Thread: INTEC a more respected med school than Unibe???

Hello,
Since classes are all in Spanish, it may be difficult to perform on tests (written and oral) if you don't have a command of the language. If you are making school decisions because of a perceived "respect" factor, you OBVIOUSLY have not been reading any of the previous posts, and have a LOT to learn about the process of becoming a physician. Like I have said a TRILLION times in my previous posts (did U read any of them?), the ULTIMATE measuring stick is the END OUTCOME...lemme repeat that...END OUTCOME...wich is defined as performance on the USMLE and residency placement. An INTEC grad that busts his/her butt and studys hard for the USMLE and is serious about a US residency is EQUALLY SUCCESSFUL as an UNIBE grad who does the same. There is no difference in that aspect. So it shouold boil down to which institution do you feel more comfortable at spending 4 years in.
If you don't VISIT the island prior to making your choice, you are making a HUGE MISTAKE!! Before you decide, VISIT, VISIT, VISIT!!
and see BOTH palces, and then make a decision. PEACE!!

-Derek

Originally Posted by NYblackice

Can anyone provide me with more information about this school and how it compares with Unibe/ other DR med Schools. I tried going to their website but its all in Spanish so it was of no help to me. I hear at INTEC all the 4 years will be in Spanish and since i do not know a single word of Spanish , i am trying to figure out where that leaves me. Will a student like myself have to take a year of Spanish before beginning the program at INTEC ? Please help. Thank you

Hi there,

In large part I agree wiith dksamp; it's what you make of the school where you're at that matters most. That having been said, some schools make it easier than others to get your act together. As for UNIBE vs INTEC, I think they're both just a serious about educating their students as compared to UTESA for example, that is presently more interested in bringing student into their dying foreign program. As a result of that zeal for fresh blood the quality of education there has suffered. INTEC and UNIBE on the other hand are both healthy programs with solid number of foreign students and with track records for passing the USMLE among their students. Therefore the biggest difference between the two is in the language of instruction. Your'e correct, INTEC is completely in spanish. There is no preparatory year to ease you into the language, you start off on the deep end as this is a university where it's entering students have presumably been educated in spanish for the workable 18 years of their lives. Another significant difference is in price. There are numerous other posts in which I break down the cost of education at INTEC. In short it's half the cost of UNIBE per calendar year. I can't really imagine what it would be like for someone who doesn't speak a lick of spanish entering into this program. I have the benefit of mastery of the language and have never in my life been in a serious situation where I didn't speak the language. I do know that you wouldn't be the first person to do that and certainly not the last. In either school you'd be getting the same education, if money is no object for you then I can't imagine why you wouldn't go to UNIBE and save yourself the full force language shock. At UNIBE you'd at least have the opportunity to ease your way into the language; baby-steps. But again, both school ultiamtely offer very much the same product, both school have deals with solid hospitals for rotations. It's just a matter of how much you wanna spend and if you're willing to truly take the foreign med school plunge. As for visiting before you come, I think it's great, look and see what you're getting. I also think there's something to be said for researching a school through present students and other fountains of informations, making a decision to go there and hop on a plane not to look back. It goes a long way finding yourself all of a sudden in a place where you HAVE to make things work. Maybe it's not for everyone, but I think there's merit to the idea if you really can't make a visit. In short I'm saying that I think for either of these schools, if you made the choice to just get up and come down you'd be in good hands and you'd find your place sooner or later. Academically, you'd not regret the decision. Hope this is of help. Take care and God Bless.

Ozzie.

Thank you very much for the information. You have been very informative and i really appreciate your advice.

Please let me know if you want to plan a visit to Unibe. I will be glad to show you around and get you in touch with some of our students so they can tell you about their experience.

My email address is imartinez@unibe.edu.do and/or student_affairs@unibe.edu.do

Regards,

they say they have a 100%english program at unibe. they forgot to mention all your hospital/ clinical years are done in spanish......

"........"....

UNIBE has a 5.4 calendar year program, divide as fallow:
1.4 year Pre-medical Program,
2 years basic sciences,
2 years clinical sciences.

The pre-medical and basic sciences part of the curriculum will be in enghish, however since the clinical years are on-hands trainning students need to speak spanish, because official language in DR is spanish, therefore the patients will speak in spanish

If a student start a the Pre-medical level he/she will have 3.4 years to learn spanish. Students admitted to start at basic science level will have two years to learn the language along with the medical program. There is suficient time to learn the language before entering clinical sciences because he/she must take spanish courses plus will be in contact with the language every day.

The program include five level of spanish, during orientation week students take a spanish placement test or starts at first level. Before entering clinical sciences, they will take an spanish assessment to demonstrate that they are able to comunicate with patient, patient family, staff and peers snd can write patient history and notes.

Originally Posted by v.alvarez

The pre-medical and basic sciences part of the curriculum will be in enghish, however since the clinical years are on-hands trainning students need to speak spanish, because official language in DR is spanish, therefore the patients will speak in spanish.

The last 2 years will be in Spanish because the school has a hard time finding doctors that speak English, and want to work for such a low salary. It is understandable to learn Spanish to communicate with patients however there is no excuse for UNIBE to not have lecture in English and take the exams in English.

Do not be confused, your last 2 years of lecture and exams will be in Spanish, while enrolled in the English program.