What to Know About Caribbean Medical Schools

Prospective students who dream of becoming a physician but are worried about getting accepted into a U.S. medical school, where it is exceedingly difficult to get in, may want to consider attending a high-quality Caribbean medical school that takes a more forgiving approach in the student selection process.

St. George's University, which is home to a med school and has its main campus on the island of Grenada in the West Indies, considers applicants that U.S. medical schools might not, says Bob Ryan, dean of admissions.

Those applicants may include students who had a rocky start in college but did much better later, and students who worked through college and whose GPAs suffered as a result, he says.

"We often see that our very strong students after year one and two are those that we took that chance on and said, 'Hey, we're going to give you that opportunity to show us that you can succeed in medicine,'" Ryan says, adding that his school uses a holistic admissions process.

"I think many U.S. schools probably have cutoffs, and if you're not at a certain GPA and MCAT, they're not even going to open your file," he says. "But we take the opposite attitude."

[Read: How to Make Sure You Fulfill Medical School Requirements for Admission.]

Dr. Joshua Mansour, who earned his medical degree from Ross University School of Medicine -- a Caribbean school that was previously based in Dominica but is now based in Barbados -- and subsequently completed a medical fellowship at Stanford University in California, says he has no regrets.

"At the end of the day, I completed my training at Stanford after everything, so it didn't hinder me from getting a top-tier training ... I was actually very happy how that worked out," he says.

Mansour, a California hematologist and oncologist, has some advice for aspiring doctors who are concerned about their admissions prospects at U.S. medical schools but hopeful that they might be admitted to a good Caribbean medical school: "Take advantage of the opportunity."

Those who enroll, he notes, can "do everything you want to by going to a school like that."

Mansour adds that he has many friends he met at his Caribbean medical school who now have high-profile medical jobs.

However, some administrators, faculty and alumni of Caribbean medical schools note that these institutions vary widely in quality, so potential students should conduct research on their target schools.

"The best indicator of how good a school is would be where its recent graduates matched into residency and what they are doing now," Dr. Ashley Steinberg, a Houston-based plastic and reconstructive surgeon who earned her medical degree at St. George's, wrote in an email.

[Read: How Many Medical Schools Should You Apply To?]

Dr. G. Richard Olds, president of St. George's University, suggests that one key factor to look at is a school's attrition rate. A school with an attrition rate above 50% is a major red flag, he warns, since it indicates that many of the school's students leave without receiving a medical degree -- which in turn means that they will be unable to practice medicine.

"This is an area where you really need to know the statistics," Olds says.

Prospective med students should take attrition rates into account when assessing both licensing exam passage rates and residency placement rates, he advises. A school that flunks out students it suspects will not perform well on licensing exams or secure residencies may appear to have solid pass rates and placement rates but may not be providing good preparation for a medical career, he warns.

It's also important to find out what kind of tutoring and academic support services a Caribbean medical school offers, because students may need extra help preparing for the medical licensing exams if they are entering with a lower MCAT score or GPA than a typical U.S. med student, Olds says.

U.S. students who are looking at international medical schools but have plans to practice medicine in the U.S. should ensure that the school they attend will help them achieve that goal, says Dr. Heidi Chumley, executive dean of the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine, which has its main campus in St. Maarten.

"They need to know that the school that they're going to is both a school that is very good at preparing people to go back and practice in the U.S. and has a long track record of doing so," she says.

One positive sign about a Caribbean medical school is when it is eligible for U.S. Department of Education Title IV funding, meaning that its students can receive federal financial aid, Chumley says.

"The school's accreditor has been determined to be comparable to a U.S. medical school's accreditor," she says, adding that this is a sign of a school with top-notch academics.

[Read: 9 Residency Tips for Medical School Applicants.]

Plus, experts say, Caribbean medical schools where students can get federal financial aid also typically offer merit scholarships.

Prospective Caribbean medical school students should investigate their target school's accreditation status, experts recommend, and verify not only that the school is accredited but also that its accreditor is recognized as reputable by the World Federation for Medical Education, Chumley says.

"There are many schools in the Caribbean which are not accredited," she adds. "Stay away from them."

On its website, the WFME notes that it grants recognition status only to accrediting agencies that are "working to an internationally accepted high standard."

M.D. programs in Caribbean U.S. territories like Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are accredited by the same organization that accredits U.S. and Canadian M.D. programs -- the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, which is WFME-approved.

Medical school accreditation by a WFME-approved accreditor is crucial for future U.S. doctors, because the national nonprofit Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates has imposed a new medical accreditation requirement that will take effect in 2023. Beginning that year, a med school's accrediting agency must be recognized by the WFME in order for its students and graduates to be eligible for certification by the commission.

Without certification from the ECFMG, students at Caribbean medical schools will not be able to pursue clinical rotations in the U.S., and graduates of Caribbean med schools cannot secure U.S. residencies and fellowships.

"If you're going to a school internationally whose accreditor has not been recognized through this process, then you will not be able to go back to the U.S. and do a residency program," Chumley warns. "That's an important change and something that people need to know."

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