Studying medicine in the Caribbean Islands is a viable option for Indian students looking to get into the medical field abroad. The medical and healthcare field has increasingly advanced over time and this advancement is mainly due to the increased number of healthcare practitioners and researchers than ever before.
Today, the United States of America has over 80,000 doctors of Indian origin*. In addition to that, there are over 40,000 medical students of Indian origin in the USA today. And this number is only going to increase as healthcare and medical services become an increasingly fulfilling career option for Indian medical professionals looking to study and work abroad. If you are one of the many Indian students looking to get into the field of medical studies in the Caribbean, here is a guide that can help you with the same.
Practice Medicine in the USA: The Basic Process
The Admission Process
In order to practice medicine in the USA you first need to select the university. And for that you need to understand the pre-requisites of each university and complete your Pre-Med studies.
When it comes to selecting the Med School, students need to ensure that the universities they apply for have the required approvals and accreditations from the United States of America. Some of these are:
i. Recognition by the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME)
ii. NCFMEA approved
iii. New York State Education Department Approved
iv. Approved by the Medical Board of California
While some universities are fully accredited, others are provisionally accredited. What the latter means is that these med schools were given temporary accreditation and they need to satisfy a certain list of requirements before the next scheduled site visit. Post this visit the universities may or may not get full accreditation. As an aspiring medical student who wishes to study in the Caribbean Islands, students should monitor the accreditation status of the universities closely before applying. If you wish to study medicine in Caribbean then here is a quick link that can help.
The Course Plan
This is basically a defined set of classes that one needs to study for in order to get selected into a medical school. In addition to the Pre-Med classes, one will have to appear for the MCAT or the Medical College Admission Test. In MCAT, aspiring medical students get a score and this score is what med schools will refer to at the time of the admission process. Different medical schools will have different scores as a benchmark for admission.
Once a student is selected in a Med-School of their choice, they will be studying for another 4 years. These four years of study at Med-School will be in the form of two-parts. The first two years will involve studies of Basic Sciences. This includes studies of the human anatomy, cell structure, physiology and pathology. Pharmacology also forms a part of the studies. You then have to appear for the USMLE Step 1 Examination.
Appearing for the USMLE Examination
USMLE® or the United States Medical Licensing Examination® is a three-step examination that you need to complete in order to obtain a medical practitioner’s license in the USA and its territories. This examination will assess the medical student’s abilities to apply the principles, knowledge and concepts and also to demonstrate their fundamental patient-centric skills which are important in the healthcare field.
The USMLE was created to fulfil the need of a having a single window medical licensure for allopathic physicians in the United States of America. Premedical students have to study for a total of four years before appearing for USMLE Step 1 examination. This includes two years of Pre-Medical Studies and four years of MD program.
There are 3 Steps for the USMLE examination. You appear for Step 1 after completing 2 years of Medical School, Step 2 consists of CK (clinical knowledge) and CS (Clinical skills) which a student takes after studying for clinical sciences during years 3 and 4 in the medical school.
*Source: https://www.caribbeanmedstudent.com/caribbean-medical-school-rankings/
