I have been seriously considering studying medicine at UNIBE. However, like many students, we wish to know a bit more. Ive read most, if not all, of the UNIBE postings on here, but I dont believe anyone actually asked about the professors, as far as their english teaching abilities. I am actually fluent in spanish, only because my parents are from Mexico. However, I never received formal spanish language schooling, and therefore I am hesitant about going to a place like UCE and such. I feel like I will have a hard time answering questions that require a fair amount of spanish writing.

1. Assuming the professors at UNIBE were hired to teach basic sciences in spanish, do they have any trouble teaching/translating into english what they probably learned in spanish?

2. Do they have separate faculty for the 'English' program?

3. Most latin american countries expose their medical students to patients very early, some in the 1sr semester. Does UNIBE do this, or must we wait until clinical sciences(3rd-4th yr)? Does the amount of spanish you speak influence getting 'permission' to see patients early on?

4. About how many people are in the 'English' program? Spanish program?

5. Aside from the language, what is the major difference between the spanish and english programs?

If students can answer these questions, it would help MANY people considering a medical education in DR. Thank you for your time and responses.

Regards,

Marco M.

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7th Sem. - Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez
Programa de Médico Cirujano

Marcos

At UNIBE there is a a medical program that have classes sections in Spanish and in english. It's the same program for dominicans and for international students; therefore you have to decide if you want to take basic science in spanish or in english. Teachers will not translate during classes.

Students are asigned to hospital during Clinical Science (last two years), by then they should be able to comunicate in spanish because patients and hospital staff don't speak english. There are spanish class courses that you can take at UNIBE.

Take care,

Victoria Alvarez

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Victoria Alvarez
UNIBE School of Medicine

Hi,

Although I don't attend UNIBE I think I can shed some light on a few of your questions because I had similar reservations when I was choosing between a spanish program and an english one.
Let me address your questions one by one. To answer your first question let me say that I am good friends with a professor of general surgery at UNIBE. He teaches in the spanish program. There are two separate programs but not two separate faculties per se. For more pay a professor can opt to teach in the english program or he or she can teach in both if they please. As it was explained to me by this prof, there are two kinds of docs teaching in the english program: those who truly communicate fluently in english; and those who communicate competently enough to grossly translate. The former are obviously the rare ones. You will find, as I have found in the DR in general that there are few people who communicate in spanish fluently enough that nothing is lost in the translation. This applies to university professors and auto-mechanics alike. While at UNIBE there are a handful of professors who do speak english this competently, you will undoubtedly have numerous classes with professors who don't. In these instances you must be aware that what the professor is speaking with his lips is not actually what he is thinking in his mind, rather it is rough equivalent. Since you have a somewhat strong spanish background it might be possible for you to discern what the professor truly means by considering the way he constructs his sentences and expresses himself. I can sometimes guess what a dominican speaking choppy english is wanting to say because I can intuit from his verbal constructs what he would be saying if he were speaking in spanish. It's just a gut understanding native spanish speakers have, or those who have truly become fluent in a language have. Still, the fact remains that you'll only be getting a translation of an idea or concept most of the time. Think of it as the VCR instruction manual approach to medical education.

As for patient contact there are many profs in the rotations who will pretty much pass any student within reason. As it has been explained to me the UNIBE rotations are filled with med students who, because of deficiencies in their spanish ability and lack of initiative to correct that deficieny, don't really interact as they should with a patient. These students are still passed. I can only imagine they are passed because the university is aware of this language limitation of its english program students and accepts it as par for the course in its rotations. Therefore, it is up to you as the student to develop the language skills necessary to interact with your patients at a level that will truly be of help to your patient and further your clinical experience. Here in the DR it is possible, with a certain minimum amount of effort to graduate medical school. It's up to you and your personal effort to determine how substantial that diploma will truly be.

Those are the question I feel most comfortable in answering, the others are perhaps best addressed by an UNIBE student. I have yet to see an actual UNIBE student post a reply addressing the quality of the education they are recieving, I'd be very curious to hear from such a student what his or her personal experience has been in this matter.

Lastly, let me add a word of encouragement in terms of your language skills. Unless you are abismal in your spanish I think you could do well in a spanish medical program. Why? There are several reasons. The professors here use american texts, a lot of student use the english versions of the text together with the spanish version (dominicans preparing for the USMLE, as you will be), at least that's what I have observed at INTEC. If you have a relatively solid spanish background, with the help of an english textbook and notes in spanish from class you can learn the material very effectively. In a single semester you will see your spanish abilities increase exponentially. Trust me. Such a crash course in the language would be a little harder for someone with no spanish background, but for you it will be far easier. Your writing will improve and your vocabulary expand to the level you require to communicate scientific concepts effectively. Let me tell you, I've been quite surprised by the level of literacy among the dominican medical students and I can assure you that if you've been educated in the states and half-applied yourself to your high school and college work that you're light years ahead of many dominicans in terms of advanced verbal and especially written communication. All you have to do is exercise that ability in a language you haven't often used. That atrophied ability will be quickly restored and the end result will be en par or better than many dominicans owing to the fact that you've enjoyed a richer education than many of them were priviledged enough to have. So don't think you can't do it. Hope this is of help, take care and God Bless.

Ozzie.

Ozzie:
I love your responses, always so detailed, yet crystal clear. Thanks a lot for the info...

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7th Sem. - Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez
Programa de Médico Cirujano

I've looked at intec, but it seems their medical program is extremely long. I believe the website indicates 23 semesters(trimesters). Is this only for students that begin at the premedicine level? If i have a US degree in Zoology, this includes tons of biology/zool, chemistry at least until organic, 2 sem. physics, english etc. Must i begin with everyone else taking organic gen chem, bio all over, or would they place me differently?

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7th Sem. - Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez
Programa de Médico Cirujano

Hello,

INTEC operates on a trimester system in which each trimester is three months long. There are four trimesters in a year. Therefore the program, 21 trimesters long, is 5 year and three months in duration for those starting from scratch.

Given the information you've provided you would be able to skip at least the first two trimesters. By university mandate anyone with a bachelors degree automatically skips the first two semester, save for spanish courses if they've not taken any university level spanish. This shaves six months off your time at INTEC: 4 years and nine months provided you follow the curriculum and don't take off any trimesters. By comparison, UNIBE's entire program including pre-med is 5 years long, with one year and four months of pre-med.

In your particular case you would most likely have to take the following courses:
biostatistics 4credits
organic chemistry (only one trimester), 5 credits
dominican history (everyone has to take this class no matter which DR university you attend), 4 credits
university orientation (all other DR universities also require this), 2 credits
world history, 4 credits
humanities elective, 4 credits
research methodology in medicine, 4 credits
spanish one and two. 8 credits

For a total of 35 credits, most trimesters consist of 18 credits, some are 17, some are 19 once you get into rotations. 35 credits can fit neatly into two trimesters.

This list assumes that you haven't taken any similar courses as a part of your undergraduate work. If you have then you could remove those classes from the list. In order to complete the courses in the above list you should allow ~2 trimesters. You can also mix and match and therefore start your meidcal classes sooner if you mix them with your remaining pre-med requirements.

Convalidation has been a tricky process for me because I have a rather messy transcript. It's gonna require some footwork on your behalf to be sure that you get all the classes transferred that deserve to be transferred. But based on the info you provided the course list I mention should be a fair gauge of what you'll have to complete, give or take.

Ozzie,

I have a degree in Comp Science, I want to finsih my prelim courses and start the med courses...


I need the 1 year bio, 2yr chem. what if i go to UNIBE...can i take my prelim premed classes and also take my some grad courses..any suggestions?

Please respond.

Thanks

Hello,

According to the information posted on UNIBE's website, because you have a bachelors degree you would only need to complete biology and chemistry. Now I'm assuming that if you don't have a year of chemistry that you don't have a year of orgo either, so you would have to complete a year of biology, a year of inorganic chemistry, and a year of organic chemistry.

If you just had the chemistry to complete it's possible that they could allow you to take medical classes concurrently. The problem is that biology is a prerequisite for most medical classes save biochemistry which has chemistry as a prerequisite. I'm not sure if UNIBE is anything ilke INTEC in being sticklers of prereqs, if they are then you're going to have two very vacuous semesters on your hand while you complete the two semesters of biology. I would call the university and see if this was the case. If it is then I would urge you to try and complete those courses at home before coming here unless you don't mind to very easy albeit expensive semesters.

It's also possible that they aren't as strict as INTEC and will allow you to start medical classes concurrently with your biology and chemistry. I know at INTEC that wouldn't be possible. The only reason it was possible for me was because they transferred the biology credits I did as an undergrad. That enabled to me to take the medical classes that have biology II as a prereq.

If I were you I would call the school and find out how they would handle your situation. I would ask them which other classes they would have you take along with the biology and chemistry? could you take medical classes concurrently?

Hope this helps.
Take care and God Bless.
Ozzie.