www.AAIMG.com? "Bad Schools"

[hi]

What do you guys think of this website? They evaluate all international medical schools where U.S./canadians students attend. Some schools have bigtime "red flags" and below is the list. What do you guys think?

The following schools were noted to have multiple, serious deficiencies. AAIMG urges prospective applicants to proceed with caution and to carefully investigate any school listed below in order to arrive a their own conclusions. Applicants are encouraged to read the AAIMG web page section titled, “Words of Wisdom”.
Please refer to Sections I-VIII under the heading of "AAIMG Evaluation Criteria" to obtain a key to interpret this report. It is suggested that you download the entire text before proceeding to the individual study results.


Windsor School of Medicine,
St. Christopher, West Indies, 2000
Deficiencies
Section I a,b,c,d,g
Section II b,c,d,f,
Section III b,c,d,e,g,h,k
Section IV c,f,g,j,m
Section V a,d,e,f,h,j,l,m
Section VI a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,j
Section VII b,c,e,f,g,i
Section VIII e
The entire campus consists of two small rented buildings in an industrial area. Classrooms are poorly equipped with no real labs or library facilities. No catalog, course descriptions or curriculum breakdown. Small permanent faculty, no listing of clinical hospital affiliations. No federal or regulated private loans. School moved from Turks and Caicos islands where it initially operated with no W.H.O. listing.
University of Sint Eustatius,
St. Eustatius, Netherlands Antilles, 1999
Deficiencies
Section I b,c,d,h
Section II c,d,k,l
Section III b,c,d,e,,i
Section IV c,f
Section V c,e,f,h,j,l,m
Section VI b,d,e,f,h
Section VII b,e,f,g
Section VIII b
Different admission standards and curriculum adjustments exist for large foreign national student contingent. No permanent campus; classrooms are rented local buildings. Insufficient library space and holdings. Minimal 32 month total curriculum with unrealistic number of basic science courses crammed into four, 16 week terms. Does not publish hospital affiliations or loan programs. Accepts large number of transfer students, some without proper documentation or completion of a full basic science curriculum.
International University of the Health Sciences,
St. Christopher, West Indies, 1997
Deficiencies
Section I b,c,g
Section II a,b,d,e,f,h,I,j
Section III b,c,d,h,i
Section IV c,d,f
Section V b,c,e,h,j
Section VI b.c.d.e.f.h
Section VII a,c
Section VIII a,b,c
Distance learning curriculum. Grants advanced placement; full-time residence on St. Kitts not required. Problem based learning on computer with tutorials. No labs or library at campus site which is a solitary rented building, “ Brannigan House”. Lacks permanent faculty. No list of clinical sites, no federal or regulated private loans.
St. Matthews School of Medicine,
Ambergis Caye, Belize, Central America, 1997
Deficiencies
Section I b,c,h
Section II e,k,l
Section III b,c,d,
Section IV c,f,g,m
Section V d,e,f,h,I,j,l,m,n
Section VI b,e,h
Section VII e,f,i
Section VIII c
School formerly listed as “Provisional” has experienced serious internal management problems and has failed to expand or build a more permanent campus. Relocation of basic science campus announced to unknown site for term beginning in 5/02. Library remains inadequate. No local hospital or health care experience yet established. Portion of instruction done in USA may create licensing problems and is still not realistically addressed by school.
University of the Health Sciences, Antigua,
West Indies, 1982
Deficiencies
Section I a,b,c,d,g,h
Section II a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,j,k,l
Section III b,c,d,h,j,k
Section IV f,g,I,k,m
Section V b,c,e,f,,h,j,k,l,m,n
Section VI a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,
Section VII b,c,d,e,f,g
Section VIII a,b,c,d
Distance learning, part-time attendance, advanced placement to allied health professionals is part of this curriculum. Insufficient laboratories and library at small permanent campus. No list of clerkship affiliations or preceptors. Stafford loans withdrawn on emergency basis in 1995, no financial aid programs. Letters sent by several graduates with complaint of inability to obtain transcripts and vital licensing endorsements.
Spartan Health Sciences University,
St. Lucia, West Indies, 1981
Deficiencies
Section I a,b,c,d,h
Section II a,b,c,d,f,g,j,k,l
Section III c,d,k
Section IV c,f,m
Section V b,ce,f,h,j,l,m
Section VI a,b,e,f,h,I
Section VII c,e,f,I
Section VIII a,b,e
No catalog and web site and admission packet provide brief listing of courses. Permanent campus exists with small faculty who each teach several courses. Minimal 32 month curriculum is an unrealistic, piecemeal approach to basic sciences. Two cadavers are present in tiny anatomy lab. Small library with insufficient holdings. No listing of hospital affiliations and students must pay own clerkship fees. Federal loans withdrawn 1997. History of legal sanctions by California and injunctions by Texas Attorney General.
St. James School of Medicine,
Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, 2000
Deficiencies
Global: Categories I-VIII
Minimal classroom building without labs or proper instructional material located nearby local hospital on Bonaire. Despite advertising and solicitation of students, basic science campus has not opened in either September 2001 or January 2002.
Granting advanced placement to allied health professionals, no loan programs.
Central American Health Sciences University,
Belize City, Belize, Central America, 1996
Deficiencies
Section I a,b,c,d,f,h
Section II a,b,c,e,f,g,j,k,l
Section III b,cd,e,g,h,k
Section IV a,b,c,d,f,g,j,l,m
Section V b,c,d,e,f,h,j,k, l,m,n
Section VI b,c,d,e,f,g,h,I,j
Section VII c,d,e,g,I
Section VIII d,e
School is located in a rented building in a suburb of Belize City. Students live in nearby hotel. Physical facility lacks proper labs and instructional equipment and there is no library. Minimal faculty presence with no published list or credentials. School does not publish a hospital affiliation list. History of sanctions by Texas Attorney General.
American International School of Medicine,
Georgetown, Guyana, Central America
Deficiencies
Section I b,c,d,f,g,h
Section II a,c,d,e,f,g,h,j
Section III b,c,d,e,h,i,k
Section IV a,c,f,g,m
Section V b,d,e,f,h,j,k,l,m,n,o
Section VI a,b,c,d,e,f,gh,I,j
Section VII b,d,e,f,g
Section VIII a,c
Minimal facilities and labs although experience available in local hospitals. Minimally qualified faculty with no listing of medical school or postgraduate training. Tuition refunds given only in the case of proven serious illness. No listing of affiliate hospitals or preceptors. Gives advanced placement to allied health professionals and clerkship credit for on the job training. No external loan programs. Admission office sanctioned by State of Georgia Office of Postsecondary education.
Centro de Estudios Universitarios Xochimilco,
Ensenada, Mexico
Deficiencies
Section I b,c,d,f,gh
Section II a,b,c,e,f,g,h,I,j,l
Section III b,cd,h,I,k
Section IV a,f,g,k,m
Section V d,f,g,h,l,n
Section VI b,c,d,e,f,g,h,I,j
Section VII c,d,e,f,g,I
Section VIII a,b,d
This school was featured in 1992 on a national investigative news program and subsequently lost U.S. Federal loans. The campus has been housed in a former hotel. There are no labs and few fulltime faculty. Admission standards, course attendance and testing requirements are lax. There is no list of affiliated hospitals and poor clinical supervision. This school has opened and closed in a number of locations in Mexico for the past 15 years.


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U.K. Schools that cater to american students.

St. Christopher University ,
Kigezi International,
Grace University,
Cambridge, England, is an ancient university town and home to many prestigious British colleges. Ringing the major educational center are dozens of language and preparatory schools that capitalize on the Cambridge name to increase enrollment. These visiting students rent local housing and are able to mingle with the students from various Cambridge colleges by eating in their student cafeterias (called butteries) and through common use of recreational and library facilities. They frequently employ local faculty on a part-time basis.

Three off-shore medical schools with World Health Organization Charters in third world countries have capitalized on the Cambridge name to attract students. St. Christopher's College of Medicine, chartered in Senegal, consists of little more than a rented office and a few classrooms in the center city above commercial shops and a Burger King. A lecture classroom is rented on a regular basis at nearby St. Catherine College. Anatomy students must commute one day a week to London to do anatomy dissection. Otherwise no labs, permanent faculty with credentials or library facilities exist. The school advertises another campus at Luton Polytechnic but AAIMG evaluators were unable to find an office or information about a St. Christopher Program at this location. Photo Gallery pictures of classrooms on the web page are misleading and represent facilities of other institutions.

Walking out the main road from the center city, one encounters Kigezi Medical College which holds a W.H.O charter in Uganda. The building is slightly better than that of St. Christopher but still a far cry from anything resembling a medical school. The facilities are three rented small floors of offices on a back walkway. There are a few classrooms and a small library with about 50 books, a tutorial room and a dozen computer terminals. Anatomy is taken at a medical school in the USA and students are required to return to Uganda for 12 weeks of clerkships and may take electives in tropical medicine. Faculty names and credentials are not listed and like its counterparts, this school depends primarily on part-time faculty from other institutions and borrows instructional and recreational facilities of other colleges.

On the outskirts of Cambridge near the train station is the Cambridge "sub-campus" of Grace University, most recently chartered in Belize. The entire facility is the upper floor of a small brick building located in a rundown neighborhood. The entire instructional area consists of a few rented rooms reached by climbing a narrow stairway reeking of mildew. This has been the site of Grace's advanced standing program for medical professionals. This school has received sanctions and cease and desist orders from the Florida State Board of Secondary education. As of December 2001 there was no campus in Belize.

St. Christopher University School of Medicine
Deficiencies
Section I a,b,c,d,f,g
Section II b,c,e,f,g,j,k,l
Section III a,b,c,d,f,h,I,k
Section IV c, d,f,g,
Section V b,c,d,e,f,h,j,k,l,m,n
Section VI a,b,c,d,e,f,g,I,j
Section VII b,e,f,
Section VIII e

Kigezi International School of Medicine
Deficiencies
Section I a,b,c,e,f,h
Section II b,f,g,k,l
Section III a,b,c,d,h,j,k
Section IV c,d,f,g,m
Section V b,c,d,e,f,h,j,k,l,m,n
Section VI a,b,c,de,f,g,j
Section VII b,c,d,f
Section VIII d

Grace University, Belmopan, Belize, Central America 2000
Deficiencies
Section I a,b,c,d,f,gh
Section II a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,j,k.l
Section III a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,I,j,k
Section IV c,f,g,I,k,m
Section V a,b,c,d,e,f,h,j,k,l,m,n
Section VI b,c,d,e,f,g,h,I,j
Section VII b,c,d,e,f,g,h
Section VIII a,c,d



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[dt]

When I first saw the site, I thought great to have someone who actually went to every single foreign schools around the whole world and evaluate them with a set of criteria.

Then, after a while, I realized that one should look at the site with some caution. Consider the following:

1. the reports on the site are not dated,
2. who actually did visit the different schools,
3. did the same people go to every school reported on,
4. many schools are missing in the reports,
5. are the 2 people on the contact list real,
6. why have not the website been updated,
7. what are the biases/conflict-of-interests of the critics,
8. who paid for the visits, the reports, the website upkeep,
9. has anyone actually seen the 2 people on the contact list,
10. are they really that altruistic? If so, why did they stop updating the reports?


Having considered all that, one should look at the site as a slick marketing spin. There are informations in the reports to consider, but do realize the whole website is a sort of advertisement.


dt

[hi]

I didn't see any ad banners. Here is how they conducted the study which seems reasonable.


EVALUATION PROCESS FOR
EXAMINING INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL SCHOOLS

Alarmed by the world wide proliferation of medical schools recruiting U.S. citizens, in 1999 AAIMG launched a comprehensive study of Caribbean Basin medical schools to assist prospective medical students with objective screening criteria and evaluative data. Since that period, evaluations of medical schools catering to American citizens in Mexico, Central America and Eastern Europe have been completed. The small number of schools in the Pacific Basin have not yet merited the time and fiscal expenditures necessary to do a proper survey.

Initially, the World Health Organization was contacted to verify current listing of all schools in these regions. In some cases, local government were contacted to determine actual physical presence of the medical school and the ability of graduates to be licensed in that country. Marketing materials such as catalogs and web sites were carefully analyzed. Telephone calls were made to recruiting offices by "prospective" applicants with a standard list of questions. In some cases, email correspondence was initiated. Special attention was paid to asking questions that would identify schools willing to deviate from stated admission criteria, especially those medical schools granting advanced standing to allied health care professionals. Additional questions focused on distance learning components of the curriculum as well as fulltime onsite attendance requirements at the basic science campus.

Site visits were made to admission offices by AAIMG members posing as prospective applicants or as an applicant-parent team. "Applicants" visited each basic science campus for tours and interviewed as many students, administrators and faculty members as time constraints permitted. Directors of hospital Medical Education departments and some preceptors were contacted to verify the medical school affiliation and comment on the quality of the medical students in schools under evaluation. An attempt was made to determine if the international medical school made any liaison efforts with the clerkship site and made regular visits to monitor student performance. Comprehensive data searches were conducted to determine if schools in the study had any history of legal problems with state licensing boards or loan groups. Any complaint or written material sent directly to AAIMG indicating serious infractions was verified through original sources by a thorough investigation and first hand documentation.

We are pleased to release the results of our second set of evaluations of medical schools located in the Caribbean Basin, Mexico and Central America. The results represent an expanded evaluation process and a list of deficiencies by category and evaluation objective. A total of 25 medical schools with programs admitting U.S. students were visited by our evaluation teams. Eleven medical schools were identified as meeting or exceeding minimum criteria in all evaluation categories, 13 were deficient and one new school was granted provisional status.

AAIMG does not endorse any single school or program. It is purely an information source to assist applicants in making informed, realistic choices. All prospective medical students are urged to do their own investigation and draw their own conclusions by making a personal visit to the medical admission office and the basic science campus of any school in their final selection pool. However, it is the policy of AAIMG, however, to automatically place in the deficient category any school granting advanced placement to allied health professionals. Likewise, any school with significant distance learning components as part of the curriculum or part-time attendance requirements is placed in the deficient category.

[dt]

My comments/questions still stand.

I had already look through 95% of the web site. And I have already seen the webpage you cut-and-paste'd. By the way, it's better to use an URL to point to the webpage.


dt

[Beaker]

http://www.fowma.com/bogus_asso.htm

Bogus (Fraud) Associations

AAIMG (American Association of International Medical Graduates)

About AAIMG.....! (American Associations of International Medical Graduates)
FOWMA has performed investigations through its councils, Committees, Commissions and task forces into the authenticity of several associations throughout the world. FOWMA will update the information from time to time on bogus, scam, fraud associations for all health care professionals who are looking into opportunities all over the world.

FOWMA is releasing the following information on AAIMG ( American Association of International Medical Graduates ) based on its detailed research and investigations through its task force.

1. AAIMG is a fraud and bogus organization.

2. AAIMG has registered in State of Nevada without any address. The listed address on the web site is 1802 N. Carson Street, Carson city, NV 89701 USA. There is no such existing address with AAIMG office.

3. AAIMG has no telephone numbers or Fax numbers listed to its association

4. The so called President Dr. Thomas Moore does not exist and is no one by that name in United States listed under AAIMG in any telephone directory or public information booklets like Staate Board licence, registration or any other source. The email listed as presaaimg@hotmail.com is a public hot mail with no direct email to AAIMG.

5. The so called Secretary Sarah B. Weinstein does not exist and is no one by that name in United States listed under AAIMG in any telephone directory or public information booklets like Staate Board licence, registration or any other source. The email listed as execsecaaimg@hotmail.com is a public hot mail with no direct email to AAIMG

6. FOWMA has investigated into the hosting of web site of AAIMG, which is a bogus scam and fraud association. The web site is hosted by a Russian web host company. AAIMG is a bogus web site and association hosted in Russia. Following is the address of the web site host in Russia.

Administrative Contact, Technical Contact, Billing Contact: Demkin, Andrew (HDIJIKMWTI) demkin@HOTMAIL.COM 60, Moika emb. apt.33 Saint-Petersburg, 190000 RUSSIA +7 812 3147397 +7 812 3147397

7. FOWMA has found a disclaimer at the bottom of the home page web site of AAIMG as follows:

Design and web hosting by OOO Nautilus, Russia Disclaimer: OOO Nautilus disclaims any responsibility for the content of this website provided by AAIMG

8.Reports of the task force of FOWMA who conducted investigation research into this bogus fraud association (AAIMG )has revealed that Administrations of the Medical Schools throught out Caribbean, Europe and other parts of the world were approached by this fraud AAIMG association and demanded money in US dollars anywhere from $3000 to $7500 for listing the medical school as exceeding AAIMG evaluation criteria . It was also found that Medical Schools who did not pay the money were listed as schools with multiple, serious deficiencies.

9. FOWMA has found that AAIMG web site is hosted by unknown individuals in Russia with self designed criteria to black mail, demand and extract money from medical schools.

10. FOWMA has also found that there are more than one bogus fraud associations like AAIMG operating their activities from outside of USA milking money from new medical schools. FOWMA has also found that AAIMG is making use of the laws of corporation in states like Nevada and Delaware, which are liberal to register and operate from countries like Russia.

11. FOWMA and its task force has found that this fraud association AAIMG has never visited any of the sites of any medical schools as published on their web site by unknown individuals.

12. FOWMA has also learned that there is a multimillion dollar law suit pending againiast this fraud association by several organizations.

13. FOWMA warns all individuals and organization including students, physicians to be careful in reviewing any publications from this bogus fraud association in the form of web information, paper information or by any other email system.








© 2002 Federal of World Medical Association All rights reserved

[bts4202]

Why are you pushing this site so hard? Makes me curious as to your motives... if you had only found the site an hour ago you probably wouldn't be so attached to it as a source of info.

If you look back just a little bit you will find many posts on this site reffering to the AAIMG as a scam. I don't know if it is a scam, but I do know that it IS outdated and biased. Did you notice that the "president" has a hotmail account listed as his contact email? If the AAIMG was actually a reputable organization, wouldn't they have their own email?

Look, don't get me wrong. Most of the criteria that the AAIMG supposedly used to evaluate programs is good criteria. However, some of the schools were so new at the point in which the "evaluation" took place that an update is neccesary for any kind of accurate determination to be made. My suggestion, one that I have given consistently for a year now, is to take the criteria with you and evaluate each program you are interested in yourself.

Even though my opinion may seem biased after I write this, I have re-evaluated St. Chris using the AAIMG's criteria. Keep in mind that I am a current student, so you may believe me or not depending on wheither you believe that I am an honest guy. Again, my recommendation is to evaluate each school YOURSELVES.



St. Christopher's College of Medicine
Charter: Dakar, Senegal
Basic Sciences: Luton, England
Clinical Sciences: USA and UK

Deficiencies based on AAIMG criteria:

Use this site for criteria breakdown: http://www.aaimg.com/criteria/index.html


Sec I b,c

b: Catalog doesn't include clinical spots nor faculty info
c: MCAT not required

Sec II

Sec III a,b,c,d

a: Campus in England, charter in Senegal
b: Current building not permanent med campus(starting construction on permanent one) labs are shared w/ Luton Uni
c: No path lab, all else is available
d: Small medical library, not adequate. Luton has several libraries however.

Sec IV d

d: not available.

Sec V e

e: affiliations are not listed. students are NOT expected to find their own clinicals though

Sec VI a,d,f

a: no listing
d: departments not compartmentalized
f: not required

Sec VII i

i: not available

Sec VIII

[hi]

FOWMA??????????? I just visited the webiste and most of the links('information for.....links' Students , Physicians, Medical boards Licensing agencies, GOVT Organizations ) all lead to the AAIMG fraud(same article again and again).
That makes me wary of fowma's goals. It seems like fowma is pissed of and the people behind fowma are school administrations that aaimg stated that school to be bogus. Why am i coming to this conclusion? Because the goal of fowma is Primarily geared to falsifying aaimg and almost all of the fowma's website content is aaimg. It is wierd and so i would not trust fowma.

All i care is the fact that aaimg went to these schools, set up an evaluation Criteria and stated which schools meet those criteria/which ones don't.

[microphage]

Why don't you email AAIMG and see if you'll get a response. Ask them of the specific dates of their school visits/evaluations. Let us know what you find out.

Anyways, whether or not AAIMG is a scam doesn't really matter. What really matters is what you believe. If you're looking to head into foreign medical school, take the time and find out for yourself which schools are "good" instead of letting any website tell you all the "facts."

[IDreamOfMedicine]

Originally Posted by hi

FOWMA??????????? I just visited the webiste and most of the links('information for.....links' Students , Physicians, Medical boards Licensing agencies, GOVT Organizations ) all lead to the AAIMG fraud(same article again and again).
That makes me wary of fowma's goals. It seems like fowma is pissed of and the people behind fowma are school administrations that aaimg stated that school to be bogus. Why am i coming to this conclusion? Because the goal of fowma is Primarily geared to falsifying aaimg and almost all of the fowma's website content is aaimg. It is wierd and so i would not trust fowma.

All i care is the fact that aaimg went to these schools, set up an evaluation Criteria and stated which schools meet those criteria/which ones don't.

AAIMG.com is full of crap. From what i know, that website/company posted their independant survey they did in the year 1999. It was proven wrong by many medical boards and it is VERY unreliable. It is basically a company that did it's own bogus survey. Also, lots have changed since they did that survey so it's totally irrevelant. The BEST thing you can do is contact your local state's Medical Board if you want to ask about a particular school.

[futrphysician]

According to their own web site, they had a team of people go there. Excuse me, anyone ever bother to figure out the COSTS of doing such an extensive and massive undertaking? My god son, the GDP of some African country would be dwarfed by such an undertaking and surely SOMEONE LEGIT would have KNOWN about it!!!!

2 tickets to every medical school outside AMERICA: $198,567.87

Food and hotel: $98,497.23

Being able to call Mom from Moscow: priceless

For everything else, there's AAIMG.

Look hi, you can believe this crap if you want to, but it lends very little credence to your ability to actually think on a critical level. Don't go into medicine. Construction foreman...that is your calling.