What are the rates of graduation and rates of transfer in caribbean schools?

[DrChris]

Hello all. I am interested in caribbean medical schools, as a backup plan if I don't get accepted to a US-MD school, and had some questions about data in regards to graduation rate and rate of transfer to US schools. I am interested in the major caribbean medical schools (one's that have full 50 state acceptance). I was reading so far that SGU has a much lower rate of attrition then Ross. One of the advantages of US schools is the peace of mind of a high graduation rate. I want to make sure I am making a sound investment, with as little risk as possible, especially when considering leaving the US. SABA, AUC, and UHMS are other schools I have been hearing about, but know nothing of the graduation rate. As far as my next question, knowing data (if published) about the transfer rate to US schools would be an interesting bit of information. I will be looking forward to chatting with you all about this topic and others.

[houmd]

Hello all. I am interested in caribbean medical schools, as a backup plan if I don't get accepted to a US-MD school, and had some questions about data in regards to graduation rate and rate of transfer to US schools. I am interested in the major caribbean medical schools (one's that have full 50 state acceptance). I was reading so far that SGU has a much lower rate of attrition then Ross. One of the advantages of US schools is the peace of mind of a high graduation rate. I want to make sure I am making a sound investment, with as little risk as possible, especially when considering leaving the US. SABA, AUC, and UHMS are other schools I have been hearing about, but know nothing of the graduation rate. As far as my next question, knowing data (if published) about the transfer rate to US schools would be an interesting bit of information. I will be looking forward to chatting with you all about this topic and others.

Don't come to the carib expecting to transfer into a US school. Transfers into LCME programs are EXTREMELY rare and I have never heard of a transfer into a US school outside of the Big4

[Phur]

Yea. You're not going to find detailed published reports for those things. The only things they are going to publish are what would make the school look good. Attrition rates are going to reflect negatively since they're much worse than LCME schools. The Big 4 will get you an MD if you put in the work. AUC, SGU and Ross are more expensive, but you can get federal loans. Saba is cheaper, but no federal loans. UHMS should not be in the same conversation with the other 4.

As for transferring, there are plenty of anecdotal stories, but like houmd said, don't count on it.

[DrChris]

Yea. You're not going to find detailed published reports for those things. The only things they are going to publish are what would make the school look good. Attrition rates are going to reflect negatively since they're much worse than LCME schools. The Big 4 will get you an MD if you put in the work. AUC, SGU and Ross are more expensive, but you can get federal loans. Saba is cheaper, but no federal loans. UHMS should not be in the same conversation with the other 4.

As for transferring, there are plenty of anecdotal stories, but like houmd said, don't count on it.

The reason I was asking about the first question is because I had seen a 34% attrition rate all over the web for Ross University. The report I heard about for SGU, which I did not hear as often, was an 89% graduation rate. As for the second question, I have heard some things about that, but just wanted to see if there was any data out there. Shouldn't the Board of Education or other organization be privy to all this information, since collaboration between the US and Caribbean schools is so vital to keeping Island schools in balance between accreditation systems?