Accepted
i have decided to accept a seat with the Medical University of the Americas (MUA) on the island of Nevis in the Caribbean.
Nevis (pronounced “Neee-vis”) is the sister island of St. Kitts, a popular stop for cruise ships. it is a tiny (36 square miles) volcano island and has only about 10,000 inhabitants. even though the name comes from christopher columbus and means “our lady of the snows” (nuestra senora de las nieves), i have a feeling i won’t need my snowshoes or sorels there…
MUA is on the east side of the island and the dormitories are a 5 minute walk from white sand beaches. even better, the classes are small and over 80% of students passed their USMLE step 1 and 2s on the first try. MUA is also recognized by the World Health Organization, Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates, and United States Medical Licensing Examination. the school is affiliated with many hospitals in the US, but clinical rotations and residencies are available in Canada as well.
after four years of preparation and hard work, i’ve realized it’s only just begun. i’m going to medical school.
so, why MUA?
when i first went back to school to complete my pre-requisites for medicine, i believed that i would re-apply to UBC/UNBC as many times as it took to get in. i thought i would be willing to wait 8, 9, 10 years because i wanted to be in british columbia so badly. last year, as i was entering my second application cycle, i realized that was no longer true. i also had a gut feeling i wouldn’t get an interview and needed to start thinking about “plan B”s…
on january 16th, i found out i was not offered an interview this year with UBC/UNBC. that door has firmly closed for me. i am more interested in getting my M.D. career on the road, than pursuing the life of a professional student in order to stay in british columbia.
on january 22nd, i had a light and personal 40 minute phone interview with the admissions director for MUA. on january 24th, he sent me word via email so i wouldn’t have to wait for the snail mail. other than the weather and the fact that they actually want me, confirmation of the class sizes, success statistics, cost of tuition/living, and reading up on personal opinions from students in online forums further clinched my decision.
unfortunately, there are obviously a few cons i have to be willing to overcome…
maddy can’t join me. because it’s an island, there is a 6 month quarantine system for pets. i just can’t justify putting her through that when i’m only going to be there for 18 months. plus, i’m sure she would hate the warm weather.
clinical rotations are spread out across the US and may mean increased cost due to travel. to me, the travel bit is a plus because i think the varied experiences will be immensely valuable in the long-term.
landing a residency in the US or Canada will be more competitive. first round and popular specialties will go to non-foreign medical student. still, not impossible. just more competitive.
and last (but certainly not! least), the boyfriend can’t join me. there is no quaratine system for spouses and families (and i’m sure he would agree with the weather), but he has a mortgage and a new car and a fantastic job. i just hope some of my clinical rotations are in cities with NBA teams. that way he has even more reason to visit.
i am currently waitlisted for entrance in may 2007, but will otherwise start in september. this means i can be done my 5 semesters of basic sciences by may 2009 and finish my clinical rotations in another 72 weeks (september 2010). pending a successful match, i could be starting my residency as early as fall 2010.
way back when i quit my job and re-entered student life, friends and former co-workers would always ask me when i was going to be a doctor. i would reply that i’d finish right about the time the olympics got to vancouver. even with all that’s happened in the last four years, i’m actually not that far off. back then, the olympics still seemed like a VERY long way away. now, CTV counts down the days on their evening news.
i am working to get all my paperwork and finances in order by mid-march in the event that a seat for may 2007 opens up. naturally, i have a million and one things to do. i’ll keep you all posted on the process – especially if there are any other Canadians out there frustrated with our short number of medical seats and considering other options.
PS: i expect a TON of postcards from you guys while i’m down there!
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January 24th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Congrats Jen. I am really happy for you. I know Maddy is REALLY gonna miss you.
January 24th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
[...] you can read all about it here… [...]
January 24th, 2007 at 12:45 pm
Congrats lady! Way to stick with it!
January 24th, 2007 at 1:01 pm
Congratulations!!
January 24th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
maddy can come stay with aunt tori :)
January 24th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
:) i will send you plenty of snow photo postcards next winter ’cause i know that those sandy beaches are going to be so hard to take, lol …
so happy for you!!
January 24th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
As I said on Flickr Congregations!!!!!!.
Think you made a wise choice. I think that we in the states are having the same problem with seats being available. The HMO that we belong to has numerous Dr.s who went to medical school in the islands or in South America and they than did their residency in some of the best hospitals here in the states. They are also darn good Dr.s.
Am sorry that you will have to leave Maddy but she will love you all the more when you come back. Just think “mightyjc” will have a nice warm place to go to once In a while.
Best of luck.
Joe L
January 24th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Congrats! The first thing I thought of when I read this is, “I can’t wait to see the pictures she takes down THERE”. Wheee-hew! Sorry about no Maddy and no boy. I couldn’t do either. I’m not that tough. I can be a real ball buster, but not when it comes to those two things. I’m a softie. That takes a lot of strength. Go get ‘em, tiger! Bwaaahaa!
January 24th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
Congratulations!
What an amazing place to go to school :))
January 24th, 2007 at 5:26 pm
Wow! That is awesome (and bittersweet) news, Jen! I’m so excited for you, though…and a little sad, too. :-) Gosh, if I’m feeling all torn up (and it’s not even *my* life), I wonder how you’re doing! Congratulations on an achievement well deserved.
January 24th, 2007 at 6:32 pm
Yay!! Congratulations, Jen! That’s so exciting… good for you for making such a difficult decision. Hopefully you’ll get lots of opportunites to visit Maddy and the boy here in BC in between all your studying and hanging out on the beach :)
January 24th, 2007 at 7:34 pm
Ha, I love the, “May not be reproduced on the web”, disclaimer on your Nevis map. :)
January 24th, 2007 at 10:34 pm
Congrats!
January 25th, 2007 at 6:02 am
Congratulations Jen. :-)
January 25th, 2007 at 9:39 am
I would hope we’d be the ones getting postcards from the caribbean… :)
January 25th, 2007 at 10:10 am
Congrats! I thinks Saba’s program is a sister school, right? Lots & lots of successful people have come out of these 2 schools…the best of the Carribbean…and, you get beautiful weather!
January 25th, 2007 at 10:24 am
I am SO happy for you. I’ve been following your journey since it begun (althought mostly silently), and I’ve never been more thrilled for a stranger in my life :)
If I could give some unsolicited advice…I went to teachers college abroad, and despite all the promises to the contrary, it was nearly impossible to get work in Canada afterwards. In fact, every Canadian I went to school with over there has ended up going back to the UK in search of work. You mentioned the competition for residency spots here so you obviously know all this stuff already…just make sure you know the TRUE odds, and not some fluffed up odds given by the university. It helps for long-term planning if nothing else.
January 25th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
Super-mecha-congrats!
January 26th, 2007 at 9:07 am
CONGRATS! That’s very exciting!
January 27th, 2007 at 10:33 am
You do you realize that you will be cutting up cadavers soon…. “gross anatomy” indeed…
January 27th, 2007 at 10:36 am
oh and thanks for the postcard from mexico – i didn’t send a postcard (sorry i’m terrible) but I do have a few photos from Arizona you can look at : http://flickr.com/photos/nonstopdesign/
January 31st, 2007 at 6:44 am
Wow, congratulations. You really on a great adventure. Chin up…and have fun.
February 2nd, 2007 at 8:51 am
Congrats. Getting in anywhere is an accomplishment in itself! 4 years isn’t really that long and in 70yrs you’ll forget all the money you had to spend to get where you are, so don’t stress it! Good luck on your travels!
theanonymousmedicalstudent.blogspot.com
August 3rd, 2007 at 11:52 am
[...] then, at the start of this year, i decided to come full circle. closely coinciding with my acceptance at MUA, i posted a “moving home” entry and have been re-directing you all back here ever since. [...]
August 27th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
hi, i was just googling MUA and ran into your blog. i think its great that you got in to the medicalprogram. my sister and i just appliedto the premedical program for the spring 08 semester.
lots of people have so much to say about caribbean med schools, but once your finished with schooling there,surprising everyone finally shuts their mouths! my cousinjust graduated from the basic sciences program and is taking his step one in 2weeks! he says that he is confident in himself because he knows that MUA provided him with valuable education that will help him succeed in his long journey to become an MD!
I just want to say congratulations and good luck! maybe ill see youi on the island one day!
March 11th, 2008 at 8:20 am
[...] the last purge was shortly before i announced that i had been accepted to medical school in the Caribbean. since that milestone is a definite beginning of a rather major chapter in my life, i kinda don’t want to archive anything until the chapter is complete. [...]
March 4th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
I am proud of you Jen. I just finishe my degree in life sciences in Ubc Canada and waiting to go to recognised med school in carribbean. I was happy to read about you. Is MUA recognised in Canada at what point I can do the clinical in Canada.
good luck
January 9th, 2011 at 9:48 am
[...] I had a friend remind me just how far I’ve come since I stood on my office chair and took a photo of myself with a photo of Nevis as my computer des…. [...]