Us Accreditation in The Dominican Republic

[Kassim Camilo]

I'm thinking of going to medical School in the Dominican Republic. I have Dual Citizen ship, In the US and The DR. Medical school there is cheaper and faster than her in Florida (where I would do 4 years of pre-med and 4 years of medical school) . Over there I would be done in roughly 5-6 years and it would be alot cheaper. As of right now I'm considering either UNIBE (Universidad Iberoamericana) or INTEC (Instituto Tecnologico de Santo Domingo) both in the Dominican republic. My only concern is whether they are Accredited by the US. Can someone please tell me???? If they are not, than what Med Schools over there are? please help me,thaks.

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[Medstart108]

Unfortunately they aren't accredited by the LCME so you will be considered an IMG. That makes life much more difficult for you if you want to come back to the US to practice. They are both accredited by FAIMER so you can still apply to the US, but it means you will basically need to be much better than a US graduate to secure the same residency spot.

 

[Kassim Camilo]

What if INTEC is accredited/recognized by The California Medical Board ? http://www.mbc.ca.gov/Applicants/Medical_Schools/Schools_Recognized.aspx

 

[Skip Intro]

You are looking at the right things, Kassim. One of my best friends went to medical school in the DR. She is Canadian. She is now practicing in Florida, and is an awesome general internist.

The key is to NOT attend a school that has been "banned" in any state you may want to practice in at some point in the future. Look at the Florida list and just make sure before you go somewhere. And, you will still have to do an internship/residency in the U.S. and be considered a "foreign trained" doctor (i.e., will have to go through the ECFMG process). This may make getting a residency in the U.S. a little trickier for you. But, if you are dually citizened (although the U.S. itself doesn't recognize dual citizenship), you should be able to go the best of the best in the DR and avoid a lot of these questions when you apply for residency.

Good luck.

-Skip

 

[Medstart108]

What if INTEC is accredited/recognized by The California Medical Board ? http://www.mbc.ca.gov/Applicants/Medical_Schools/Schools_Recognized.aspx

Again that just means you can apply to California, but you are still an IMG. If your school is not an LCME accredited school (only the schools in the US and Canada and Puerto Rico) are, you will be classified as an IMG, which means you basically need to be better in all aspects than someone who went to the US just to get the same residency.

Also, the DR doesn't really have "the best of the best" medical schools. To keep it real, its a 3rd world country and no one has ever heard of any of these schools before. They won't be wowing anyone and to be frank could easily be confused for a Caribbean offshore school. Considering Kassim is still a high school student who has a great chance at going to undergrad in the US and then applying to medical school, there is no reason to go to Dominican Republic, and essentially making it difficult to match. On top of that at the very least the Caribbean schools teach towards the US healthcare system, they provide 2 years of rotations in the US, I don't think the DR schools do any of that, which makes it even less likely he will match.

 

[Skip Intro]

Good points, Medstart108.

The only other thing - and I mean the only other thing - to consider is the cost of education. If that is a factor, and if he can get into a program that essentially caters specifically and primarily to Dominican students, then that may be paramount for him. The cost of medical education is ridiculous in the U.S. - and the "classic" Caribbean pathway. A "true" Dominican school that has a history of graduating strong and capable doctors, and that costs a fraction of the education costs associated with going some other route, would be something to consider for someone whose heritage is Dominican.

Otherwise, I agree completely with what you said. He will still be a foreign-grad and face a more slightly uphill battle, which may be completely avoidable with all the new U.S. schools opening... but at a substantial cost.

This is a tough one.

-Skip

 

[BestDoctorEver]

Again that just means you can apply to California, but you are still an IMG. If your school is not an LCME accredited school (only the schools in the US and Canada and Puerto Rico) are, you will be classified as an IMG, which means you basically need to be better in all aspects than someone who went to the US just to get the same residency.
Considering Kassim is still a high school student who has a great chance at going to undergrad in the US and then applying to medical school, there is no reason to go to Puerto Rico, and essentially making it difficult to match. On top of that at the very least the Caribbean schools teach towards the US healthcare system, they provide 2 years of rotations in the US, I don't think the DR schools do any of that, which makes it even less likely he will match.

Going to Puerto Rico, OP will be an AMG--not IMG....

 

[Medstart108]

Going to Puerto Rico, OP will be an AMG--not IMG....

Sorry I made a mistake, i meant Dominican Republic not Puerto Rico

 

[tartesos]

Sorry I made a mistake, i meant Dominican Republic not Puerto Rico

I agree with Your points, if he can get into any medical school in us or pr then she should go for it, no matter the costs.
Now as for nobody heard of Dominican medical schools you need to do some reading....
Medicine chairman of Columbia Presbyterian Hosp, former chair of radiology at mass general? and so on,
Graduated in the first university founded in the new world in 1538 and still running, called universidad autonoma de santo Domingo(Uasd),
That one and 3 more( unibe, unphu, Intec) are recognized in all 50 states, as an img of course.
There are a lot of Dominican graduates that obtain residency spots year after year.

But again, I must agree with you, first and foremost, op must try to get to med school( md or do) in us or pr( Spanish is a plus for him there), no matter the cost.

 

[littlewolf]

UNIBE is the best choice followed by INTEC. Forget UASD, people study there becuase they dont have another choice. ITs cheaper, but students often complain about how bad the administration in that university is. Either UNIBE and INTEC gives you the opportunity to complete 4m or 8 months interships in USA. Many students from there get residency spots although they are IMGs without usa citizenship or green card.

 

[tartesos]

UNIBE is the best choice followed by INTEC. Forget UASD, people study there becuase they dont have another choice. ITs cheaper, but students often complain about how bad the administration in that university is. Either UNIBE and INTEC gives you the opportunity to complete 4m or 8 months interships in USA. Many students from there get residency spots although they are IMGs without usa citizenship or green card.

Stop bashing the first university of the new world( UASD) , you do not know what you are talking about there.
Unphu is also a good choice and you can use financial aid money as well and in all of the 4 mentioned above you can do your internships in USA. The only advantage of unibe is that you don't necessarily need to learn Spanish at least until the end.... But to me that's a weak point

 

[gyngyn]

Stop bashing the first university of the new world( UASD) , you do not know what you are talking about there.
Unphu is also a good choice and you can use financial aid money as well and in all of the 4 mentioned above you can do your internships in USA. The only advantage of unibe is that you don't necessarily need to learn Spanish at least until the end.... But to me that's a weak point

If OP wants to practice in the DR, I completely support these choices. If he hopes to practice in the US there is no doubt that a US school of either stripe is, by far a better route.

 

[tartesos]

If OP wants to practice in the DR, I completely support these choices. If he hopes to practice in the US there is no doubt that a US school of either stripe is, by far a better route.

That's what I said to him 1 y ago.
3 posts up.

 

[gyngyn]

That's what I said to him 1 y ago.
3 posts up.

And I still agree with you.

 

[Conejito]

And I still agree with you.

If you are Dominican UASD is practically free. No? Unibe I've heard is quite expensive. It's on par with many US medical schools. With UASD there is no US financial aid available.

They are not Title IV so you must pay out of pocket. This being, it is still cheap even for us US citizens. If anyone has more information regarding this, I'm curious to know.

 

[gyngyn]

If you are Dominican UASD is practically free. No? Unibe I've heard is quite expensive. It's on par with many US medical schools. With UASD there is no US financial aid available.

They are not Title IV so you must pay out of pocket. This being, it is still cheap even for us US citizens. If anyone has more information regarding this, I'm curious to know.

If you hope to practice in the US, do not go (no matter how "cheap" it is).

 

[Cuenta Secreta]

Don't go to either one honestly. I can speak for Unibe as a student who has been attending for 2+ years and its a terrible program. The professors are unqualified and don't speak english, exams are totally unfair, grading system is horrible. I can go on and on. Don't do it. Im looking to transfer out ASAP

 

[Stephramc]

Don't go to either one honestly. I can speak for Unibe as a student who has been attending for 2+ years and its a terrible program. The professors are unqualified and don't speak english, exams are totally unfair, grading system is horrible. I can go on and on. Don't do it. Im looking to transfer out ASAP

Hey, did you ever transfer out of UNIbE?