saba inquiry

[plabon]

Hi, I am planning to apply for Saba in the fall. does any one know which states saba students are not allowed to apply for clinical??

another question that i had in mind is how hard is the visa process to do your clinical in States if youa re a canadian citizen?

[classic]

From what I've seen and been told, you can apply to do your clinical years (third and fourth years) in any state or hospital that's approved by the school. They have credentials and guidlines that have to be met by the hospital(s) you'll be training at. If you want to do your third and fourth years at a hospital that Saba doesn't already have clinical rotations set up at, you have to ask the school to send the hospital Chief the rotation details, and they in turn have to appove them and the school in turn has to appove you do your clinicals there. I think that is a really long runon (oh, well).
No info from me on the CF (Canadian Factor- and you thought I meant cytic fibrosis :wink: ).

[wolfvgang22]

As yoda would say, "Ask good questions you have, seek answers and find them you shall....mmmmm."Hi, I am planning to apply for Saba in the fall. does any one know which states saba students are not allowed to apply for clinical??


There are not any states where you absolutely cannot do clinicals after attending basic sciences at Saba. Generally, Saba only has affiliated hospitals in states where licensure is not much of a problem.

That said, you have to set your sights further than clinicals and think of licensure, your end goal. The State Medical Boards of each state have their own rules regarding the training of physicians, and how clinicals may be conducted in their individual state by licensure candidates.

For example, in Texas, you may do clinicals there, but unless you enroll as a "visiting medical student" at one of the state of Texas' medical schools you will be barred from licensure there, and your clinicals will be deemed as unacceptable by the Texas State Medical Board. (This very situation has happened recently.) Getting accepted as a visiting medical student in Texas is about as hard as transferring to a Texas school, from what I understand. (Snowballs chance in hell.) This rule currently applies to ALL non-Texas schools. They don't care if you went to Harvard, that's the rule. Texas is one of the hardest states to get licensed in.

Previously, before Saba was granted NY approval, students could only do a maximum of 12 weeks clincals there and still be eligible for NY licensure. Now that Saba has NY approval, Saba students can do all the clinicals and then residency they want in NY state.
Hopefully, with CA approval taking place in Nov. or Dec. this year for Saba, clinicals and residencies and licensure will be more easily attainable there soon.

The rules seem to change for some states every 6 months or so, to some degree. Each student should read the medical licensure rules on the website of each state you are interested in doing clinicals in and later on applying for licensure, so you don't get screwed by the rules.
Here's a link to a list of the websites of the different state medical boards rules for licensure:
http://www.fsmb.org/members.htm

States that have been traditinally known as tough are CA, TX, PA, KS, OR, and I think Indiana. Oh yeah, Alaska is a pain in the butt, too.

another question that i had in mind is how hard is the visa process to do your clinical in States if you are a canadian citizen?
For this, the best info I've ever seen is on **** ****'s website:
http://www.caribbeanmedicine.com/openletter.htm
Just copy and paste the above link into your browser, the "Open Letter" to Canadians is the good stuff.

May the Force be with you! 8)

[classic]

Doesn't the admissions packet have a long list of states where students are doing clinicals. The license buisness and residency is a different story; however, I didn't think clinicals would be a limiting factor if the school and the teaching hospital are in agreement

[wolfvgang22]

Yes, the acceptance packet does have a pretty good list. You can do clinicals anywhere Saba has an agreement.

But it's up to the individual student to make sure that you are complying with state law regarding licensure. Usually clinicals aren't the limiting factor for licensure in most states; I just brought up the the fact that some of the tougher states have these laws purposely designed to keep out IMGs, unless you are paying attention to them. Just a "heads up".

[Polopiach]

Yes, I agree with both Classic and Wolfvgang22 about the rules governing licensing in various states. Indeed the Saba acceptance packet does have a pretty good list of clinical sites in the US...! A challange to the would-be-doctors though: if one state has unrealistic rules that limit the licensure of the IMGs, realizing that USA has 50 states, why not seek licensure in a nother state that would be friendlier to you as an IMG? Personally, I am not dreaming of practising in TX, CA nor NY, although I wouldn't mind doing my clinicals there! Right now, ny ambition is to train as an M.D. in Saba, pass my USMLE steps, go for a respectable residency and seek licensure. I believe that once you pass all your boards, one would not have a problem!

Polopiach!

[plabon]

Thanks for the quick response guys. the fact that i am planning to go to the carribean for med school is a big decission in it self. i have been told its a up hill battle to graduate from a medical school there and then practice in the States. how much of this is true? what are some of the uphill battles people had to face as carribean MD graduates? if i end up in a situation where i can do only 12 weeks of clinical in one state, does that mean i will have to hop states every 12 weeks or so?

[ResearchingGuy]

I don't know the particulars but I know that a huge portion of my friends here are Canadian. I'll try to get somebody in touch with you.

Best of Luck!