medical school is more than just studying science..it is a whole process that includes modeling after your professors,etc. I do not believe that med schools in the US or other first worlds will go to solely online study for the first 2 years but who knows. I do not believe that US med schools are the best/only way to go...but I do believe that professors qualifications have some direct bearing. There are many people with science backgrounds who could probably pass the USMLE's without going to med school....but that isn't the only thing one needs.

It appears I'm not going to answer your question with the answers you want but lets say this...I admire you for going to a Mexican med school. They prepare good doctors. I volunteer with Doctors To The World/Dentists To The World and we have seen the good work of Mexican drs/dentists in the rural health centers where young doctors must intern. With relatively poor equipment they turn out good medicine. I witnessed birds flying out of an operating suite in Gtz. Zamora,Veracruz, where my wife is from. Our group donated an air conditioner so that they could close up their operating room again.

Medical education is complex to non-medical people like me but I am thinking that I prefer my care providers to have gone to medical school and not through the computer. As one med school prof told me "I help people learn things by throwing them the mike and asking them to describe something on the fly...a skill they must learn when they have to make decisions in a similiar fashion in real life. I want to see the whites of their eyes as they deal with stress and I can help them."

Az-Skeptic Dean Hughson

The first two years of medical school are not merely "prep courses" for USMLE Step I. It's for you to build the basic foundation of a career in medicine. Otherwise, why not just go the Kaplans review courses? I'm sure people can pass USMLE Step I simply with Kaplan's review courses. Besides, 6 students is hardly a statistically significant number in terms of statistical power.

There are things in the first two years of medical school that simply cannot be taught by computer. Things like Physical Diagnosis. You simply cannot teach someone how to palpate a liver, auscultate heart sounds... etc by computer. Plus, patient interview skills, patient contact (you know, the art of medicine) simply cannot be taught in the sterile setting of internet... you need actual people. This is why, as you said, there are superb basic science students who do miserably in their clinical years. And this is why intergrating patient contacts from the very first semister of med school is crucial in educating competent physicians in both the science and ART of medicine. Most medical schools do this nowadays... and this is why, to answer your question, Basic Science education in the US will NEVER be completely internet driven. Real world patient contacts, guided by experienced clinicians/professors must start from Day 1 of medical school. And, medical school is a full time endever... it's not something you can do part time on the internet while holding a job. In fact, most US schools prohibts their students from working during school year.

So, to quote one of my professors again, the first two years of medical school is not a "prep course" for Step I. If that's all it takes to become a competent physician, Kaplans would have become the premier medical school in the US with branch campuses in every town.

Picard

__________________
Jean Luc Picard
Academic Hospitalist/Assist. Professor of Medicine, Star Fleet Medical, Earth, United Federation of Planets
Borg-Certified... Resistance is Futile.

In Glock, We Trust... Everyone Else... Keep Your Hands Where I Can See Them.

http://www.odmp.org/search.php?searc...=2001&cause=27
http://www.nypdangels.com/wtc.htm
http://www.hampsteadnh.us/police/A%2...ica%20Died.htm
http://longmontpolice.com/MEMORIAM.HTM

Because like you well indirectly stated, it is a matter of opinion. I base mine on many years dealing with different characters from different medical schools, and I have seen my fair share of everything. From those who consider basic sciences as a prep course for the USMLE(Both from the U.S. as wel as Caribbean schools) to those who consider basic sciences sacred religion. I have seen excellent basic sciences students who don't have a clue as to how medicine works until their clinical years, some in residency. (Both U.S. and Caribbean) and I have seen those who have mastered this science from day one.


Unfortunately the medical boards won't license people from KAPLAN studies. I agree though, that many exceptionally brilliant people who have never seen a medical school can take and pass the USMLE with a KAPLAN REFRESHER COURSE. and that is precisely my point concerning distance education and BASIC SCIENCES.

I do believe, however that eventually many,NOT ALL, U.S. Schools will do their basic sciences online, or independently like O.S.U. with some sort of supervision. My point is, that by the day they attempt this, it has already been done in Australia and the Caribbean. That the IUHS Model may be a failure or not, let time be the judge of that, not us. At least it has not been a failure at Ohio State or Sydney.

In my case, as long as the guy stiching me passed his clinicals and residency at a good hospital and passed his boards and is respected among his peers, I can care less were he learned basic sciences.

WE are all speculating here as to how the future will turn out. Some of us are more optimistic than others. This has been a great exercise.

Lets remember, the future is just once second ahead of us, and the past is one second behind.

I am leaving now for my 32 hour shift.

Sayonara

Six students may not be significant for statistical purposes, but how do you think that SGU, in Grenada started? It was a laughing stock just like IUHS IS NOW. a REFUGEE SCHOOL for U.S. STUDENTS WHO COULD NOT MAKE IT HERE. I was in the Coast Guard in 1983 when the U.S., invaded Grenada and we rescued those first students. I wish you could have seen those facilities, it was pathetic.

That said, look at how respected SGU is 20 some years later. They grew and matured, maybe IUHS will do the same, who knows. But the same criticism you and many others give to this particular school, are exactly the same Ross, AUC and SGU had many years ago. Regardless all these schools are considered and will always be considered money making machines. Some do it better than others.

I base my opinion on many years dealing with different characters from different medical schools, and I have seen my fair share of everything. From those who consider basic sciences as a prep course for the USMLE(Both from the U.S. as wel as Caribbean schools) to those who consider basic sciences sacred religion. I have seen excellent basic sciences students who don't have a clue as to how medicine works until their clinical years, some in residency. (Both U.S. and Caribbean) and I have seen those who have mastered this science from day one.


Unfortunately the medical boards won't license people from KAPLAN studies. I agree though, that many exceptionally brilliant people who have never seen a medical school can take and pass the USMLE with a KAPLAN REFRESHER COURSE. and that is precisely my point concerning distance education and BASIC SCIENCES.

I do believe, however that eventually many,NOT ALL, U.S. Schools will do their basic sciences online, or independently like O.S.U. with some sort of supervision. My point is, that by the day they attempt this, it has already been done in Australia and the Caribbean. That the IUHS Model may be a failure or not, let time be the judge of that, not us. At least it has not been a failure at Ohio State or Sydney.

In my case, as long as the guy stiching me passed his clinicals and residency at a good hospital and passed his boards and is respected among his peers, I can care less were he learned basic sciences. Bear in mind, many U.S. SCHOOLS as well as MANY international schools won't let you to see patients during basic sciences. The great exception I would say are Osteopathic schools. Notice is used the word MANY, not all, so I am being exclusive not inclusive here.

WE are all speculating here as to how the future will turn out. Some of us are more optimistic than others. This has been a great exercise.

Lets remember, the future is just once second ahead of us, and the past is one second behind.

I am leaving now for my 32 hour shift.

Usually when daddy and mummy are dishonest, so are the children.

This school is run under the St Kitts charter of IUHS. After almost a year it still has not got its own charter.

But if you can understand the dishonesty of its parent school IUHS, you can understand that you might face certain challenges here even if you attend full time.

I would stay away from this place. There are other places to go. Find out if its incorporated in St Kitts too, cause if so, if anything goes wrong, you will have no recourse.

just checking and see

so just plain and simply... it sucks

Hello. The London Hospital Medical College (LHMC) merged with St. Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College (SBHMC) despite much resistance between both parties in the early 90s forming Barts and the London School of Medicine (BLSM), which I go to. Merges between medical school was a trend at that time in London. Unfortunately many medical schools lost their identities. It pains me to say that BLSM is now the medical faculty of Queen Mary, University of London (which we all hate with passion!). You can go to the BLSM website by following this link:Welcome to Barts and The London, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry
Do not be confused by a new private medical college (London Medical College) which has nothing whatsoever to do with the Royal London Hospital.