MSK9's Medical School Thread & Guide

[Marcus Aurelius]

Congratulations, MSK9! St. George's is considered one of the better Caribbean med schools. And yes, many of their graduates do end up practicing medicine in the United States (and many other countries).

[indigoshuffle]

Update:

St. George's University School of Medicine (MD):
Accepted

*I have until March to pay my reservation deposit, so I'll definitely be holding out a bit longer to see if any other interviews come my way.

That's awesome! Congratulations... I would go with that. Don't believe what everyone says about Carribean schools. Most forums (SDN) are a bunch of bxllsh!t knowitall teens who never worked a day in their lives, relying on their parent's (who are doctors, probably) second hand and DATED information. There are so many paths to medical school now than even 10 years ago. I'm doing research and I'm leaning that there are those that even take CLEP and maybe ACE.

[bjcheung77]

MSK9 - I assume this is the program you completed at Doane? https://www.doane.edu/programs/prehealth
If so, did you apply to the Kansas City University of Med? I think they have a partnership, it may help with admissions.

[MSK9]

Congratulations, MSK9! St. George's is considered one of the better Caribbean med schools. And yes, many of their graduates do end up practicing medicine in the United States (and many other countries).

Thank you. Based on stats, St. George's has the best matching outcomes of all Caribbean schools. I've seen that many SDN users, at least when deriving their own statistical conclusions, don't account for the fact that many SGU matriculants/graduates are from outside the United States and either return to their home country or have intentions of practicing in Europe/elsewhere. United States IMGs have a statistically easier time in matching than non-US IMGs though, so the match isn't something I'm worried about. I'm definitely not looking for work/networking in academics, though I'm not opposed to it either.

That's awesome! Congratulations... I would go with that. Don't believe what everyone says about Carribean schools. Most forums (SDN) are a bunch of bxllsh!t knowitall teens who never worked a day in their lives, relying on their parent's (who are doctors, probably) second hand and DATED information. There are so many paths to medical school now than even 10 years ago. I'm doing research and I'm leaning that there are those that even take CLEP and maybe ACE.

I agree with this. There are academic medicine physicians and non-physician faculty over at SDN who are fairly helpful,  but the anti-Caribbean bias is very real there. The end game is more important to me than the path to it, so I'll do what I have to do to get my foot in the door. Even still, I'd like to hold out for a US school just for better matching statistics but should I end up at St. George's, I'd be just as proud a graduate.

MSK9 - I assume this is the program you completed at Doane? https://www.doane.edu/programs/prehealth
If so, did you apply to the Kansas City University of Med?  I think they have a partnership, it may help with admissions.

I actually cherry-picked my courses from their catalog.. sort of Post-Bacc ala carte. I'm not sure that pre-health program was a thing when I started. I didn't apply to KC as my MCAT was taken after their deadline for the 2020 cycle.

[Yanji]

Congratulations, MSK9! St. George's is considered one of the better Caribbean med schools. And yes, many of their graduates do end up practicing medicine in the United States (and many other countries).

Thank you. Based on stats, St. George's has the best matching outcomes of all Caribbean schools. I've seen that many SDN users, at least when deriving their own statistical conclusions, don't account for the fact that many SGU matriculants/graduates are from outside the United States and either return to their home country or have intentions of practicing in Europe/elsewhere. United States IMGs have a statistically easier time in matching than non-US IMGs though, so the match isn't something I'm worried about. I'm definitely not looking for work/networking in academics, though I'm not opposed to it either. 

Technically, non-US citizens/permanent residents would be FMGs, not IMGs, but yeah.
Caribbean med schools get a lot of flak, but most of the negatives are around their recruitment/admissions policies which lead to high attrition rates. As far as quality of education, the big ones are all good. You just have to be realistic in the kinds of specialties you want to match to back home.

[MSK9]

Technically, non-US citizens/permanent residents would be FMGs, not IMGs, but yeah.
Caribbean med schools get a lot of flak, but most of the negatives are around their recruitment/admissions policies which lead to high attrition rates. As far as quality of education, the big ones are all good. You just have to be realistic in the kinds of specialties you want to match to back home.

That's semantically accurate; many people use the terms interchangeably, myself included. I think there is less of a "ceiling" on what specialties an IMG is able to match into these days.. certainly more than ever before with many "IMG-friendly" programs being available. I just found an IMG Orthopedics program a couple days ago. I'm not looking to go into something like neurosurgery or radiation oncology, though while difficult, it's certainly not impossible to do. The current Chief Resident of Neurosurgery at Ole Miss is a St. George's grad. /shrug

[MSK9]

I know this seems like such a small thing, but when I considered these questions, something that was a consideration for me was the debt differences/cost differences *because* you end up taking yourself out of the game for lower paying fields simply because it's not reasonable. At the time that I considered this path, I lived in IL and had I been admitted to Southern Illinois University, I recall the tuition was low and I would have had the ability to make decisions based on my talents and goals. Had I NOT been admitted (which would have been likely) and had to go Carribean (more likely) I remember the cost being much higher.
I don't know if there is truth to this, and this is maybe over simplified, but I seem to remember  being told Carribean grads were more likely to match into family practice but since the salary is lower, it was an unequal outcome.  
High price school + low paying career = life of debt till you die
Low price school + high paying specialty = gravy

This isn't a debate, but I do believe that if MSK9 gets multiple admissions, this is something to consider.

Definitely a consideration. I think there are a few myths (mainly perpetuated by internet pre-meds) about this. Like any medical school, Caribbean or US, the trend seems to be that the bulk of graduates head toward family medicine or internal medicine. Both fields can be profitable, especially internal medicine and more so if someone completes a sub-specialty fellowship. 

St. George's is definitely expensive.. there's no way around it (scholarships aside). That said, because it qualifies for US government loans, the same service-oriented repayment programs apply to St. George's, which is helpful. St. George's match rates are pretty good, all things considered (2019 match outcomes available online). The cost after the scholarship they offered me is on par with allopathic schools like Tulane or many osteopathic schools.

I'm fortunate to have some financial wiggle room these days, though I don't want to spend more than necessary. Though future income is important to me, it's not steering my path toward a specialty. Through a combination of a few factors already in place, I think my specialty interests are quite reachable via the Caribbean route. That said, as mentioned, a US school is my preference.

[mysonx3]

I know this seems like such a small thing, but when I considered these questions, something that was a consideration for me was the debt differences/cost differences *because* you end up taking yourself out of the game for lower paying fields simply because it's not reasonable. At the time that I considered this path, I lived in IL and had I been admitted to Southern Illinois University, I recall the tuition was low and I would have had the ability to make decisions based on my talents and goals. Had I NOT been admitted (which would have been likely) and had to go Carribean (more likely) I remember the cost being much higher.
I don't know if there is truth to this, and this is maybe over simplified, but I seem to remember  being told Carribean grads were more likely to match into family practice but since the salary is lower, it was an unequal outcome.  
High price school + low paying career = life of debt till you die
Low price school + high paying specialty = gravy

This isn't a debate, but I do believe that if MSK9 gets multiple admissions, this is something to consider.

Definitely a consideration. I think there are a few myths (mainly perpetuated by internet pre-meds) about this. Like any medical school, Caribbean or US, the trend seems to be that the bulk of graduates head toward family medicine or internal medicine. Both fields can be profitable, especially internal medicine and more so if someone completes a sub-specialty fellowship. 

St. George's is definitely expensive.. there's no way around it (scholarships aside). That said, because it qualifies for US government loans, the same service-oriented repayment programs apply to St. George's, which is helpful. St. George's match rates are pretty good, all things considered (2019 match outcomes available online). The cost after the scholarship they offered me is on par with allopathic schools like Tulane or many osteopathic schools.

I'm fortunate to have some financial wiggle room these days, though I don't want to spend more than necessary. Though future income is important to me, it's not steering my path toward a specialty. Through a combination of a few factors already in place, I think my specialty interests are quite reachable via the Caribbean route. That said, as mentioned, a US school is my preference.

Where should you go to medical school? Anywhere you can.
What's the best medical school? The one you graduate from.

"What do you call a doctor who graduated last in her class from the worst medical school?"

"Doctor"

[MSK9]

Where should you go to medical school?  Anywhere you can.
What's the best medical school?  The one you graduate from.

"What do you call a doctor who graduated last in her class from the worst medical school?"
"Doctor"

Thanks for the good vibes, y'all.

[indigoshuffle]

Where should you go to medical school?  Anywhere you can.
What's the best medical school?  The one you graduate from.

"What do you call a doctor who graduated last in her class from the worst medical school?"
"Doctor"

Thanks for the good vibes, y'all.

Just an interesting side note about a conversation I had with a resident at my hospital.
I colleague of mine told me about medical programs in the Philippines. He says they are around $2000 - $3000 a semester and that many of their students are able to get residency at hospitals in the US. Sounds very interesting except that he says there are about 3 additional tests one would have to take to come to the US.