Fun Medical School? 0
It’s a cruel reality for would be medical students. Every year over 39,000 folks apply for admission to a US medical school, but only about 47% are admitted. What do the remaining 53% do? Well, instead of sitting around feeling sorry for themselves, a substantial number are running away to an island and going to medical school. One vacationer’s gorgeous tropical island is an additional student’s campus. Some are gaining as great a reputation as those within the United States. Within the late 1970’s Caribbean islands realizing that tourism could be fickle began to look for other streams of income. They hit upon the thought of medical schools, primarily for US students who had been being shut out of medical schools within the United States. In a short time St Georges University in Grenada, (which benefitted from some unsuspecting exposure when the US invaded Grenada in 1983) Ross University on the island of Dominica as well as the American University of the Caribbean, originally on the island of Monserrat, opened their doors. They were and are extremely prosperous. Inside the years that followed it seemed a medical school opened on nearly each Caribbean island. The selection became as significantly about the high quality of the education as what the island itself offered. No 1 can doubt the success of St Georges University in Grenada. It was so prosperous, they’ve branched out to include a school of veterinary medicine, a school of arts and sciences and a graduate studies program. But maybe you can’t take the steamy heat in Grenada. Maybe diving is your pastime. If so, head to Bonaire, the island recognized for its incredible diving and enroll in St James School of Medicine. The remote island of Sint Eustasius, (St Statia), is also recognized for its underwater beauty also as the University of Sint Eustasius Medical School. In case you get bored there, head to its neighbor island Saba and attend the University School of Medicine. Is a rainforest additional your interest? Half of Belize is covered by rainforest and it has 3 medical schools, Grace University School of Medicine, Central American Health Sciences University plus the American Global University School of Medicine. Should you prefer your Caribbean islands with a Dutch influence, head for the Lesser Antilles. You’ll be able to attend St Martinus in Curacao, or Xavier Univerity School of Medicine in Aruba, which has the added benefit of no MCATS for admission. Maybe the island of Nevis can tempt you with the Medical University of the Americas. Its neighbor, the island of St Kitts is positively flush with medical schools such as St Theresa Medical University, Windsor University School of Medicine, and the University of Medicine and Health Sciences. The choice is yours.
With so several offerings, how do you select? Price is a large concern of course. All offer financial aid, though some are much cheaper than other people. Saba boasts a price of around ten thousand dollars a semester, considerably cheaper than its US competitors and also the island competitors of St Georges University in Grenada and Ross University in Dominica. Way of life is really a factor too. The island of Dominica is significantly much less “Americanized” as far as food and shopping than either Grenada or Belize. The high quality of education is also a major factor. All Caribbean medical students must take United States Licensing Exam, the USLE, after their second year of medical school. Grenada leads all the other islands with a initial time pass rate of 84.4 percent. Dominica comes in second at 69.7 percent, while St Lucia scores a dismal 19.4 percent. Compare that to the US/Canada pass rate of around 95 percent, and you may see what you might be up against. Whilst the top quality of the Caribbean schools might not equal those within the United States, for a significant population of wish to be medical students, it is the only option. Besides, you know what they call the St Lucia medical student who got the lowest passing score on the USLE? Doctor.
