I have heard about some med school in the DR that you don’t need any science prereqs for, you don’t need to take the MCAT for, and you apparently will be able to practice as an MD in the US after attending. Is this possible? It seems too good to be true. If I don’t need any of the science prereqs or the MCAT, will I be respected after graduating from a program like this? More importantly, how is it possible that I will be considered an MD there if I obviously have less knowledge in the sciences?
You know the old saying “if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.” Well, that applies here.
Medical schools in the Caribbean are not accredited in the US. That means you cannot come back to US and practice medicine here. (There is a pathway to come back to US to practice medicine, but its very long and fraught with pitfalls. It’s not really a viable path.)
If you want to get some idea of the success rates of US citizens who attended med school abroad, you can look at this document: [Charting the Outcomes in the Match for International Medical Graduates](http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/NRMP-and-ECFMG-Publish-Charting-Outcomes-in-the-Match-for-International-Medical-Graduates-Revised.PDF-File.pdf)
Please note that the document is now 4 year old. In that time, more US medical schools have opened and the ACGME and AOA have begun the merger of allopathic & osteopathic residencies. This means there are fewer residency positions open for international medical graduates.
As for earning a MD–any school can award any degree it wants. That doesn’t mean that degree will accepted anywhere outside of the country where it was issued.
Maybe you can practice medicine in DR.