MUA and the typical apartment

I am officially back from my matriculation in the Caribbean, and am I ever so happy!!! The Caribbean is not what I had in mind and nothing what they make it out to be! It was literally one of the dirtiest places I have ever encountered on the planet! Well, I guess I should start from the beginning and give you the details.

I choose to go to MUA- Medical University of the Americas. When my plane landed on the tiny island of Nevis, I knew I was going to be in for a ride.

The heat was intolerable, and the people were not as pleasant as I had expected. They were mean, short-tempered, and were very pushy. I thought it was due to it being the hottest time of the day. So I didn't hold it against them. A woman from MUA took me to the apartment that I was going to reside in while I was on the island.

I get to my new home, and it is a horrible place. For $600 a month, I would live in a concrete box, in the basement of a local's home, that had no windows, was moldy, and was as hot and humid as a sauna. I wasn't thrilled, but I knew I would look for another place to live eventually. Well, unless you want to spend a few thousand dollars, this is the best you are going to do. And might I add that no matter how much money your spend, it will not guarantee a roachless home. They live everywhere, as the islands are infested with them. Just a warning.

The first week I spent in the apartment, they toilet flooded and the shower backed up and water and sewage laid on the floor of my bed and bathroom. The landlords who lived upstairs, did not seem like they wanted to do anything about this. And this happened several more times. The pipes that all the dirty water runs out of the home in Nevis all run into the back yard. So every time it rained, and the ground was soaked, it came back up in my pipes, since I was basically on the ground.

The doors and windows of the apartments did not seal all together either. Giant centipedes would crawl through the door cracks, and some other critters including tarantulas and lizards.

Now, ALL the apartments in Nevis were pretty much like this, even the nicer ones. All my classmates had troubles as well. And it was not safe. Students ALWAYS got robbed.

I soon learned that many of the landlords there were in it for the money. They would throw together cheap little apartments together and overcharge any student. They believed the students were rich and felt they were justified in taking our money. A local could rent a brand new nice apartment for around a tenth of what we paid.

My humble little abode has a few other problems as well as the flooding. The cistern was right behind one of my walls in the living room, and it leaked constantly. Might I dd what happens to leaky concrete walls? They are likely to collapse at any time do to structural problems caused by the water. Not to mention that ALL the floors in the Caribbean are tiled, and when wet, my floor was like ice. That's always fun to crack your head off once a week.

Here's an idea of what a place to live would look like to a student. Most are one room, and tiny as hell. The are all tiled floor with second and third hand furnished. Doors are cheap and easily to break open, as the windows. Look for a home with bars on the windows. Trust me, you will thank me later. $600 is cheap, but the norm is around $1000.

Not many places like pets, so I wouldn't recommend bringing yours. Plus, they are likely to get poisoned by the locals. They hate animals and love killing student's pets. They also do this to make breaking into you apartment more easily. If there is no dog, then they don't get bit, nor can the dog alarm you of their entrance.

Oh and by the way, the people I encountered at the airport that were miserable? Well, it wasn't because of the weather, and it wasn't because it was late in the day. They are just ALWAYS like that.

Why I Choose a Caribbean Medical School

When I decided to become a doctor, things did not go the way I expected. I had problems arise time after time and I was just about to give up on medical school. In fact, when I went to take the MCAT, I was not allowed to take it because my drivers license had expired. So I drove the 4 hours back home and moped for a couple of weeks after that and vowed not to even bother again.

However, the woman who was checking IDs at the location of the MCAT, did not know that I was allowed to take the test with an expired id, and that according to the MCAT officials, all I needed to do was come back at a later time/date with my updated driver's license. Unfortunately for me, the woman did not know the rules of her position.

Regardless, I did not want to try and take the test again I have already studied for almost two years for it, and have taken plenty of time of from work to do this. I had bills that were to come due and I could not wait any longer. So I decided to look for some alternative jobs that would get me the closest I could to being a doctor, though was not satisfied with my decision. I knew deep in my heart that I wanted to be a doctor and there was no way around it. But was there a way around the MCAT? I mean, that was the ONLY thing stopping me. My grades were decent and I qualified in every other category, so could I not take the exam? Well, I did some internet searches and came across some schools located in the Caribbean.

I actually found many schools that would admit students that have not taken the MCAT. There were some that required it, but most did not. I looked a little bit more into the possibility of becoming a future student at one of these alternative schools. It seemed legit, but I was not sold just yet, so I began contacting the hospitals listed in the clinical affiliations and guess what? The hospitals checked out. They did accept students from the Caribbean. This just seemed too good to be true.

I began looking into schools that interested me. Those schools were Medical University of the Americas(MUA), and American University of Antigua(AUA). I also did research on Windsor, St. Theresa, St. Matthew's, St. George's, and a couple of others. I started mentioning the schools to friends and family members which all responded to the idea with raised eyebrows. I just wanted to see what they had to say about it, and the general populous was doubtful. No one seemed to think it was legit, and too good to be true. But what if it were legit?

Well, I kept researching and finally decided to go for it. I interviewed at a few schools and got accepted to every single one I applied for. Now the hard part was to decide which island I was going to go to. Here's an article many may find helpful when having to pick. It is pretty basic but covers most of the bases. And there are some good pointers.


PS. When and if you take the MCAT, please make sure to have everything you need and know the procedures by checking it out here.

You want to go where???

Whatever the reason, you are thinking about going to a non-traditional medical school. You dream about being an amazing doctor, but there have been many road blocks throughout your journey. Not being able to take the MCAT or not getting a decent enough score makes would-be students look for another way in.

And a way to bypass the MCAT is to go to a foreign school. Despite what people who went to US med schools believe, you can practice medicine in the US. It just takes some time and dedication. Anyways, the only differences are that you DON'T have to take the MCAT, and you may have to take an English proficiency exam depending on what country you are a citizen of. Plus, there's the benefit of studying on a tropical island! Other than that, you do the same thing that students in the US do.

So don't fret what other people think, and just follow your dream. All you need is some direction and pointers from someone who has already been in this position.