from getting a medical license in several states. California Medical Board has a list of such schools and several other state's board make it their policy to consider this list in licensing (ie you ain't gonna get one).
Also when looking at US medical schools, there is a difference among them. The Ivies like the Ivies when selecting for residencies, with some exceptions (our own OldManDave is one of those exceptions). Also, there are schools and the hospitals that they are associated with that are very focused on research vs clinical training. There are some schools that are focused on clinical training, but will differ on where there focus is (i.e. have you do lots of primary care). These factors will impact the type of experience you have in your clinical years of medical school. My point is that when choosing a medical school, you also need to consider your career goals and how that school may impact or influence those.