Okay first of all I am not here to big up UNIBE, believe me I have my problems with them. On the other hand I do feel there are some good things about UNIBE, and so as a student from UNIBE, who is studying for his boards and planning on transfering out for clinicals in the US, I feel I can give some justice to the much debated topics.

UNIBE is a full fledged University, with excellent facilities and a great campus. The management and administration is pretty much like any third world country....backwards. Is the school really good, well I wouldn't say that the education standards are great, they do not prepare you for the boards the way schools like ROSS, SMU, and ect....would. In my opinion the students that come to UNIBE can be classified as two types...the do deligent hard workers (and these types will suceed no matter where they are) and the slackers. Is UNIBE a slacker school....hell yes it is. Can you pass the classes with your eyes closed, of course you can. But in reality the succesful students put in thier time and study and read and get ahead. Unibe students are passing thier boards and doing very well..partly because they feel inferior, and therefore put in more effort and time in the USMLE, or because they just are that smart and have worked that hard from the start.

The life...well hands down the life and living standards are the best compared to any offshore medical school. You are pretty much at the beverly hills of the caribeans. You live like a king with the aristocrats of thier society, everything is at your finger tips. You need not worry about anything, and many can agree you can live a better life there than in the US. And things just keep getting better and better there. This of course can be a bad thing with all the beautiful woman, great restaurants, amazing beaches, awesome clubs and pherhaps the best parties you have ever been to. The luxuries are all there, yes it can be very distracting, and can suck you in. But as responsible medical student, you can use the living standards and luxuries to your advantage and get ahead.

Most people that come to visit the country get an unfair image, because they dont get to see the right things....and being new there, PEOPLE WILL TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOU. It has happend to me, believe me when I tell you it has happend to me in my first semester.

The biggest draw back I find about UNIBE and the biggest reason people transfer out is the fact they do not have clinicals in the states. UNIBE claims to have it, which is partly true, but that is available for only one semester and to the top students. Clinicals in the DR...have thier pluses and minuses aswell. The hands on exp is like no other, and the things you see and are able to do are amazing learning exp. However I like many others would rather do it in the US.

UNIBE can be a valueable tool, if ur the strong headed type that will use it for everything it is worth, and those type of students will get the extra edge and advantage from the administration (many hook ups and connection, again only for the rising stars that will bring a good name to the school). UNIBE can be destructive, because the partiers and slackers can get threw in a breeze ( and in reality they just make money for the school).

Most students I know..have chosen UNIBE because of financial reasons, and also because of the federal loans. Where as other schools only offer private loans which harder to get.

The other students choose UNIBE because they have freinds that have gone there, and see the true "Paradise life". Of which a huge percentage get to live it up, party it up and at the same time get an MD degree and surprisingly pass thier boards with good marks and end up doing very well.

But in reality what is the MD degree when u can not pass your boards...truly it will fish out the morans who dont deserve to be doctors from the real people who can be doctors.

I dont regret the great life I have had UNIBE, and things I have learned, that have made me who I am today. It will have a special place in my heart always, but i took them for what they are worth, used and abused them for it. IF I HAD THE CHANGE TO DO IT OVER AGAIN, I WOULD HAVE NOT GONE TO UNIBE, I WOULD HAVE GONE TO A SCHOOL THAT DEMANDED MORE OF ME AND PREPED ME FOR THE BOARDS BETTER, like SMU, ROSS, SABA, MUA and so forth.

so all the haters out there, take it easy, i am just telling my exp. and giving my opinion and i hope i have spoken fairly.

I will post more on UNIBE later. but for those of you students planning on going to UNIBE..my advice..study hard, work hard, be responsible and use them for what they are worth, your there for only one purpose and that is to study medicine. Dont let anything else get in your way, and if you work and study hard...THEN YOU WILL SHINE NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE.

also check out this post, its filled with the truth... http://www.valuemd.com/unibe-dominic...-starting.html

ams
what you said goes for any school in the DR or elsewhere
nothing new/enlightening here....
you work hard you will get what you want anywhere...
when does all this redundant chanting cease???????....

sorry i am new to this forum, and from what i have seen its mostly UNIBE bashing. My intention was give a fair and clear image of UNIBE. forgive me if I have started a redundant post. thanks again.

ams

no, ams i think your post was intelligent, unbiased, and helpful to many prospective students on this site.

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ams, are you saying you would not advise one to go to UNIBE?!?!

ams, are you saying you would not advise one to go to UNIBE?!?!

I am new to this post. Stop crying about the board preparation schools. UNIBE is in the Dominican Republic and prepares you to practice MEDICINE, not US medicine or UK medicine, just medicine. Anyone who wants to go to medical school to meassure his/her knowledge based on USMLE scores is the wrong profession. Granted, boards are requirements to enter GME in the US. You want to make sure you will do good on the boards? 1- Waste 3 years trying to get into a US school(which you wont) or try a foreign school like UNIBE or any other that will give you the knowledge and practice necessary to make a change in someone's life, and study on your own for the USMLE'S. That's it. Yes I did graduate from UNIBE, where most of my classmates have scores in the high 90's. I got 80 and 84. Will that make my paycheck bigger after residency? Think about it.

about time someone said something brilliant on these forums

FYI;

I have seen USMG's with stellar board scores ejected from residency programs because when put on the floor with real sick people(not exam hypotheticals} they simply could not function and/or posed a threat to M&M statistics.

Go figure...........

I just got a call from a Surgery Program in NY I was accepted for a PGY-1 position. Yes, I graduated from UNIBE and yes, I got into surgery WITHOUT AN INTERVIEW. "Think Big"(Ben Carson, MD). Medical School is just a tool, If you want to become a Physician work hard, study and forget about the name of the school, the country you attended or the language. When you graduate the only language you will need is the language of medicine.