Hello… I stumbled across this forum while surfing. I am looking for advice. This is complicated, but here goes:
I did premed during my college years (when I was not serious), and then got sidetracked into sales for many years. After marriage, I went to a health convention, and a light started to beam within me again. I was a vegetarian at the time, and didnt know you could get a medical degree as an ND. This intrigued me, but I decided I wanted to be a MD and work in missionary fields.
I started back on my medical journey and decided I didnt want to go the US route because of cost as well as taking two extra years to take the MCAT. Plus, because I wanted to do missionary work, I needed to graduate debt-free. I got accepted into University of the West Indies in Jamaica as well as UM in Mexico.
There were a couple of major decisions made based on ‘arguments lost’. First I wanted to wait two years into school before my wife and I worked on having our first child. I was 38, my wife 28. (I lost that argument and my wife was pregnant my first year of medschool at UWI.) Second, I didnt want to go to UWI despite its great reputation. I wanted to go to UM because of the opportunity to learn another language as well as medicine, plus it was a Christian university 2 1/2 hours from the borer of Texas. More importantly, it would only cost me about $42,000 at the time to complete the five years. The only downfall… is having to stay an additional 2 years to donate to the country (which is like missionary work anyway…so no big deal.) So that would have been 7 years in total.
A friend of my wife’s family, who was worked for UWI and was supposed to help me with a different financial rate when we got there, didnt do so. It made sense to be on that island with my wife pregnant because her mom helped with the baby. But for me, I spent more time in offices trying to stay in school than in classrooms. It was a very depressing time for me.
I came back to the US after 1 year of school…knowing I could not go back due to cost. I bought a little business trying my best to make due because now my wife couldnt work because she is not certified. Now we have two little ones. Our families have been there for us. When I see how my family is there for me, there’s no doubt I would have graduated UM debt-free, and I’m haunted with that everyday I put that shirt on for work. I’m haunted with it every time I struggle to find a way to pay certain bills.
I was supposed to graduate as a physician in 2009.
An unpopular school called IUHS out of St Kitts accepted me to start in January. It streams classes to you live and gives exams at designed areas until Step 1. Then you have to get rotations where you can get them until Step 2.
A) IUHS is my one option at this point. (4-7 year program depending how fast you go.) This program would cost me about $800 a month and you pay the other half after residency (I believe).
B) Another option is try to find the money to go to school called Medical University of America in Nevis. A off-shore program like IUHS but you actually sit in a classroom for the lectures. (4 year program)
C) Go to the University of Bridgeport in Aug 2009 for the 4 yr ND degree. (Just not sure how it would work if I wanted to be overseas or doing missionary work)
D)Do everything I have to do to prepare for the MCAT and start school here in the US in 2010 or more likely 2011.
If I were single, I think I would just go to Nevis because it doesnt look so bad for a single person to pick up and go to another country AGAIN. I’d be a physician in four years. But I’m not single.
I DONT know what to do…except to try something because I will be haunted with this forever it seems.
Have you looked into UAG in Guadalajara? That is were I plan on attending in the next 1 1/2 to 2 years - after getting my prereqs. It’s a great place to live!!! We live there now.