Transfering from a caribbean school to the states

[kitoko]

If i was to attend sgu per say would i be able to transfer into an American medical school

[ontariostudent]

There used to be a blog of someone who did just that. I believe he was at SGU and eventually ended up at one of the schools in Philadelphia for the second half of med school. He did really well on his USMLE Step 1 and was able to transfer. I don't remember the site but I will post if I come across it.

 

Edit: Found it!! http://rumorsweretrue.wordpress.com/ It was really fascinating. An interesting read for any med student or premed, I think.

[Prothrombin]

absolutely no way as a cdn citizen.

 

You can, it's just a bit harder as there are a few more hurdles to cross.

[tooty]

You can, it's just a bit harder as there are a few more hurdles to cross.

 

proof ?

[token]

Very few US schools take transfers. Even fewer will take them from non-LCME schools. I'm sure not being a citizen would eliminate you from more as well. Keep in mind the guy from therumorsweretrue blog did really well while in the carrib but was still only barely able to make it into Drexel.

 

If you're confident you can score well enough on step 1 to attempt a transfer, you're probably capable of improving your academic qualifications now to get into a real US school.

[Prothrombin]

proof ?

 

Go to some research. Of course there are horror stories of people from Canada not being able to find residency in the US, but at the same time you hear stories of people from Canada having only a few extra hurdles to jump over before being accepted into an American school. Your success at achieving a residency in the US is related to how well you do in the Caribs, how well you do on the USMLE Step 1 and 2, and the types of relationships you develop with your profs. How do you know that those Canadian students who never found a residency weren't lazy, did mediocre on the USMLE, and never bothered befriending their profs? It's not impossible, its just more challenging, but life in itself is a challenge. If you don't have the whole package to be accepted in Can/US but don't want to risk uncertainty in the Caribs, then maybe Med school wasn't meant for you.

[Prothrombin]

getting a residency in the us is not the same as transferring to a us school. lots of cdns get us residencies from the carib schools, but there's also a lot sitting out a year or more before matching.

 

transferring from a carib med school to a us med school is a whole different ball game. there are tons of amazing cdns in the carib who have gotten straight As and rocked the usmles who have not been able to transfer. there are fewer and fewer us schools taking transfers from the carib as a lot are shifting towards taking do transfers instead. none that take a carib transfer will take a non us citizen, at least according to their websites.

 

Yeah exactly, transferring and getting a residency are tow different things. If you can get a residency in the US, which you can as a CDN citizen, you can still practice in Canada, its not impossible nor extremely difficult. You just won't get into a competitive residency program like derm or radiology.

[VanMD]

A Canadian transfering from Caribbean med school to US or CANADIAN med school is impossible. Unless you know someone that is willing to bend the guidelines for you at a US or Canadian school.

 

Getting residency in the USA as a Canadian and not taking a year off is very possible. You just get a J1 visa. Many people do it every year and don't have to take time off.