Transferring from one Carib school to another- safer to start over?

[Mark99]

What if someone transferred from Ross to St. Matthews. Both schools are approved by New York for example. But would it still be "safer" from a licensing standpoint to start all over again at St. Matthews to make sure there are no licensing problems later on?

[microphage]

I think it'd be safer to goto Saba or SGU or AUC or back to Ross if u don't wanna worry as much about licensing issues

[medox]

I don't get why people are so paranoid over transferring when it comes to licensing.

Sure if you transfer and do any of your med ed at a CA nonapproved school then you can't get licensed in CA or states that may go by CA's list.

But transferring by itself won't prevent you from getting licensed as long as both schools are legit, which most Caribbean schools are. It will just mean an extra set of transcripts to be sent out and documents to be signed when you apply for a license.

Unless people mean something else when they say they'll have "problems" with licensing if they transfer.

[jpryor]

I don't get why people are so paranoid over transferring when it comes to licensing.

Don't ignore a reality of life. Transferring is a red flag to medical boards. While you may see the reason to transfer as benign and legitimate, the medical board sees it as a harbinger of potential problems. You may be perfectly capable of providing a well-rationalized reason for your transfer, but the board may see it as a cover story for poor performance or personality problems. A medical board considers the selection of a medical school as a significant part of a doctor's life, reflecting reasoning abilities and perserverance. If you 'cut and run' during your education, what does that say about your approach to medicine?

You should be paranoid. Consider all options and perceptions. Agonize over every detail. Then make your best decision and once you've made that decision, quit worrying about it.

[medox]

Don't ignore a reality of life. Transferring is a red flag to medical boards. While you may see the reason to transfer as benign and legitimate, the medical board sees it as a harbinger of potential problems. You may be perfectly capable of providing a well-rationalized reason for your transfer, but the board may see it as a cover story for poor performance or personality problems. A medical board considers the selection of a medical school as a significant part of a doctor's life, reflecting reasoning abilities and perserverance. If you 'cut and run' during your education, what does that say about your approach to medicine?

You should be paranoid. Consider all options and perceptions. Agonize over every detail. Then make your best decision and once you've made that decision, quit worrying about it.


That is exactly what I mean by being paranoid. Sure it is a "red flag" (I always find it funny how med students agonize over perceived red flags), but anything other than progressing straight through from elementary school ---> residency can be seen as a red flag.

You may be asked why you transferred but in the end it's highly unlikely to be denied a license over moving schools while you were still a med student, unless one of the schools was banned in the state or otherwise deemed inadequate.

Remember, residents transfer between programs all the time. Some residents don't get their contracts renewed (effectively getting fired) from their first program and transfer to another. Some transfer more than once, have to repeat a year or two until they finally finish residency. All I suppose would be "red flags" when they apply for a permanent license. But so far all the med students and residents I've known who have transferred have gotten licensed and what they've told me was that it involved a little more paper chasing.

[ut_cougar]

Well would it be a problem if a student transfers up? Say a student goes to AUA for a year and then transfers to Ross (because Ross has Cali approval or easier approval for TX, etc) and the student starts all over again at Ross. They will look up upon that, not down, right? If a student doesn't get into Ross but ends up doing really well at another Carib school and then gets into ross (to start all over) I think that would be cool, it is understandable.

[PathOne]

obviously, if you're currently at a non-Cali approved school, and have plans to go to California, you'd need to stat all over at one of the Cali-approved schools.

In othe instances, it'll probably very much have to be an individual decision about what to do. If I sat on a medical board (I do not), I'd certainly ask some questions about the reason for a transfer, so in that sense I can understand that some could fear red flags. However, if there's a easily understandable reason for the transfer, I couldn't really be bothered. Still, it's of course advantageous that you spend all four years at the same school.