State of Caribbean Medical schools as a Choice Fall 2011

As promised here are my thoughts on Caribbean medical schools All schools I mention on this page are click-able links to the school's home page. I am not affiliated with any of them.

I did Graduate from Aureus University of Medicine now I'm an Alumnus.

The Big 3 who have US federal Loans are

Saint Georges University (SGU)

Ross

American University of the Caribbean (AUC)

These are equals, the top 3 in a choice

the 4th is SABA

all 4 of these schools have the California Approval so getting a medical license in all US 50 States is possible

Education at all 4 of these is comparable to US Medical Schools

I see them as a 3rd choice after US MD and DO schools

You will need

GPA 2.8 or better
MCAT of 22 or better

At times all 4 are known to make exceptions but fewer these days.

Match rates have been between 60 and 70% for those who make it that far but know this:

The failure rate for those who go to Caribbean schools is around 30 to 40%

A Lot of people do not understand why its so high and blame the school.

My thought is awesome! I'm glad its so high! Why? Think on it. If a student is so poor and has a low GPA and MCAT gets a shot at medical school and still screws it up and fails out, then great! We need a system that works to weed out people meant to be physicians. Its a tough road!

Other schools

this is my opinion based on cost,education and WHO / Imed listing.

You will not need an MCAT to apply to these
You will need a GPA 2.5 to 2.7 at least.

My top six others:

1. University of Medicine and Health Sciences

2. Medical University of the Americas

3. Aureus University of Medicine

4. St. James School of Medicine

5. American University of Antigua

6. St. Matthews University


There are more than 30 Caribbean schools this is not a comprehensive list but, if you are not accepted into one of these 10 then I have no real hope for you anyway.

The six others above all are WHO listed and IMED listed and some have loan programs and others do not.

The average medical student will need to borrow between 150 and 250,000 USD to pay for education.

I caution you on several points here.

Match rate at best is 70% but somewhere in the 50 to 60% range, It may go lower with the new 20 or so medical schools in the US since 2005
Student loans unless US Federal can and do stop lending without warning, happened to me twice.
Clinical rotations are very important
I know the top three have decent Clinical rotations
after those three other schools have trouble placing students at times but you can arrange your own, I did on a few.

The US is always a better choice


All this said, I'm trying to give you clear advice and clear information on the Caribbean.

Its been tough for me not sure I would do it again but I will not give in or give up and if you go to the Caribbean you too need this attitude.

Good Luck!