Thread: What is the difference between American med schools and Caribbean med schools?

Beside being on an island, and having low GPAs and MCAT scores, what is the real difference? especially in teaching.

bigger class size but doesnt necessary mean poor teaching/learning

Originally Posted by stookie

Beside being on an island, and having low GPAs and MCAT scores, what is the real difference? especially in teaching.

no one can judiciously answer this unless they have experienced both worlds directly. I can speak for the US med school -- excellent professors (usually great clinicians or highly research-oriented profs), preceptorship programs, standardized patient programs, simulators, excellent facilities... anyway.

some US MD schools or DO schools have lousy teaching. some have great teaching.

some carib schools have lousy teaching. some have great teaching.

I've read on other posts that american schools hand out packets to their students (for each class) and tell them to memorize it for the usmle. Is it true?? if so, why don't caribbean schools do it too?

Originally Posted by stookie

I've read on other posts that american schools hand out packets to their students (for each class) and tell them to memorize it for the usmle. Is it true?? if so, why don't caribbean schools do it too?

no, it is not true. and you're going to get a pretty lousy score if all you do is memorize. last I checked, anyone can go on amazon.com and purchase a copy of first aid for the usmle.

Originally Posted by gazpacho

no, it is not true. and you're going to get a pretty lousy score if all you do is memorize. last I checked, anyone can go on amazon.com and purchase a copy of first aid for the usmle.

Is first aid the best book for studying for the usmle?? i read many other post where students swear by it.

Originally Posted by stookie

Is first aid the best book for studying for the usmle?? i read many other post where students swear by it.

you really should cross that river when you get to it. different things work for different people. in general, a mix of qbank, FA, and BRS, depending on one's areas of weakness or strength, will be good. one of the best ways to prepare is to do well in your med school classes, so do that.

Originally Posted by stookie

Beside being on an island, and having low GPAs and MCAT scores, what is the real difference? especially in teaching.

that just sounds like ppl going to the islands were/are rejects from US schools!

i've known ppl who chose to goto the caribbean, not becos of their scores/GPA, but cos the school are good & they can get the education they want.
class sizes are smaller in the caribbean (usually, it's a generalization as i can't research every single school!), but that is affected by the teacher quality (good in both places), the facility (US wins this one), testing/teaching method/efficiency (variant per school), and many more factors.
think about this: a good programmer can work/program on any computer, even if it's not a super-fast, top of the line model! would he blame the CPU, bios, Ram, keyboard, etc? no - just does his/her job till the task is done.

i didn't have low scores. i had other options, but chose to goto the islands. i'm sure Many others weren't/aren't rejects too!

also, they're 1/2 to 1/5 the price os US schools! that can make a difference.
1 semester at my college was more expensive then a year at my medical college!!!

everyone has different reasons for doing the same thing, and this is a very subjective question.
personally, i'm going just so i can wear flipflops everyday!
it's just one big beach party in caribbean medschools right?

C.R.E.A.M!!!

"gazpacho soup!!!"
- the dying cry of Rimmer (from one of the best comedies of ALL time)