Hello all. I will soon be applying to Caribbean med schools after taking the MCAT in April. I was previously only considering Ross and SGU, but after reading some of the posts, I am now considering AUC. Hopefully some of you can answer some questions for me.

How much time is spent on St. Maarten? I saw on the website that there is a semester starting in May, so does this mean you can work through the summers, much like Ross?What is the total number of months in the Carribean, from start to finish?

Both SGU and Ross have a clinical training semester-- Ross's is in Miami and SGU's is on St. Vincents. Does AUC require you to move for a clinical training semester as well?

Finally, do students have a choice in where they practice their clinicals? I want to end up in NYC and after viewing the website am a bit nervous about ending up in Ohio for two years.

I think that's it for now! Thanks!!

Stac'

About the same thing as Ross. 5 semesters on St. Maarten. You do go all year around. There may be some moving around for clinicals. Not all places have all things. You should be able to do MOST things at the same location. You can give preferences as where you want to do clinicals. You can likely stay in the north-east, if not NY.

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Is the fifth semester the clinical training semester?

Also, will you get your entire clinical assignment from the beginning? Meaning, if I have 5 rotations scheduled in NY and one scheduled in Baltimore, it will help my husband and I decide where to live. Or do they just let you know as you go along?

Thanks again for all of the help.

They say they will give you a schedule with all your cores mapped out. Electives are much more up to you, so you can sort of do that on your own a bit.

No one has answered yet if the fifth semester is the clinical traning semester, and I went to AAIMG's site (I know, people have problems with the validity of this site) and it lists as a deficiency: "The basic science curriculum does not provide supervised pre-clerkship training with adequate patient and hospital exposure before students enter third year clerkships." Can anyone tell me what this means? Please help me understand the fifth semester and what kind of clinical training AUC provides.

Also, when I do the math, it looks like you would be on the island for 20 months. Is this accurate?

Thanks again!!

Stac'

5th is the pre-clinical training, where they bring in professional patients for you to practice physical and histories on. You won't have much, if any, hospital experience prior to clinicals.

20 months is the time you will spend on the island if you pass all your classes. Many people decelerate to the 6-semester plan to ease their courseload, so they are here 24 months.

Does anyone think that not having any hospital experience or exposure may hinder AUC students going into their clinical rotations? Just looking for your opinions. Thanks.

Stac'

I can't imagine....while there are many people who have had clinical exposure of one type or another, there are an equal number who have not. In my class, there are a few RNs, a PA, an OD, and a chiropractor, but then again, we have a good number of students who came fresh out of college. Having hospital/clinical experience, in my humble estimation, probably can't hurt you though...


Aloha,

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