Yes, Caribbean Medical Students Can Get Residencies in America

Graduates of Caribbean medical schools have tremendous success in obtaining residency positions, even in competitive specialties. It helps to attend a well-established Caribbean school, perform well on the USMLE Steps 1 and 2, and obtain strong letters of recommendations. (See my previous articles: Getting Into Residency Part 1 and Part 2 for more information.) Before applying for the residency match and early in medical school, students should strategically plan their clinical clerkships in the US, ideally arranging rotations in the settings where they prefer to match.  In recent years, Caribbean students with strong academic and clinical performances have been able to obtain competitive residency positions at an increasing rate.  However, the largest number of students pursue less competitive specialties, such as internal medicine or family practice.  Some students are also able to ”prematch” into residency positions outside of the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP).
When evaluating the success of a Caribbean medical school’s graduates, it is important to find out specifically where and in what specialties students match. Also determine what percentage of fourth year students match into categorical programs. This information may not be easy to obtain. While schools typically publish their match results, it is unclear if these lists are truly comprehensive.
Read more >>


Follow me on twitter and get updates automatically.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey!!! I read ur blog allll the time...sorry i should've commented earlier..but deff continue...i even wish u could blog even more..and talk about ur social life too..

i had another question bc i live in VA..i was wondering if you kno if i attend ur school will i be able to practice in VA, DC, MD, and NY? Those are four places where i would most likely live in the future..

Also...i started off in college with a 3.5..and now as a third yr i have a 2.7...long story..but i'm a bioinformatics student/genome track...i volunteered at different departments and shadowed one doctor, i'm part of multiple organizations and hold leadership. do i still have a chance? what should i also do to improve my application. thanks! and ur the best!

Dr. J said...

Yeah I’ll squeeze in some stuff about social life. Also if you attend SJSM, the only state you can’t currently practice is California. Also, I don’t think NY you can’t either but I didn’t hear about restrictions regarding other states. Just call up the medical board of those states and see.

And you don’t need to improve in your application; your credential is good enough. SJSM will let you in, since your GPA isn’t that bad and if you can pay your tuition.

Anonymous said...

quick question..i kno the reptuation r kinda look for both schools like SJ and Windsor..but what would u choose..st james or windsor if u had a choice?

Dr. J said...

Windsor has better facilities and they will take care of their students on St. Kitts; however they are not as strict as SJSM when it comes to fulfilling the requirements.

SJSM is getting more and more strict in requirements for getting a residency.

In a future post I'll explain the details.

Post a Comment