American University of the Caribbean

The American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine (AUC) is a private for-profit medical school. Its main basic science campus is located in Sint Maarten, and administrative offices are located in Miramar, Florida, in the United States. AUC is owned by Adtalem Global Education.[1] The executive dean of AUC manages the medical school from offices in Florida. [2]

For the unaffiliated university in Haiti, see American University of the Caribbean, Haiti.

American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine
TypePrivate, Medical School
Established1978
DeanPedro Delgado, MD
Academic staff
75 (on main campus)
Students≈Tooltip approximation650 on main campus
Location
Sint Maarten, Kingdom of the Netherlands
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata

History
American University of the Caribbean main campus in Sint Maarten

Montserrat

Founded by American educator Dr. Paul Tien in 1978.[3] The main campus of the American University of the Caribbean was originally located on the island of Montserrat. However, the university had to be evacuated in 1995 due to volcanic activity in the Soufrière Hills. The campus remained closed for two years, until it was finally destroyed by pyroclastic flow from the volcano in 1997.[4]

St. Maarten

AUC purchased a parcel of land in the village of Cupecoy on the Dutch side of St. Martin and construction of a permanent campus began in July 1996. The new campus opened on 1 May 1998. AUC's new campus consists of teaching and learning facilities featuring classrooms and laboratories, an imaging anatomy lab, a microbiology lab, and a medical library. The school was purchased by Adtalem Global Education in 2011 for $235 million.[5] The current dean of AUC is Pedro Delgado.[6]

Building 2

Hurricane Irma

Hurricane Irma struck Sint Maarten on September 5 and 6 2017 and the AUC campus, including the dormitories, suffered minor damage but classes had to be canceled and all students were evacuated off the island of Sint Maarten, as the island attempted to restore basic services. According to the AUC's official hurricane update page, students were sheltered in a building that was engineered and designed to withstand a category 5 hurricane (Building 2). Supplies were distributed to sheltered students, colleagues, and loved ones in the storm's aftermath.[7] Several residences, where students were staying, were "completely destroyed--and food and water is scarce", according to the CBC. The school arranged for students to start the next semester on September 29, 2017, having made an arrangements with a North West England university (University of Central Lancashire) to share their facilities until students were able to return to the Sint Maarten campus.

Curriculum

After completing the initial 5 semesters (20 months)[8] of study in the Medical Sciences portion on AUC's St. Maarten campus, students then conduct 4.5 semesters (18 months)[8] of training in the Clinical Sciences portion (also known as the Clinical Years) at AUC's affiliated community hospitals, whereby the students may choose between community hospitals in the United States[9] or The United Kingdom.[9] Both the required core rotations (Internal Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, OB/GYN, and Psychiatry) and elective rotations in any specialty may be taken at one or several different clinical sites. BronxCare Hospital System is the largest clinical site that AUC has a contract with. [10] The tuition for medical sciences is $23,800/semester, while the tuition for clinical sciences is $26,624/semester.[11]

Outcomes

According to the US Department of Education, 63.49% of students (200 out of 315) completed the program on time in 2019.[12] That percentage decreased to 38.96% (90 out of 231) in 2022. [13]

Pass rates of its students and graduates on the United States Medical Licensing Examinations (USMLE) in calendar year 2022 were as follows: [13]
Step 1 – Basic Science 76.47%
Step 2 – Clinical Knowledge 94.87%
Step 3 – Clinical Skills N/A, CS discontinued as of Jan. 26, 2021

For reference, the pass rates among the top 110 ranked medical schools as reported by U.S. News Best Medical Schools rankings in 2019 were as follows:[14]

Step 1 – Basic Science 96.3%

Step 2 – Clinical Knowledge 96.6%

AUC claims that 355 graduates matched in 2019, 340 in 2020, 304 in 2021, and 280 in 2022.[15]

Accreditation, recognition and licensure

Since 1995, AUC has been accredited by Accreditation Commission of Colleges of Medicine. ACCM is an independent accrediting body based in Ireland that accredits medical schools on behalf of several governments.[16]

AUC is included in the list of approved schools recognized by the Medical Board of California, a list that is frequently used throughout the United States by ACGME-accredited residency programs to validate international medical school credentials for postgraduate training.[17] AUC is listed with the World Directory of Medical Schools' directory[18] which indicates that students and graduates of this medical school are eligible to apply to ECFMG for ECFMG Certification.

Some states in the USA have their own approval processes for medical schools. These include California.[19][20] AUC is approved by the New York State Education Department (NYSED)[21] to allow students to complete more than 12 weeks of clinical clerkships in New York State. AUC is one of eight Caribbean medical schools so approved by NYSED.[21] Additionally, Florida[22][23] has approved AUC to allow medical students to do clinical rotations in that state. AUC graduates (post September 2019) are eligible for registration with the General Medical Council in the United Kingdom, which as a result means that graduates can complete postgraduate (residency) training or work at any stage of their careers as practicing clinicians in the UK.[24]

Student loan debt

The US Department of Education reports that, as of 2022, median student loan debt is $391,194 for students who have completed the program. Loan default rates as of 2019 were 0.2%. [13]

Notable faculty

See also

References
  1. "Home". Adtalem Global Education.
  2. "A spotlight on MBA programs in Florida". Florida Trend. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  3. "AUC School of Medicine Statistics". AUC School of Medicine.
  4. Lesales, Thierry; Simpson, David M.; Human, Roy J. (1 August 2007). "Creating Disaster-resistant Universities in the Caribbean". Études caribéennes (7). doi:10.4000/etudescaribeennes.294 – via journals.openedition.org.
  5. "St. Martin News Network - DeVry Inc. Announces Acquisition of American University of the Caribbean --- Expands DeVry's Offering in High Quality Medical Education; Creates World's Leading Provider of International Medical Education". smn-news.com.
  6. "Pedro Delgado, MD". AUC School of Medicine. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  7. "AUC - About American University of the Caribbean Medical School | AUC". Archived from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  8. "AUC - Review Clinical Sciences Curriculum | American University of the Caribbean". Aucmed.edu. Archived from the original on 29 October 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  9. "Clinical Rotations in the UK and US". AUC School of Medicine. Archived from the original on 25 May 2020.
  10. "American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine and Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center Extend Medical Student Education Agreement". www.businesswire.com. 3 January 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  11. "Cost of Medical School". AUC School of Medicine.
  12. "Foreign Medical School Information - American University of the Caribbean" (PDF). Federal Student Aid. April 2020.
  13. "American University of the Caribbean". studentaid.gov. US Department of Education. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  14. Kowarski, Ilana (4 June 2019). "How to Interpret Med School Licensing Exam Results". www.usnews.com. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  15. "Medical School Residency". AUC School of Medicine. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  16. "Accredited Medical Education Programmes". Accredmed.org. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  17. "Medical Education | MBC". www.mbc.ca.gov.
  18. "American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine". World Directory of Medical Schools. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  19. "Medical Schools Recognized | Medical Board of California". Medbd.ca.gov. Archived from the original on 18 August 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  20. "Schools whose graduates do not have to prove substantial equivalence of their education" (RTF). www.tmb.state.tx.us. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011.
  21. "NYS Medicine:Application Forms". www.op.nysed.gov. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  22. "Commission for Independent Education - Clerkships". Fldoe.org. Archived from the original on 17 June 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  23. "Nonpublic Postsecondary School/College Details". App1.fldoe.org. 29 July 2002. Archived from the original on 18 January 2016. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  24. "Overseas medical qualifications we do not accept". Gmc-uk.org. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  25. "Pedro Delgado, MD". AUC School of Medicine. Retrieved 16 February 2023.

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