George, pls see your PM message box. thanks

"That physician shortage problem would no longer be solved by getting poorly trained physicians at offshore academies"

no that is a blanket statement. i agree there should be a minimal standard for all these schools though. its not fair to the students who get dupped into going to a start up without proper financial backing....

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OBGYN PGY II
I see light at the end of the tunnel!!!...wait a minute its just another freakin tunnel!

Teratos, I dont understand how you can just sit there and entertain this .... As soon as Rope vomited the usual "Because it's a free country. And you are as equally entitled to your opinion no matter how wrong it may be" statement, he legitimized himself as another precarious quack who has no interest in supporting his position, or demonstrating any evidence or experience in relation to his claims, while pretending to be an advocate of students who are supposedly falling victims to the unfair marketing tactics of Caribbean medical education. As a senior member, moderator, and a graduate of a Caribbean medical school you should do a lot more than justify your position by stating that although you graduated a foreign medical school you are just as smart as your peers from the American system. You present your case almost as if you were sorry that you came to AUC, but you had to do it if only to feel that you accomplished something because you now carry the MD label on your sleeve.

The point that Roper is making is quite simple, “My stance on AUA... if you're smart you don't go there. However, that is my stance on ALL offshore carib schools, including St Georges, AUC, Ross, and SMU too!” and furthermore “The physician shortage problem would be solved instead with by the creation of more med schools in the US and in some cases more med seats at current US med schools. Had this occurred before the St Georges of the world got big in ths 80s, most of you would've graduated from American schools and our healthcare would be better trained”.

As you can see Roper is making a very clear case that Caribbean medical schools are a big joke and the failure of the US healthcare system is that it allows physicians like yourself, or in general graduates of Caribbean medical schools to become physicians in the US. This thread is a waste of time, it accomplishes nothing, the same redundant discussion is reiterated on valuemd over and over again with the exception of a different antagonist who gets the ball rolling, or likely the same individual under the guise of a different screen name.

Just for your information Rope, something that you are desperately deprived of, two of the top 4 medical schools who have produced the most physicians accused of malpractice working in the US are American schools and LCME accredited

Here's a quote from an article that was actually covered on this forum a few years ago

Title:
Med Schools: Four That Flunk June 29, 2003 By JACK DOLAN And ANDREW JULIEN, Courant Staff Writers


"The schools - the Autonomous University of Guadalajara in Mexico, Howard University in Washington, Manila Central University in the Philippines and Meharry Medical College in Nashville - ranked at the bottom in separate analyses of three databases containing records of disciplinary actions against thousands of physicians across the United States.".

well, roper is gonna make the arguement that the admissions guidelines for howard and meharry are substandard. heck, my numbers blew their mcat/gpa averages out of the water.

i even applied to those along with the other 26 allopathic school who didnt even ask for an interview. however, those two wanted a picture with my secondary so that sunk me (although most did want pics). but in those two schools, its legal to reject an application based on a picture. im white........ reverse discrimination at its best.

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Dr. Scott
Internal Medicine
PGY-1

AUC Forum Moderator

Well thanks for answering. Its not a debateable point about the LCME. A school may try to emulate LCME schools (which is a good thing) but that doesnt make them eligible at any time to be lcme accredited. by definition, at this point in time, no offshore school (remember PR is considered the US for all intents and purposes so an excpetion) may be accredited even if werew the best school in the world.
No one in good faith can argue your "right" to be here. But I think at issue is your patent disregard for any offshore school. I agree there should be some standard for measuring them- making some lcgme eligable would be one option, or if that offends the sensibilities of too many some other form of US accreditation to put a stamp of approval on the schools that meet a predefined set of criteria would be welcome. The problem however is your views are akin to other users who've been on this forum making statements like "i have a right to practice in in any state I choose so long as I have an MD, no matter what school i come from". Both disregard the quality issue at all. In one case, there is a lack of recognition that there are perfectly good schools out there, and in the other, a lack of recognition that there are some very questionable schools out there.

Actually these forums are one way for students to understand their options. As far as shady marketing practices, i have no doubt that these forums have been used as marketing in one way or another, but again, you come out with a general statement, no substantiated specifics, and with one sweep damn all off shore schools for it.

You raise important points but they lose weight because they seem to be driven by an a priori bias you have. It happens in politics all the time of couse. Person from party A has a perfectly legit point but its hard to hear or take seriously because he's such a party mouth piece. And if you want to make your issue at that level, as you say, its your right. However I'd strive for something more thoughtful. I like to think of docs as above politicians somehow.

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Steph
If you get a warning, put on yer manpants and stop whining about it.

Just because I can see his point doesn't mean I subscribe to it. I think he raises some valid concerns, and he is certainly entitled to his opinion. I think people get blinded with anger when they read his posts and don't read them correctly. G


You are way off base. i agreed with one part of his post, that there should be some body accrediting offshore schools. The rest I simply clarified. it was not my opinion. There are lots of people getting screwed by schools promising them something they have a very low probability of delivering. I have never implied that I was sorry to go to AUC, please review all of my posts and show me where you see that. I re-read my posts from this thread, and have no idea where you came up with this. I find your remarks insulting. G

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AUC Class of '99
Bored certified
I may be a jerk, but I'm a Jedi jerk like my father.

Some say I look like Buzz Lightyear....
(They're right)

DISCLAIMER: I have no financial stake in ValueMD, or any medical school.

come and knock on our door....we've been waiting for you....it's hers and hers and his...

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Saba Forum Moderator
Saba University School of Medicine, MSIV
Interests: Pediatrics, Psychiatry

if you arent a fan of offshore schools then why are you even bothering to post at all??? just curious.

I've heard a lot of interesting reasons regarding why people have chosen to study medicine in the Caribbean, but I've never heard anyone dumb enough to actually claim they are in the Caribbean because they a white boy suffering from reverse discrimination.

The sad part is, you're serious.

I would argue that reverse discrimination is part of a matrix of rules and regulations and policies that work together to exclude many qualified applicants in lower and middle class America, all in the name of diversification and quality control. The real purpose of the matrix is the preservation of the income and position of those already doing well in the medical field.

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Saba Forum Moderator
Saba University School of Medicine, MSIV
Interests: Pediatrics, Psychiatry