Will I Be Stigmatized If I Attend A Caribbean Medical School?
I get this question a lot, so let me just address it in a separate post.
Will you be stigmatized for attending a Caribbean medical school? Yes, you will, to some degree. But does it mean that you shouldn’t attend one? Well, that depends on why you want to become a doctor. To read about my thoughts on this, please see this post. The gist is that if prestige is your primary goal, maybe you should reconsider your path. If you want to be an amazing doctor, though, there is absolutely no reason why you can’t attend a Caribbean med school.
Well, what about residency? Will I still be able to get a good spot? Yes, you will. Does it matter that you went to a Caribbean school? Yes, it does. But that is not the end all be all. See this post I wrote for a longer explanation.
What I’m trying to say is that yes, there is a stigma for Caribbean and other foreign medical graduates. Yes, some people might give you crap for it. But in my experience, it matters way more what type of student you are. I have received amazing commendations from my attendings and residents, and they never seemed to care which school I went to. My patients never even ask which school I attended. And when I do a great job of treating them, show them compassion, and really listen to them, they don’t seem to care at all which school I went to, or even what color hair I have.
If you want an easy path in life, don’t go to med school. If you want to be a doctor, but don’t want to ever have to deal with the possibility of being stigmatized by being a foreign medical graduate, go to a U.S. school. But if you want to be an awesome doctor, and you are willing to work hard for it, ignore what anyone tells you, and live your dreams, then go for it. And don’t let anyone ever tell you that you can’t!
That’s my 8 cents!
My name is Kendra and I am a newly minted doctor about to begin my residency in Psychiatry at 
Amen! Great post
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FABULOUS POST!!! you took alllll words and all 8 cents out of my mouth….(that’s what she said). well put dear…rock on!
With the cost of Ross and St. Georges so high, I am seriously thinking of AUC in St. Maarten, they seem more reasonable, a good island and they have a good reputation. Can anyone see any reason why Ross or St. George would be better to attend over AUC?
That is more than 8 cents! That is so true. Caribbean med schools are definitely not for everyone. My colleague and I who are both from the same Caribbean school were just discussing about that topic. It is not easy. Medical in itself is not easy and being an IMG has its own separate challenges. However, patients really don’t care what school we are from and that is true. No patient has responded differently because I attend a Caribbean med school. What matters is how they are treated by us on whether we are compassionate, knowledgable, respectful, listen to them and just – nice. The teacher doctors also have treated me respectfully.
I’m here! Starting 1st Sem at RossU! I wanna give you some of the credit… reading your blog has encouraged me to go for it! Thanks for taking the time to blog! I love Dominica already! Thank you. Thank you.
FYI…..AUC is just as expensive as SGU and ross. between those three schools, there is very little difference. each school has its cheerleaders. many consider AUC because of it having the most americanized island. dont make a decision based on the money alone…..take it all into consideration
Thank you for taking the time out of your very busy schedule to make this post, it has given me much insight!
[...] of insight and detail. Her posts like Why I’m Attending… inspired me and posts like Will I Be Stigmatized… answered my questions to the point and in honest [...]