MUA - where I went to medical school

I get a fair amount of queries on Facebook and such about MUA -- the Medical University of the Americas and what my experience there was. Many inquirers want to know if the school is 'real' and whether they can succeed and get into residency in the United States or Canada after graduating from there. After writing individual replies (typed these days, painfully, on an iTouch) I decided it might be best to post this and send inquirers a link. I still try to reply with a personal message to each one, but so many people ask so many of the same questions, this just makes sense.

If memory serves me right, I joined MUA in January 2001. The school was (I think) in its second semester on the island. I had flown down to the island to visit several month before when the classrooms were still being constructed, the pool was a hole in the ground, the library building did not exist yet and there were no students. It was scary and I was not sure if I was doing the right thing.

I graduated from MUA in 2005 and began residency that same year. For the two and half years I was on Nevis, I bought took all my classes and taught biochemistry (this is why it took me a little longer to complete the Basic Sciences curriculum).

Okay, so here's the big picture... the things that really matter. MUA graduates have got into many different residency programs -- community to university-based programs in competitive specialties like neurosurgery, radiology emergency medicine, general surgery and practically every available type of residency program. Many were chief residents of their program in their final years. Many have gone on to do subspecialty training in fields like cardiology, endocrinology, nephrology, critical care, oncology and subspecialties in anesthesia like interventional pain management. This is only based on the people I know personally.

Bottom-line: the school delivers. We are proof of that.

Second-years have to do the United States Medical Licensing Exam Step1. There are 2 additional steps. I personlly know MUA students who have gotten in the 97 to 99 percentiles in these exams. These are very good scores.

Caribbean medical schools come in many shapes and sizes and degrees of credibility. I cannot authoritatively comment on any of them except the school I went to. In MUA's case, I can vouch for the school as a product of it who is a licensed physician in internal medicine and pediatrics and a clinical professor of these specialties with the University of Wisconsin.

Because the standards for getting into the schools in the Caribbean are not the same as those in the States, a number of students will get in that will never graduate. Some will never finish the Basic Sciences. Others will complete their time on the island but not pass the USMLE exam(s). Still others will graduate and never get into residency. I think this is because not everyone who gets into medical school is there for the right reasons. Some are there to please their parents and are trying to fulfill their ambitions. Others think that it would be really 'cool' to be a doctor, but have not sat down and counted the cost. Others have underestimated the sacrifice, hard work and years of training it takes to succeed.

Life as a caribbean medical school student is hard. Some people have a prejudice against caribean medical school students and graduates, thinking they are second-rate because they did not get into a U.S. (or Canadian) school. The interesting thing is that once you're in the hospital (third and fourth years), most people evaluate you by your performance and not your label. The Basic Sciences Dean at the time of my graduation from the island gave us this advice:

1. Be the first to arrive and the last to leave
2. Volunteer for everything ('who wants to look this up? Who want to try to start this IV?)
3. Own your patient (know their labs, their care plan, read on their diagnosis, evaluation and management).

I took this advice and did great. It was an honor to be a Chief Resident, to win an award for the Best resident teacher -- an award given by U.S. medical school graduates who were in training in my institute, and to be asked to join the faculty of our residency upon graduation from our program. I owe my school for these opportunities. MUA took me a student and gave me the instruction in the basic sciences, placed me in my third and fourth year clinicals, wrote my Dean's letter, gave me my degree and enabled me to get into residency and get licensed to practice medicine. What more can a school do?

The rest is up to you.