Caribbean Medical School 101 | The Truth And Tips From A Former Student

[@Elfc440]

My husband is a Caribbean medical school grad. He got 21 interviews in the States. Matched in one of the programs. Then we came back to 🇨🇦 He is really happy with choice. Canadian med schools were very unreachable for him even with a good GPA (I know that GPA is not everything). He is currently practicing in ON, 2000 patients practice. Busy but rewarding. So, if someone can’t get into Canadian or US medical schools, Caribbean medical school is a real opportunity.

[@nxtgenmd]

Thank you for sharing Elly :) I’d love to interview him on the channel if he’s interested - I think he’d be able to share a lot of valuable information with many medical students and premeds. If he’s interested, please ask him to send me a message on [e-mail] and hopefully we can work something out

[@sabakhwaja231]

Which carrib med school he went to?

[@Elfc440]

@@sabakhwaja231 Saba University

[@Elfc440]

@@nxtgenmd thank you for the offer. He is kind camera shy, off any social media for the most part. :) also, a lot is changing in the family medicine in Canada these days. Spots in FM residency get unfilled, more than usually amount of spots left for the 2nd round. When he was applying for a FM spot in Canada, it was extremely difficult to match in 🇨🇦 . Completely different story in 🇺🇸 - however, it could have changed as well in the past 10-14 years.

[@mikegrili391]

A number of points: 1. Only consider 5 Caribbean med school’s that are accredited. 2. USMLEs are much more challenging than the MCCEQ. 3. Caribbean med schools are structured after US med schools. 4. Match rate is much higher 59% in the US versus 33% in Canada. 5. Yes, easier to get in the Caribbean but the curriculum and testing (shelf exams, NBME) of a student is much more gruelling. 6. Cost is comparable to US med schools. 7. Accredited Caribbean med schools are well regarded as demonstrated by the success in USMLE scores and match rate. 8. Matching in the US is much more competitive than in Canada as a student is competing with students and doctors on a global level which is not the case in Canada. 9. Yes, more PGY 1 spots in the US about 35,000 but there are about 40,000 applicants. 10. Canadian students graduating from Canadian med schools are not very successful in the US match. 11. At the end, standardized US testing ensures that a doctor has the same qualifications and competencies as any Canadian or US med student. 12. The bottom line is a student who perseveres, is resilient and is committed can succeed.

[@budtalks]

Great video, I know many people who have chosen to go the caribbean or Ireland and personally I think taking a gap year to strengthen your application to get accepted in Canada might be the better option rather than taking the risk.

[@nxtgenmd]

I totally agree Bud 🤙 the problem is really for those students in the sub 3.0-3.4 GPA range, with poor MCATs where really, admissions in Canada are very unlikely barring and sort of unique applicant category admissions. I used to be very negative about the Caribbean and Ireland programs because of other videos that I saw online and after reading some online forums. Being in residency now though, I have met and spoken with multiple colleges in family medicine, Peds and internal med who have come from international programs. There are definitely cons of the programs, but if people are going to go, then I'd rather we offer tips and share experiences to help them out :)

[@doyourbestleavetherest]

Does a High MCAT make a difference despite a low GPA? not that mine is low but it’s not 4.

[@sasissy1]

My husband was the Academic Dean at SUSOM. He often said what a great education the students received at SUSOM. He also taught at Ross and St. Maarten.

[@sesshyakafluffy]

Very good content. I’m also an IMG aiming to apply to carms this year 🙌🏾

[@nxtgenmd]

Thanks Gavin 🤙 Goodluck with the applications!

[@messimagisterial4216]

Hey Gianluca great video again. I really look up to you and hope to be a doctor like you. I'm also at Ryerson Biomed lol. I was really considering carib med schools but it's really risky and the attrition rate is extremely daunting, I just don't want to jeopardize my families future.

[@nxtgenmd]

Hi Messi :) Thank you very much and it's always great to speak to a fellow RyeSci student 🤙I would unfortunately need to agree with you - the Caribbean programs do come with a lot of risk. Both from a financial and personal perspective. However, just like I do know of stories where unfortunately people have regretted going, I also know of instances (like with the student from today's interview) where things worked out very nicely for the individual in the end. Deciding whether or not to go, will at the end of the day be a matter of personal decision making. I would do some more research online and plan out what the future could look like for you if you were to enrol. If there's any questions that you'd like for me to ask my friends from International programs, please let me know. I wish you all the best

[@messimagisterial4216]

@@nxtgenmd Thanks! Will do 👍.

[@davidi5803]

Good video, however for those going to Carribean you need to have a high risk tolerance. About 55% match ( for those that make it through the program) and if they do not they are 300k in debt with no job.

[@davidi5803]

Edit: Also you wouod be limiting your specialty choices

[@nxtgenmd]

Hey David :) I'd agree - for reasons discussed in the video I can't just give the Caribbean programs a blanket recommendation for everyone and making the decision to enrol is ultimately going to come down to the individual's choice. But do you mind if I ask where this 55% match rate number keeps coming from? As I've shown at the end of the video from the 2022 CaRMS match data, 90% of first time IMG applicants were able to match into a Canadian residency if they graduated that same year. Even the NRMP US residency match data cites a 61.4% match rate for US born IMGs and this doesn't stratify categories like the students that have graduated a number of years ago and have not been in a clinical setting for a number of years: www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/2022-Main-Match-Results-and-Data_Final.pdf All this to say that yes, match rates for IMGs historically haven't been that good - but it seems to me like if you are able to work hard, remain flexible when it comes to specialty choice and geography, and get through the program then match rates aren't as bad as many people think. Happy to discuss further and please correct me if there's an issue in my reasoning as I am often consulted on this matter by other physicians and students and would really appreciate being able to give proper insights.

[@truthteller2711]

@@nxtgenmd what about non US IMGs that want to get into internal medicine at a decent residency spot? I’ve heard a lot of residencies are specifically for IMGs and are of low quality

[@nxtgenmd]

@@truthteller2711 from data shared by the NRMP, non-US IMGs are statistically disadvantaged in comparison to US-IMGs. When assessing residency program quality its always best to speak with current residents and attend information sessions. You do need to do a little bit of digging for information, but in light of the disadvantages your best bet is still to apply as broadly as possible and try your best to stack your application with great board scores, references letters and evaluations🤙

[@lemonsoap5741]

So would you say they are decent safety schools?

[@gurjotdulay3453]

Amazing content!

[@nxtgenmd]

Thanks Gurjot :)

[@dhyanshah5397]

I am trying to pursue medicine in neurosurgery and almost got an offer from Sgu carrib however i have applied for EU/UK unis as well My end goal is to get residency in the usa IF NOT THEN IN THE UK/EU, i have not opted to do undergrad in usa as i am not an us citizen and just not up with the mcat thing so i have taken the ucat and i had been practicing for that ever since and i have already send my applications to ireland and UK unis. Doing undergrad in uk/eu/carrib uni will make me considered as an IMG which itself makes it harder to residency i know that and i am fine with that…. But i want to know that doing undergrad from uk/eu/carrib which among them is going to bring me Atleast some chance to do residency in the usa? IF NOT FOR NEURO THEN FOR ANY OTHER SPECIALTY LIKE GYNAE PSYCHIATRY OR CARDIO

[@Medicineandlacrosse]

If you are not from the US and you don’t go to med school in the US, your chances of getting neurosurgery residency in the US is almost 0, like 0.1%. You are probably better off going to school on Europe and pursuing residency there

[@person01123]

Did he say Ireland?

[@ckrgksdkrak]

Only go Caribbean if you tried at least three years of applying USMD

[@nxtgenmd]

I agree - you should definitely try to apply in the US or Canada first before the Caribbean

[@TheNewArnold]

Hi Dr. Gianluca, could you please have a video specifically for the "return of service" agreement when matching into Canadian residency, are all img's required to sign an ROS or some programs do not require it? if there is an ROS, do we choose the location to fulfill the ROS or they do? is the city of Carleton Place considered ok to fulfill ROS for example? are all residency specialties (with variant lengths) followed by the same 5 years ROS in Ontario? and if we can pay the ROS off how much approximately would it be for a 2-year fam med program? Thank you, hope you can have a video on that as it is really a deal-breaker for img's looking to apply to Canada and not much is talked about this online.

[@nxtgenmd]

Hi Ali :) Unfortunately I feel like when it comes to things like ROS agreements, I'd be well outside my current scope of knowledge. I might be able to ask one of my friends from an international program and will leave a comment here if there are able to provide me with any additional details. In the meantime however, I would direct you to this site for more information: www.carms.ca/pdfs/OntarioROS.pdf Best of luck with everything!

[@aahsimovieprojects]

I would never go see a Carrbbean doctor personally, if it concerns my health I want the best care possible from the best educated physician I can access. If you couldn't get into a med school here, I don't want to see you. It sounds harsh but just my personal opinion, I'm sure they still have plenty of patients willing to see them.

[@purplepigeon1042]

A medical degree doesn’t qualify you to practice. Your residency training does. That is the whole point of the conversation: ppl go to Caribbean to obtain MD and get a residency back in US or Canada to train as physicians. If your health and best care possible truly matters to you, you’re going by the wrong metrics. Getting into medical school is not the criteria from which to base a physicians competence (mind you, people who pursue music degrees and no science background have gained admission in Canada to universities such as McMaster…look it up). It’s the examinations and multitude of criteria that come *after* gaining admission, such as USMLE/MCCQE scores, residency examinations, etc. Don’t let your prejudice and bias unnecessarily prevent you from seeking good care. Think some more. Also, not to mention the stats that due to the shortage of family physicians in Canada, you will see more foreign trained docs to meet the population needs. I can’t change your personal opinion, but I can educate you 😂

[@debys2marys2]

Are you saying that medicine is only good in the US? I hate to break it to you but there are countries with much better doctors and medical training programs than the United States. If you want to be picky when choosing your doctor, it is your choice. But do not diminish doctors from other places when their determination and training is what will define whether they will be good doctors.

[@alext7202]

Any brain or heart surgeons coming out of these programs? How rare is it?

[@nxtgenmd]

Yes there are - there will always be exceptions to rules and people who are able to overcome odds with shear hard work, determination and networking ability. From what I’ve seen, the neurosurgery match rate for IMGs was around 7.5% - by comparison the match rate for ophthalmology in Canada is around 50% for Canadian students and that’s typically seen as “very competitive” More here if you want to read more: blog.matcharesident.com/top-img-friendly-specialties-of-2022/ All the best 🤙

[@ralphdagher10]

then you lose 3 years of your life

[@claus1225]

When you have to go that far in order to “help” people, its just not meant to be.

[@cardiacmyxoma4073]

Bottom line: DON'T DO IT! I have a few family friends who didn't end up matching and are working other careers. One went back to school to get a teaching degree for high school.

[@classtime9873]

What international schools did they go to?

[@neila6340]

Is Ireland a better option than Caribbean in any way?

[@dzikijohnny]

ST GEORGE has an affiliate link with an Irish Medical School.

[@neila6340]

@@dzikijohnny i dont care about that

[@CanadaMath]

If you are a Canadian and go to a Caribbean medical school, you will not obtain a residency position in Canada. Your only hope is matching in the USA and even that is very difficult. So moral of the story: forget about medicine, learn how to code and make your income online. Medicine sucks.