My mom told me that there are pre meds who go to the 20 month pre med programs in the Caribbeans (as undergrad) and then come to the US to start their residency. How does this even work? How do you fit 4 years of work into 20 months and lets say I do conplete my undergrad in 20 months am I limited on what med schools I can do my residency in? Would I be able to apply to Jhums bums or hms??
I’m thinking your mom got bad information. :). Just do a little research and I think you can figure out if that is a likely scenario.
US med schools require, in part, a college degree (either BA or BS). Typically, it takes 4 years to earn a college degree. Most who start college as premed change their minds before ever applying to med school, and of those that apply 60% fail to start at any med school. Assuming one is accepted, med school is 4 years in length, then comes residency. At a minimum one is looking at 11 years (college, med school, some residencies) to be a fully licensed MD. Although there are exceptions at some US colleges (eg pre professional programs), premed is not a program, but is an intention, a hope, a dream to seek a MD degree. Premed generally refers to a set of courses med schools req. Your mother is misinformed as to the process. Taking any program offered in pursuit of an MD degree, including med school, at a Caribbean school is considered a very bad idea. US med schools would probably not even accept any premed course credit offered by any such program.
Caribbean medical school was never 20 months long. Earning am MD from a Caribbean medical school takes just as long (if not longer)) than it does in the US. And you are still required to have completed a BA/BS degree before you’re admitted.
What your mother may have been talking about is that most US students who attend a Caribbean medical school, spend their first 2 pre-clinical years taking classes in classrooms in the Caribbean, then come to the US for do their 2 years clinical rotations at various sites all over the US.
Caribbean students will still need to apply for residency, match into one & complete it before they can practice medicine in the US.
Attending a Caribbean med school will guarantee that you won’t be able to do your residency at HMS, JHU or any top hospitals because top programs simply do not consider graduates of non-US med schools for their residency programs. In fact, it has become increasingly difficult for Caribbean graduates to find residency programs which will accept them in the last 10 years. The match rate for US citizens who attend med school abroad is ~50%.