Dismissed From a Caribbean Med School... What Now? | OldPreMeds Ep. 234
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 มิ.ย. 2020
- Can med school dropouts still become doctors? Today I talk all about this, along with some specific discussions of how Caribbean medical schools differ from U.S. medical schools, and how that affects this issue!
Check out mappd.com for a premed app that's going to change the premed landscape, especially for nontraditional students!
Links mentioned in this episode:
Premed Years Ep. 230 with Chad: premedyears.com/230
As always on the OldPreMeds Podcast, our question this week is taken from our nontraditional premed forum. (Ask your own questions at premedforums.com.)
Our student this week was dismissed from a Caribbean medical school after being unable to take USMLE Step 1 during the designated time period due to family and financial circumstances. Can this student still become a doctor through a U.S. medical school?
In the process of answering this question, I touch on a whole bunch of issues:
• The differences in how Caribbean med schools and U.S. med schools approach USMLE Step 1 preparation.
• How Caribbean medical schools "cook the books" to make their Step 1 success rates appear better than they really are.
• Why attrition rates are so bad at Caribbean medical schools.
• What actually determines your success at a Caribbean med school.
• Why I don't typically recommend the Caribbean.
• What hurdles will this student face when applying to med schools again.
• How admissions committees view your application with skepticism.
• Why I believe it's still possible for this student to get into a U.S. med school.
• How to succeed through a Caribbean medical school.
If you found this video helpful, be sure to subscribe, hit that notification bell, and check out all our Meded Media podcasts at premedpodcasts.com. - บันเทิง
In law, these type of schools are called Quota Schools, meaning that they admit as many as possible, weed them out (hence the Quota) the first year, and student still has the bill to to cope with.
These schools basically accept you but do absolutely nothing to help you. You pretty much put in the work by yourself. You have to study you have to do everything. The quality can be good but you have to do everything on your own basically. It is going to school online basically.
Is your profile picture DNA bridge? In Gainesville FL
@@DollyDomDom Not true at all.
Spitting some real truth. I appreciate your honesty so much🔥🔥
Dr. Gray, I'd become enamored with your Application Renovation episodes and subscribed recently. I'm starting as an MD student in Fall 2020 and I unknowing/surprisingly applied much of your application advice to my applications. I'm now interested in hearing your thoughts on all other things medical school. Keep it coming, thanks so much!
The way they remove students to improve their USMLE stats reminds me of how neurosurgeons transfer their poor outcome post ops to internal medicine to improve NS stats.
We lost over half our class from semester 1 to semester 2 at my Carib school 😅
May I ask the name of your school? I'm currently looking into Carib schools.
@@michigan1085 Thank you for this info. You’re the third AUA student that has mentioned something similar to this. I know of 2 that transferred out. 1 is doing well at a DO school and the other transferred to Ross and prefers it. I’ll look into other schools.
@@weemsical6137 and I am the 4th person to tell you to stay away from aua, it is no longer a medical school all students from all semesters are failing. They take way too many people than they have placements for and many of us think the grades are manipulated too. I did not want to risk getting to med5 and be stuck there like being in purgatory. So I am looking into mua or st mattews. Aua is a joke now just last semester when I was in med4 we heard only 6 people in med5 made it through comp. I'm sorry if only 6 people out of the thousands make it you are no longer a medical school you should lose your federal funding.
@@lailaaljazairia7884 Thank you for your information. Of their original class, I know of 2 students that are MS3 in MUA. I know if 1 that is also an MS3, but not of her original class. 1 is awaiting his clinical assignment, after just passing comp. I’m not sure of St. Matthew’s numbers. MUA has a small class size, but it is concerning that only 3 MS3 students that we know are doing clinical rotations this year. I wish you the best and hope you make good decisions.
@@michigan1085 AUA is run by Indians who live in India. They are literally the biggest scammers.
Hi Dr. Gray, you've been super helpful in my journey through the Med School Application process. That said, I want to ask you a question that has nothing to do with medical school: What does your tattoo mean? It looks like Hebrew Lettering, but I can't see enough to read it.
Dr. Gray your link to Chad's episode isn't working! Could you relink that?
thanks for all your content!
Lovely content. I hope to help premeds like you do one day.
Hi Dr. Gray, I have a quick question regarding an EC. I accidentally sent in my application with a mistake on it.. I scribed for 2 months but I accidentally put 6 months on the app. How should I go about this?
Additional info: I originally thought I did this during the semester but realized it was during the summer
If this is for AMCAS then technically you don’t have to do anything because you are allowed to estimate the hours as if you did it until medical school started so June 2021
@@tailorforeman7082 yes I had a similar question. So basically I can add hours that I will be doing until med school too? For example: if I plan on keeping my scribing job until the start of med school so July 2021, should I add those hours that I will be doing until then too even if I haven't done it?
I got dismissed from a U.S. med school for having an abuse issue I've since remedied. Is it possible to apply and matriculate in a Caribbean school?
easily. caribbean schools don't care about that as long as you have the money to pay them
Excellent video.
Remember, ANYTHING is possible. ANYTHING!!!!!!!
What should I do in order to get back to medical school? I was dismissed from SGU. It took me a few yrs to become normal again. And now I am ready to continue my medical education again.
@Momo Zac Thank you, I am going to apply to US schools this cycle.
@@valcheung5747 hey how did that go? Did they accept you again and do you have to redo all the coursework again?
@@valcheung5747 did they accept you in a US school
I share a similar sentiment as you. I was dismissed from SGU in 2022 from the nursing program. It was a non-academic matter. I am currently, trying to apply to a nursing program in Canada or US to finish obtaining my degree.
Hi. Where you able to get in to US schools? @val cheung
”Scrutiny” instead of doubt.
Do not use the money excuse after medical students have completed 2 years of school in the Caribbean. The money excuse is valid when applying FOR medical school. But after 2 years of medical school? The student did not bother to study enough during those 2 years.
What’s the reason accepting mass amount of students knowing many will not succeed. Feed off desperation take money kick you out..SCAM indeed! Then again you’re as good as how you perform..can’t 100% blame the school
There is a systemic failure on how US med schools filter students. I have 5-10 years of a 2.0 cGPA and then most recently (last 1-2 years) all my hard sciences at 3.8cGPA. But because I have 150+ credit hours and the majority were a near decade ago when I didn't know I wanted to do medicine, my cGPA is 2.9 and I am filtered out of nearly 100% of interviews for US MD/DO. Until they start putting limits on when GPAs count (maybe last 3-4 years or last 120 credits) this unique subset of students will have to go to the Caribbean if they want to be doctors.
so what you're saying is, your grades were not good, took classes incredibly long ago (to the point where med schools have no clue if you're still capable of taking classes and doing well), and you somehow think its a systemic failure that most schools don't consider your application. i don't think its that shocking. post-bac programs exist for a reason and committees also take a look at trends in grades... going to the caribbean is not your only option (shouldn't be either)
@@NO1xANIMExFAN See, you're wrong. You clearly didn't read - as I said I took my med school pre-reqs in the last 1-2 years. Showing I am able to handle it.
About 10 years ago, for 2 years straight I got a full semester of F's by dropping out and not withdrawing correctly at age 18. Then the following 2 years I did 3 years of criminal justice and got mostly B,Cs and a few D's because I didn't think grades would matter. At 96 credit hours I had like a 2.2 cGPA because of the 12 credits of F.
Then 3 years ago I got my ADN in Nursing, then a BSN in nursing. 4.0 for all of those classes (90 credit hours). and then I did all the sciences (OChem 1/2, Gen Chem 1/2, Physics) and received a 3.9 cGPA in those classes. My GPA for the last 4 years in all of my hard sciences and nursing was a 3.95. but because I have less than a 3.0 cGPA, I can't even be looked at my US med schools.
So great job at completely misunderstanding what I said and ignoring the facts. 95% of US MD/DO programs AUTOMATICALLY screen out anyone under a cGPA of 3.0 and the other 5% are looking at 1000s of applicants. Is that fair to me, a person who withstanding my non-science grades at 18-20 years old, has proven to be able to handle the rigors of medical school in my 30s? No, it is a failure. Like I said.
@@joshsavage9689 well you sound really bitter. But you should really send special letters to these schools. You're in a weird and unusual case--which makes no sense to generalize about the whole system on your anomalous case--but if you submit your primaries and did nothing else, that's on you a little bit.
That said, I actually do agree with the overall tenor of your argument.
@@AlphaNumeric123 I did send letters and make calls. The system should care a lot more about your last X credit hours of science than anything else. That is applicable to all people, not just me.
@@joshsavage9689 well 5-10 years of 2.0 cGPA definitely doesn’t apply to everyone. The “3.0 GPA cut off” is more general (not necessarily true at all schools) but usually DO schools will not do that. There might be other red flags on your applications or something else that torpedoed it. You should send your application to Dr Gray actually, to see what’s going on. Could be lots of things and without knowing your details-feel free to share. (MCAT, hours, schools, criminal record,writing style could all be factors)
Med Schools not admitting people with low GPAs l is hardly a scandal, and it’s not clear that’s what is happening either. You have a redemption story to explain your low GPA so it might be something else.
I'd say Caribbean medical school mainly for business. You go there for self learning. Lectures or professor from these school ( antigua medical school ) from Indian, or md from cuba who never match into residency, so they stay there for teaching. students cannot really understand lecture from majority professors. If students can self learning and find out the way to learn from video from kaplan or board and beyond and know test taker then they may successfully get to the end of road ( 10%) out of 500 plus students. They all like a trap until students really step on the island. Dr Ray mention education can be similar in USA and Caribbean but let me pinpoint us Caribbean medical school is nightmare.
I knew a guy who dropped out of med school and began to smoke crack. He went to rehab, sobered up and became a Substance Abuse Counselor for a few years. He then went back to school, and now he is a Doctor...
Of Psychology. A Psychologist in fact. So hey, many roads my friends. Many roads...
This is sad! Just a cash cow
Help medical students? it is up to the medical student to sit down and do the learning and the studying. What a weird statement.
Will the school come to help them out when they are doctors to pass all the exams doctors have to take over a lifetime?
As a medical student, you do Uworld and you look up anything you are not solid about, you have to do all that learning yourself.
Dr Gray, help premed to get into medical school, fine. But help medical students pass medical school? Doctors are at the top of the chain. They need to have the capability to do their own thinking and their own learning.
If they flunk out of medical school, it is the universe telling them to try something else.
You forgot to mention another reason not to get into US med school is age
Indeed. There are some students that decide to change career late in life and the Caribbean is the best option.
Excellent podcast. You are not accepting services at this time so here goes. 7 years ago I attempted a post bacc with 9 C’s while working 2 hospital director positions for 80 hours a week to support my family. Then online post bacc programs became available 3 years while working 2 full time hospital director jobs to support my family and received 9 A’s.2 different schools so 2 completely different curiculums. 3.5 gpa my states one and only med school ave mcat of 503 plus 20 years clinical experience. No bites from US med schools but Carib online accepted me immediately. Adult children one in college one graduating this year. In state residency director says he will accept me hands down. WWJD?
Did you apply to DO schools?
Julia Josephine I did but at the time my mcat was only 490 so I’m pretty much down to choice 1) work another year be there for my daughter and keep putting one foot in front of the other any pay cash for tuition (if accepted) in just one more looooong year or 2) quit jobs and do online Carib for the first term then go to the island as online classes will no longer be happening for terms 2,3,4,5 which is just like 18 or 20 months
The worst part is that there are absolutely no guarantees for US acceptance. I’ve been told by many admission people is that there is no such thing as a holistic application review. There is no award for all my clinical experiences nor my amazing extracurriculars. And some schools have said no forgiveness for the A’s I received as I have wrecked my chances due to the 9 C’s
Julia Josephine thank u by the way for giving my story a thought!
@@cathy9279 Caribbean is worth considering, but you have to be careful because USMLE Step 1 was recently made pass fail for people starting medical school this fall. With Step 1 being pass/fail, it's going to be even more biased against Caribbean applicants. If you wait a year and apply with your new MCAT score to US DO schools like VCOM or LMU DCOM, then you'd have good chances with your 503. You want to avoid a situation where a Caribbean school gives you a lot of debt and you can't match in the US. A 3.5 GPA and a 503 should be competitive enough to several DO schools and you'll still have US residency.