I called my clinical advisor that very day. I'm sorry to say that she is terrible. AUC really ought to look into fixing its clinical department. Not only did I have to call 8-10 times to finally get a hold of her, but when she promised me she would send me a revised schedule on a specific day of the next week, she didn't do it. So the following week I called her 5 more times, left a message, and still didn't hear back from her. I called her the next day, got a hold of her and she said that I just needed to wait till she emailed me back my schedule. She never did and I'm supposed to start my first rotation next Monday.
People who took their Step exams a week or two after me got their schedules today and when I saw that some of them got the psychiatry rotation at Bronx that I wanted (and was told there was NONE AVAILABLE) I went absolutely insane. Enraged. Dear readers, I flipped out and I'm actually surprised at how angry I was, but there it is. The poor woman who picked up the phone got my bitchiness and aside from her exclaiming "EXCUSE ME!" after I demanded that she MUST fit me somewhere in the Bronx for psychiatry, she was actually very well composed and that settled me down. 10-15 minutes later, I got the schedule you see just above.
What does it all mean? In one 15 minute phone call, a capable young woman who isn't even my advisor fixed my qualms and gave me a schedule that I'm happy with. I don't understand why my own advisor couldn't do it for me. I'm not one to call for someone to be fired, but honestly something needs to be done to improve this whether it be more training or... I don't know. Anyway, I'm happy to be starting clinicals and can't wait to share my experiences (good and bad) with all of you!
hi andrea,
ReplyDeleteI am currently a junior in college and i have been following your blog since freshman year. I am preparing to take my MCAT next semester and I am considering applying to AUC as an option. Thank you very much for your posts as I got an indepth view of what carribean med schools are actually like. After reading this particular post, I was just wondering, is it usually hard to get clinical spots in one hospital? or is it required that carrbiean students travel? also i wondering what the chances are of AUC medical students obtaining surgery residencies as that is my goal as of right now. Thank you very much
if you are a good student who scores 230+ on the step exams and with good letters, you are highly competitive for surgery. it can be hard getting everything in the same hospital i think unless you start in one of the sept semesters for basic science. since i started january, my schedule is a little off but its okay because we just have so much time for the next match. i wont be matching till 2015 so they tend to spread our schedule out more with breaks between rotations.
DeleteOk thank you very much for your insight and information. I will strive to do my best and obtain that score. AUC looks like an amazing school with great credientals. Hopefully I will get admitted. Thanks again.
DeleteI completely sympathise with your 4 different hospitals problem. I think the university should be more understanding of the fact that students just don't have the resources to keep moving/travelling/commuting for such short periods. I hope for your sake the USA operates on a hospital and not network system for residency unlike here in Australia - my fiance has worked in three different hospitals this year, one of which is an hour and a half's drive from central Sydney (it's rural). Luckily for him he was renting a room from a family friend, so didn't have a lease, and the rural hospital provides free accommodation. In January he's going to a country town six hours drive away from where I live, and he won't be back till April. Again, luckily I have a job that's Sydney-based for the whole year, otherwise we'd never see each other!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on passing the Step. When you start clinicals you'll feel that much closer to becoming a doctor. Just remember that eating and sleeping are not optional!
Thank you for your kind words. And you and your fiance sounds like you have it kind of rough. but at least he'll be back in April :)
Deletei love how honest you are on your blog!
ReplyDeletevery refreshing not to hear fluff......thanks
David
thank you!
DeleteI am curious to know who you have as an advisor. I was just assigned BB. :) BTW, sometimes a little freak out can get things done. LOL
ReplyDeletei got BL and yes apparently so haha
DeleteHi, Thanks for all your insights, it looks like some of the AUC clinical programs include all of the cores, and some electives. Are those more difficult to get or did you prefer being in NYC? Thank you-
ReplyDeleteI just preferred being in NYC. If you're willing to wait, I think you will be able to get a specific core you want (I know a couple people doing this for certain clinical sites) and you end up filling the time with electives instead, but honestly.... at the end of the day, I'm not sure how much it's really worth waiting. But some people want to be in certain locations so there it is.
DeleteHi Andrea.
ReplyDeleteI'm currently finishing my undergrad soon and will be hoping to go to one of the main 3 med schools in the Caribbean. I was wondering if I could get your email, or if you could email me so I could ask you a few questions about AUC. Thanks. My email is masonrasmussen@gmail.com
Hey, a bit unrelated but what residency do you plan on going into once you get your MD? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI'm leaning towards pediatric neurology, but if I like something better I'll probably go with that! All I know for sure is I want nothing surgery related. I'm not into cutting people open.
DeleteI am going to UMHS, another medical school in the caribbean, this fall. I love your blog. You have great information that will really help me prepare for my own experiences.
ReplyDeletethank you! and best of luck with everything!
DeleteAny plans for an update soon?
ReplyDeletenew post today and hopefully a couple new posts in the coming week!
DeleteHi - what did you end up doing for housing, did you sublet in the upper east side or upper west side and then commute up to Bronx-Lebanon?
ReplyDeleteI'm living in the UES. I got a broker and I'm renting a place for the next 15 months. I'll have more information about this in the coming post
DeleteI am hoping that you are still keeping up with this post. I have been accepted to the May 2015 class at AUC and I am soooo excited!! I was wondering if it is possible to do all core and elective rotations in Baltimore, MD. I think there are two AUC hospitals there. Thanks, Jessica
ReplyDeletethere are 4 affiliated hospitals in the baltimore area (St. Agnes, Union Memorial, Medstar Franklin Sq, Spring Grove Hospital Center) and by the looks of it you could probably do all your electives green book there if you're open to anything, and cores I know for a fact you can do internal medicine, psych, and surgery there, but I'm not sure about pediatrics and ob/gyn.
ReplyDeleteYup...us IMGs usually end up in War Zones, taking care of IVDUs infected with HIV an Hep C.
ReplyDeleteHi Andrea, I came across your blog while looking for some information on Caribbean medical schools. I am a current applicant. I applied to the US schools back in August and still have not gotten any acceptances. I also feel like I'm being treated like a pest whenever I inquire about information or status updates. So recently I decided to apply to AUC, Ross, and St. George. I got into AUC and am waiting to hear back from the other two. I wanted to know if you are overall happy with your decision. I am crazy nervous about this whole process. I came across a thread that had some unsavory things to say about AUC but it was from 2000. I don't know how accurate that is now. I know a few people who are doing residencies from Ross but others who have nothing but negative things to say about Caribbean schools. If you could offer any advice I would greatly appreciate it. I am still waiting to hear back from schools in the US but want to be prepared for any scenario.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much.
I loved my experience at AUC and would not have changed anything about my decisions. And of all the caribbean schools, ours is actually where people are happiest because our island is so much more developed. The school is good, the community is closed knit and when you want to blow off steam its so easy to go to so many awesome bars/restaurants/movies/the millions of beach with water sports. If you ask a graduate from Ross or SGU if they want to come back to their islands 90% of them say no, meanwhile if you ask an AUC grad thats an overwhelming hell yes. That being said, the number of US med schools opening in the last few years will make it that much harder to match, although I think the programs that tend to take from the caribbean will continue to do so because we have strong track records with those certain programs
DeleteThank you so much I really appreciate it. I'm happy I got into AUC. I have until March to put my deposit in to hold my spot. I'm hoping to know more from US Schools by then
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