http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/07-30h-04.asp

Off-Shore Medical Schools
India Daily, Special Correspondent
July 30, 2004



Health care is the primary issue of concern in most of the developed countries like US, Canada and UK. While these countries see an increase in the health-care-cost, they also face physician shortages. It is a known fact that when the economy is booming the demand for admission to medical schools dwindle. Canada is faced with a severe shortage of physicians in many provinces. They had not approved new medical schools for several years. Recently they have started building a few Medical schools and increase the seats in the existing ones. The story in US is similar. Because of the strong hold of professional organizations and because of the recent cuts in research funding many Universities are reluctant to expand the scope of their medical schools.

The cost of training a physician in the United states have become very significant and to a certain extend prohibitive. When you know that publicly funded Medical schools like University of Illinois have recently increased the tuition substantially to offset their cost we will have a clear understanding of the problem. It has become practically impossible to graduate with a medical degree without incurring a loan liability of a quarter of a million dollars.

Because of this, a number of offshore medical schools have popped up in recent years. In some ways these schools have proved that they can provide quality medical education at a lower cost and offer the opportunity to the students who had been barred from admission to US & Canadian medical schools. This has raised concerns in the minds of the Medical Educators of the developed countries. Should Medical Schools bear the indirect cost of medical research? How much free service the Medical schools should provide to the community and at what cost the prospective students? One thing is very clear. If the new graduates incur such big liabilities as a result of their education, it is clear why the physician-part of the health care cost will not go down.

A question is asked in many circles. Whether the offshore schools are contributing to a surplus of physicians? The answer is clearly a resounding “NO”. Let us take for example the number of residency slots available in the US in comparison to the number of graduate pumped out each year. When you look at the numbers, it is clear the excess of residency slots are required to provide healthcare to the US community and that these have to filled by “Foreign Medical Graduates” or the “Offshore graduates”. Considering the fact that the migration of physicians from India and Pakistan is greatly reduced after the September-11, One have to look for graduates from elsewhere to fill the gap. The growing economy of Russia and Korea is causing a decrease in the supply of medical graduate from that country. What is left is Philippines and Israel. This is the gap the Offshore graduates are filling.

Now the question is whether the new offshore schools could keep up the standards in medical education? The answer is mixed. When there is an opportunity it is likely that some schister would want to make money on that. That is why it is important to study the structure and function of these schools, before one would venture to invest the years of training and the associated expenses.

There are medical schools in the Caribbean basin that provide high quality education comparable to that of US schools. Some are very big and graduate up to a thousand students a year. Some others thrive because they have accepted an ethical responsibility of providing quality care with less number of graduates per year. Since all these schools are for profit, the ones with small enrollments are having a tough time to attract investors to buy off the schools. However, it is cleat that some of these schools like “International American University College of Medicine” are doing a superb job in bringing up the standards of the Caribbean Medical Schools. It is simple fact that as the schools compete with each other, the only one’s that will survive are the ones which would provide high quality education at the lowest possible cost.

We had an opportunity to study International American University College of Medicine. This is a school that provide both 4-year MD program for those who hold a bachelor’s degree and a six-year MD program to those who just completed twelve years of High school. By being selective in its admission policy, diligent in providing services to the students and keeping up with the most modern curricular approaches like problem based learning with early introduction to clinical settings, this school is setting high standards for medical Education in the Caribbean basin. It is to be noted that only recently the American Medical schools have adopted these latest curricular changes promulgated by McMasters in Canada and adopted by Harward and other schools. This school is locate in a small island 25 miles long and 16 miles wide with a natural beauty that is not surpassed by many. Castris, in St. Lucia had been known as a tourist spot for some time. View Fort, tucked away from the hustle and bustle of tourism, in the other end of the island is the seat of the International American University. This town is blessed with an international airport where big jets bring travelers from Europe and US on a daily basis. IAU.COM is located in the heart of the town in a modern building which is fully air-conditioned with modern classrooms with all the audiovisual equipment, and the necessary laboratories and learning resource center.

An interview with the Executive Dean, Dr. **** T. Cherian made it clear that the goal of the school is to be the “Mayo-Clinic of the Caribbean” in the very near future. With this in mind, the school has limited its admission to a maximum of 60 students per admission cycle and to provide clinical exposure to the students from the second week of their education. The school able to boast that most of its teachers are clinician and that their student to teacher ration is in keeping with the US standards.

The student is given a crash course in medical ethics that culminates in a “white Coat Ceremony” denoting the acceptance of the student into a noble profession which demands life-long self education and diligence. You can see students huddled in the group rooms trying to solve the problems that they are given to solve. It is a great site to see students studying in the library late at night and yet be ready for class in the morning. The learning resource center is equipped with computers with a variety of medical education programs like “Slice of Life”. As you walk in to the building, your computer is automatically connected to the internet. Now a days, the internet has become a major source of information for medical students. They also use the internet to communicate to the outside world.

The administration is always at the beck and call of the students to solve any problems they are encountering. Mr. Syam Kumar, the Operations manager is convinced that the students should be given every assistance so that they can concentrate on the studies and studies alone. The students are housed n comfortable homes and apartments near the school. The school is launching a big housing project which will be completed in 10 months, says Syam.

Dr. Pramanik, the professor of Biochemistry says that the Executive Dean is fully invested in bringing p the best of teaching in each of the teachers. The objective based approach in lectures and examinations makes sure that the graduates from this school would easily complete the USMLE examinations and would be ready to take on any post-graduate specialty training. Dr. Mohite, a neurosurgeon was explaining the most complicated of connections in the brain in such understandable manner that other physicians in the island seek permission to attend his classes.

The Medical students and faculty members are actively involved in providing services to the local public. The Direct of Health for the island, Dr. King is excited about the prospectus of starting research laboratories in high-tech clinics under the auspicious of the Medical School. This is expected to bring many patients from the neighboring islands to the medical school for tertiary care.

It is clear that the management of the School housed in Dallas Texas is keen on setting up a high quality medical education program in the island. The School is listed by WHO and is approved by FAIMER and listed in I-med directory thereby making the graduates eligible to appear for the USMLE / PLAB examinations and get licensed in most of the countries including US, Canada and UK.

__________________
Moderator - State Licensing Forum

Still skeptical after all these years.
This is it. There are no hidden meanings.WYSIWYG

http://www.internetmedicalschool.homestead.com

http://www.chiropractormds.homestead.com/index.html

Are you sure this article is about AUC? It never mentions St. Martin...
my favorite phrase in the article is "some shister". Journalistic quality at it's best....

__________________
Saba Forum Moderator
Saba University School of Medicine, MSIV
Interests: Pediatrics, Psychiatry

AUC is the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine.

IAU is the International American University College of Medicine.

This acticle is NOT about AUC.

sorry....WHO is this school

http://imed.ecfmg.org/details.asp?co...06040&psize=25

__________________
Moderator - State Licensing Forum

Still skeptical after all these years.
This is it. There are no hidden meanings.WYSIWYG

http://www.internetmedicalschool.homestead.com

http://www.chiropractormds.homestead.com/index.html

Oh boy!

Aloha,

__________________
Pathology
PGY-1.75

The dean was at St. Chris..is it a joint venture with St. Chris?

__________________
Moderator - State Licensing Forum

Still skeptical after all these years.
This is it. There are no hidden meanings.WYSIWYG

http://www.internetmedicalschool.homestead.com

http://www.chiropractormds.homestead.com/index.html

Hard to soar with the eagles when you're surrounded by...nevermind.

Aloha,

__________________
Pathology
PGY-1.75

IAU.com doesn't exist either

__________________
You tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is 'never try'.
-Homer Simpson

See that St. Chris is looking for someone with a PHD who wants to get an MD to teach at Xaviar in Bonaire.......wonder what that means? does St. Chris run that one also?....you need a scorecard to know who is where and what on these schools.....

http://chronicle.com/jobs/id.php?id=295952

__________________
Moderator - State Licensing Forum

Still skeptical after all these years.
This is it. There are no hidden meanings.WYSIWYG

http://www.internetmedicalschool.homestead.com

http://www.chiropractormds.homestead.com/index.html

here is the website of the correct school

http://www.iauniversity.com/

__________________
Moderator - State Licensing Forum

Still skeptical after all these years.
This is it. There are no hidden meanings.WYSIWYG

http://www.internetmedicalschool.homestead.com

http://www.chiropractormds.homestead.com/index.html