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4 Key Qualities To Look For When Choosing Medical Schools

 

Every year, thousands of young people aspiring to become doctors are turned away from medical schools in their countries. The main reason is the fact that the training opportunities are just not enough. Luckily, physicians can still find a firm foundation for their careers by gaining high quality training in Caribbean Medical Schools.

The number of medical schools in the Caribbean is considerably large. Therefore, arriving at a good choice is sometimes a hard task. You can, however, make it easier by focusing on several qualities.

The Track Record

Usually known as offshore schools, some of the medical training institutions based in the Caribbean mostly serve students from the US and Canada while making a great contribution to the local economies. On the other hand, the local schools focus on students whose home is the Caribbean. Before settling for an onshore school, make sure that it has established and maintained a good track record in provision of high quality education. One of the best and easiest ways of doing this is looking at the number of former students in active medical practice.

The Curriculum

The success of your career will be determined by the quality of training and amount of exposure you get as a student. Keep an eye on the school’s curriculum, especially in the pre-clinical and clinical stages. In addition, make sure that you know when hands-on training kicks off and how long it takes. Also look at the advancement level of the technology used in training and find out whether clinical rotations are completed in your home country.

Residency Opportunities

One of the best ways of determining the most suitable Caribbean Medical Schools is their ability to achieve many chances of residency for their students either through the Caribbean Resident Matching Program (NRMP) or through pre-matching. It is, therefore, advisable to consider the percentages of student matches. In addition, look at the places the students are usually matched as well as the medical specialties most likely to get resident matches.

Accreditation

In order to ensure that you’ll be allowed to practice outside the Caribbean, ensure that your medical school is recognized in Canada and the US. You just have to find out the accrediting bodies of the schools before settling for any of them. Moreover, dig out any information concerning restrictions on areas of practice.

Bottom Line

The quality of education, the curriculum and accreditation of the schools are often inseparable. Most of the Caribbean Medical Schools provide high quality education and excellent opportunities for residency as well as proper accreditation. However, making sure that your preferred school has everything required for the highest level of training is likely to do more good than harm. If need be, also look for chances of obtaining financial aid from education programs and loans from your government.

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