once again, talk is cheap. the news of 5th pathway cancellation was published moths before the start of spring semester and no one knew about it till some one posted on this board. Yes, it is possible for us to call and ask for answers. however, the answers will completely be depend on how you phrase the question. The biggest concern that most students have right now are the future. with the projected cancellation date of 2009, no one knows for sure what will happen after wards. Thus, this report about the result of the big meeting sounds kind of vague to me and I just want to stand to one side and watch how the whole thing develops.

It seems that UAG is waiting until next semester to say something important about this problem. They don't want to loose the students of the first semesters. It's serious the fact that the USMLE posted in their website the decision of AMA as final and official. I don't think that AMA will change their decision. Everyone in the medicine field is making decisions upon the AMA recommendation.

"I hope this letter finds you all in good health and recharged for the second half of our semester. I know you all have been eagerly waiting for information about our meeting with the AMA. Eric Young is now finishing up the transcript of the meeting and it will be emailed to all ASAP. We do feel it is important that all students know exactly what was said and discussed at that meeting word for word. In general we as student body representatives felt that the meeting went very well. Our expectation was to express four major points on behalf of the student body.

1) Explain how UAG students affected,
2) Explain how UAG students are an asset to the ever-growing US Latin population
3) Express our concern on what was such a sporadic decision
4) Ask how we could help the AMA with their concerns so that UAG students could continue there journey to licensure through the fifth pathway.

In order, after a statement from Dr Pan, Sr. Leano our school President spoke, then a former alumni Dr. Tom Garcia, who is also an AMA rep followed by Dr Martinez and myself. At the end Eric Young NASA President read a closing statement on behalf of the Student Body.
After all speakers were finished Dr Pan and the AMA asked questions and opened the floor to discussion. One of the main points made clear to our school was that the AMA did not make this decision because of UAG students; it was made because there was no way of verifying the eligibility of students who went through the Fifth Pathway route. This failure put the AMA in a delicate position which in essence led to their current decision. What Now? Well the AMA and UAG are now working together to find a way to fix all unease.

We will be working on a few different ideas the AMA recommended. We have already begun our communication with the ACGME and we will be meeting again with the AMA in 3 months to discuss the AMA and our progress on the possible arrangements for our UAG students. Please understand that the administration and your student officers are working hard and trying our best to keep you well informed. We do understand you have concerns but this is a critical situation and it will take time to fix.

I do want to thank all of the students that helped and continue to help us in getting a resolution to our problem. In the next few days you will be receiving a record of the meeting, all the details discussed by all parties. Please take the time to read it and understand what is going on. I hope it will help at the very least to shine some light on our situation.
Sincerely,
NASA Clinical Trustee"

Thank You for your support
S5P website

humm, sounds like fox new channel and the war in iraq, attempting to put spin and a positive face on something that went sour a while ago

I would rather give this person some credit before making silly comparisons. I will wait until the transcript of the meeting comes out before judging how the meeting went. You can have a positive cordial meeting without any decisions being made. I don't see anything in this letter making me believe things will be better or worse. Just states the general mood of the meeting.

__________________
Moderator - UAG Forum

if as the letter states the ama did not come to its decision bc of UAG students then why did they not just ban the other schools using the FP and also why does it take 3 months, why should it take that long, it should not.... furthermore, as a nasa rep i would like to know who the so called docs were that were crashing the FPP like an underage drinking party, what school did they go to, what year, if Dr Pan claims they did not come from UAG so where did they come from, outer space. I know many on this website will say who cares about the past however, these issues are at the crust of the ama's conclusion to cancel the prog

The AMA doesn't have the authority to prohibit any particular school or student from entering the 5th Pathway as long as the entrants and school fulfill the requirements established by the program. What authority they had, they already exercised that authority by stoping to sponsor the program. I think it will take time to find a plausible solution because these decisions have to be made by more than one person or organization. Again, we should wait until the transcripts of the meeting comes out. I think there is a lot of hearsay with your statements and it is not helping the current students. They have invested their future in this program and when you speak with such a certainty, it just make them more anxious.

__________________
Moderator - UAG Forum

I couldnt have said it better.

__________________
From one of the speakers during Orientation, "There is nothing wrong with Mexico; it is JUST different"

This is what I would like to do to the "burros" of Megacable....

from what i understand DR. P is pres of both orgs, correct me if i am wrong, so how is this about many individuals making the decision, its about one man, Dr Pan

I agree with uagdoc. It just just the mood and sequence of the meeting AND just states more waiting for something realistic to happen. It will take time. I would like to hear if the meeting was to prolonged/grandfathering/continue the fifth pathway or just a formality and a plan of action that the UAG must follow in order to have a continuation of of their international program. We will see these from the transcripts of the meeting. This is the real question here people. If the AMA is just giving alternative/recommendations and the fifth pathway is a done deal ( cancelled completely), the meeting was infructiferous for us current students. This is what my understanding of the meeting was from the AMA standpoint and representatives. Let review the transcripts to see what exactly transpired during the meeting and what was discussed. There is no mention of immediate solutions. The AMA might sympathetic to our problem but they might not change their position which will still leave us in the limbo and the fact that we need to do 6 years.

__________________
From one of the speakers during Orientation, "There is nothing wrong with Mexico; it is JUST different"

This is what I would like to do to the "burros" of Megacable....