Hey all. I am in the process of finishing my pre-med requisites and plan on applying to medical school in about a year. I have been doing alot of research on medical schools and weighing my options. During my research, I came across Caribbean med schools, in particular AUC.

As I see it, some of the negatives of a Caribbean med school are (1) stigma associated with foreign med school; (2)less choice for clinical rotations; (3) less chance for residency location of your choice; (4) harder to get into residency specialty of your choice. The general consensus seems to be that the Caribbean medical schools are limited to those people who could not get into US med schools. Also the consensus seems to be that if a person had a choice between a US med school vs. a Caribbean med school, they would be crazy to choose the Caribbean med school.

Caribbean med schools do seems to have some strong points though all of which are HIGHLY appealing to me: (1)for a person who loves to travel and experience new cultures and lifestyles, the chance to spend a few years on a remote island is quite appealing; (2) because of the trimester schedule of most Caribbean med schools, med school can be finished in a little over three years as opposed to four; (3) because of the trimester schedule, there is no need for a full lag year between applying and attending; (4) if you plan on going into family practice or internal medicine, the limitation on program specialties does not really hurt you; (5) the limited clinical rotations allow you to visit multiple cities, including some European cities, in order to complete your core; (6) you can skip the expensive and tiring amcas application process.

I am a strong believer that your med school experience is what you make of it. People that whine and complain will whine and complain even if they won the lottery. People that are optimistic will see the bright side in every situation. With that said, the good points of Caribbean med schools mentioned above REALLY appeal to me. If someone loves to experience new cultures and surroundings, enjoys the aura associated with the tropics or beach, finds the idea of multiple city and country experiences for clinicals appealing, plans on practicing medicine in a low-demand speciality, and also likes the idea of finishing medical school a little earlier, what are the unmentioned problems with attending a Caribbean medical school?

With this being said, I would love to hear from some current or past AUC students about whether or not it is crazy to attend a Caribbean med school if you have the stats to get into a US School? Does attending a Caribbean med school make it more difficult to practice medicine, open your own practice, or get equal salaries in comparison with those who attend a US school?

Thanks in advance for your responses,

Kermit

If you have the stats for a US med school then you should take that option because of it being the easier road.However if like you said above you are interested in family practice or internal medicine and really like the idea of going to school on and island in the Caribbean then you am I to stop you. I like being here (island, school etc) but if I could have gotten into a US MD program I would have gone to aviod the hassles but my interests are in ER. In the end you are the only person who can decide what is right for you and how well you handle situations that may arise.
There are also schools in Australia and Europe to consider and they don't seem to have quite the same stigma as a Caribbean school.

Good luck in you choice

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(6) you can skip the expensive and tiring amcas application process.

Also, although I am at another school down here, I have visited SXM. The expense of the AMCAS pales in comparision to the extra expense of living in the Caribbean.

Lets see...Pros:
- Caribbean schools in general are much easier to get into than US schools
- AUC has a beautiful campus
- St. Martin is nice as well, lots to see and do
- There's a much wider variety of hospitals (in many different states in the US) to do clinicals in (now if those slots are actually open when you want them is a different story....). Most US schools only allow you to choose from about 1-3 hospitals.

Cons:
- There definately is a stigma associated with Caribbean schools so when you get to clinicals/residency you have to work twice as hard as US students in order to "prove" that you're not inferior
- AUC likes to change the school policies quite often (insurance policy, class scheduling, etc). In my opinion it needs more structure in these areas, but there's a new dean coming so hopefully things will get ironed out
- Just as a warning, many students take 6-7 ( currently there are a few (very few) taking 8) semeters to finish here so don't be in a hurry to get out in exactly 5 because there's a high chance that it won't happen.
- AUC also likes to "hide" the truth from students at times. I've seen this in the areas of getting correct info about how many students pass Step I, amounts of US clinical slots (how hard it actually is to get the slots you want), how we really stand (the IMG stigma) compared to US students, etc. I understand they don't want to scare us, but this whole utopian view will only hurt students the end.
- Basically, this school is here to make money, and teaching/academics comes in second.....I'll just leave that one alone...take it as you may.


All in all, compared to the other caribbean schools, AUC is the best choice in my opinion. It gets the job done....you will become a doctor. BUT, if you can get into a US school, BY ALL MEANS go to a US school!

This is the way i always felt-the caribbean appealed to me strongly for same reason as the poster. Call me nuts, but if I got into a US school in my homestate, which I hate, I'd have to actually think about going! I just want internal med, then do a fellowship. Shouldnt be too hard, i imagine from the caribbean. Plus, as older students, the caribb makes more sense.
So, if it's what you want, go for it.Diffn't strokes for diffn't folks...

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** C.

Well, it's probably best to stay in the states if you can. First, you have all the comforts of home. Less hassles and hoops you have to jump through. More opportunities. Things like that.

Both will get you where you want to go, but if you have the option of not having to add "extra preload" and "afterload" :-) why would you want to?

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Don't forget that caribbean grads have to do 3 years of residency in most states to qualify for licensure. This means you'll lose out on moonlighting opportunities during residency. This is a loss of big $$$ to supplement your income.
U.S. grads can typically get licensed after only one year, so they can do moonlighting.

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I also think that you should try to get into a U.S. school before jumping into a Caribbean school. You may be interested in FP or IM now, but who knows you may change your mind later and kick yourself.

I think it's great that you've done a lot of research because this is a huge decision. Best of luck!