Applications are currently being considered for our Fall semester. Registration for Fall is Tuesday September 4, 2012 and reservations close on July 16 2012, so if you are interested in applying please complete our short application form and one of our admissions team will guide you through the rest of your application process.
Why study medicine at a Caribbean Medical School?
In 2010 only 8.9% of applicants to American medical schools were accepted[1]. The majority of aspiring American doctors will study for their USMLE in a foreign medical school.
However this shortage of medical school places in the United States does not reflect a shortage of jobs for qualified doctors. In fact such high competition for a medical education poses a significant social problem for the US, as the country faces a serious shortfall in the number of family physicians needed for national healthcare.
The U.S. healthcare reform plan intends to provide health insurance to 32 million Americans currently without cover. This will lead to a massive increase in demand for healthcare in an overloaded system.
The Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that there may be a shortage of as many as 150,000 doctors in the US in the next 15 years. New medical schools are opening in the US to meet this shortfall however they face a cap on government funding for medical hospital residencies and may struggle to obtain clinical rotations for their students.
In this climate, an established accredited Caribbean medical school like Saint James School of Medicine becomes the smart alternative to an over-subscribed, expensive American medical school.
Study Basic Sciences in the Caribbean
At Saint James School of Medicine our Doctor of Medicine (MD) program is a 10 semester program covering the Basic Sciences and the Clinical Sciences. Medical students spend four semesters (16 months) studying Basic Sciences at one of our Caribbean schools in Anguilla or Bonaire. For more information on our Basic Science curriculum click here.
Do your USMLE prep and clinicals in US Hospitals
Our students do their USMLE prep and clinical rotations alongside students from some of America’s best medical schools at a fraction of the cost. The Clinical Sciences component of our MD Program is completed over six semesters (96 weeks) at affiliated hospitals and clinical facilities in the US. We have a strong established network of US hospitals and clinical institutions and constantly invest in growing these affiliations.
The first part of Clinical Sciences is an Advanced Introduction to Clinical Medicine. This takes place in Chicago at an affiliated hospital and consists of eight weeks of intensive preparation and review for the USMLE Step 1, followed by eight weeks of introductory concepts in clinical medicine, including rotations through various departments. The rest of your clinical training at Saint James will be divided into 48 weeks of core clerkships and 48 weeks of elective rotations. For more information on our Clinical Science curriculum click here.
[1] Source US News. In 2010, 521,876 applications were submitted to the 121 medical schools that reported entrance data to U.S. News. On average, just 8.9 percent of applicants were admitted.