for those of you not immersed in the system, Caribbean medical schools conduct their Basic Science courses (equivalent to the first 2 years of a North American medical school) on-island and offer clinical rotations (equivalent to the last 2 years of a North American medical school) through affiliations with teaching hospitals in the USA. while each student needs to complete 72 weeks of core and elective rotations, hospital affiliations vary widely across the country.

basically, you could end up in New York or Illinois or Georgia or Louisiana or North Carolina or Maryland. or a combination thereof.

rotations are 4 or 6 or 12 weeks long. some are cores (MUST do) and some are elective (often chosen based on your future residency aspirations). you don’t have to do all of your rotations in one city or at one hospital. in fact, it’s often impossible to do that even if you want to. you sort of have to go where there is space. or wait for space to open up.

have i mentioned it’s confusing? i’m getting flustered just trying to explain it. it definitely needs high-level coordination.

meeting with MUA’s Clinical Coordinator is a must for MED 5′s before we leave the island. today we had a nice chat with the lady that is in charge of juggling students from classrooms to hospital hallways. let me tell you, that is not a job i envy.

nothing is official yet, but it’s sort of looking like we might end up in Oklahoma City.

don’t worry, every preliminary apartment i’ve checked out in the area near the hospital is pet-friendly and there’s an awesome dog park just a 15-minute drive away. i hope Maddy’s ready for the buckle on the Bible Belt.

yeehaw!

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*today’s photo is a snapshot of my desk (tiny, light-loving bug and all) and obviously has nothing to do with Bibles, or belts or Oklahoma.

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