Pre-Med in Caribbean

If you do not have the necessary 90 credit hours to apply for the medical school, many Caribbean Medical Schools offer a Pre-Med program, or, as some schools call it, the “5-year medical program”. There is no official body in the Caribbean that reviews and accredits only the Pre-Medical component of the program. This leaves the quality and the legitimacy of these programs open for scrutiny. If you complete the entire medical education with the Pre-Med in the Caribbean medical school, it is likely you will not face any issue when it comes to licensing, so long as the Pre-Med program you took actually amounts to a total of 90 credit hours. However, in the event you are forced to transfer schools or discontinue your medical education altogether, it is highly unlikely that you will be able to transfer those credits to a school in US/Canada (for example, if you wanted to pursue another career, like nursing). It is our opinion that you should be very careful in selecting and joining a Pre-Med program in the Caribbean.

Tip #36: Pre-Med programs in the Caribbean are generally not accredited and open for scrutiny. Before joining the Pre-Med program, see if the Pre-Med credits will be accepted by another Caribbean or even US institution.

Although you are embarking on the path of medical education to successfully complete it, it does not hurt to spend some time at this point and cover an alternative- what will happen if you are not successful. Just remember that there are good number of students that do not end of completing the program in the Caribbean, and the reason this website exists is to educate you on the potential concerns and prepare you for alternatives.

Tip #37: Try to obtain the 90 credit hours in United States or Canada rather than joining a Pre-Med program in the Caribbean.

Pre-Med programs in the Caribbean can be expensive (especially when you consider the travel, housing, etc.). For the same amount of money you should be able to obtain 90 credit hours in the US/Canadian college/university. The advantage of that is that you will likely receive a better education and will be able to keep those credits for the future, just in case the medical education does not work out in the manner you expected.