Why Caribbean Medical Schools?

A lot of friends and family members ask me why I chose the Caribbean for medical school. My answer often is some version of the following: Attending Saba University School of Medicine provides me an opportunity to achieve my personal and professional goals. They gave me a chance to prove myself and fulfill my calling. 

I cannot become a physician without proper training and instruction from a reputable well-established medical program. Medical school is foundational and a critical stepping-stone that will allow me to achieve my personal career goal of becoming the best physician I can possibly be. Medical curriculum, regardless of the school, will train me how to think about the body and its dysfunctions in an analytical evidence-based method.

Becoming a physician will take more than someone who reliably makes good decisions when the consequences really matter. It will take years of serious, sustained effort because I need to build a new knowledge base, develop my mental capabilities, and dramatically expand my technical skill set. The biggest thing that will change is my mind. Medical school will train me with the how to approach medical science, and since medicine is an apprenticeship profession- mentorship with experienced physicians will train me how to think like a physician.

**the following is a post I wrote the week of my admissions phone interview with Saba University College of Medicine, January 2019:

I will do whatever it takes as long as it takes to become the best practitioner I can be. Caribbean medical school is an opportunity to make my career in medicine a reality. All through undergraduate I was fed the negative stigmas associated with Caribbean schools - and quite frankly I believed them without verifying the "facts" I was blindly believing from my pre-med advisor. It's been 2.5 years (almost 3) since I graduated with a bachelors of science and 4 years since I started preparing and taking the MCAT. 

Despite the setbacks of not making it past secondary applications in the AACOMAS cycle due to sub-average MCAT scores I persisted and demonstrated resiliency by faithfully studying for and re-taking the MCAT 3 times. Though my MCAT score is not at 500 I believe I am a competitive applicant and candidate for medical school - I do not want to be underestimated by my MCAT, I am intelligent and have a lot to offer the medical community because of my desire to serve others for good! 

I am determined and committed to succeed as a physician, everything I've completed in my adult life, academically, and professionally has brought me to this point and to quit now would be a loss of 7 years of effort, time, money, and resources. I will become the physician I strive to be. If the Caribbean schools accept lower MCAT scores then they will give me the chance and opportunity to make my professional and personal goal a reality.

“Skill can be taught, tenacity cannot.” ~Atul Gwande