What does the admission of rejected US medical school applicants to for-profit medical schools in the Caribbean have to do with money provided by US taxpayers? Bloomberg makes the connection in an article describing how for-profit off-shore medical schools recruit applicants who have been rejected by medical schools in the United States, take their US federal financial aid, experience a drop-out rate that is almost 10 times that of medical schools in the United States, and leave students with loan debt that ultimately must be covered by the American taxpayer.
The article focuses on DeVry, Inc., owner of two off-shore medical schools, the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine on the island of St. Maarten, and Ross University, with a medical school on Dominica and a veterinary school in St. Kitts and Nevis. Other off-shore medical schools are mentioned as well. Because these institutions generally do not have the appropriate or requisite recognition or accreditation, graduates also face the issue of difficulty finding placement in US clinical and residency programs. DeVry pays clinical training facilities to place their students, according to Bloomberg. The medical licensing procedure in the United States can be an additional hurdle for graduates of these institutions, as not all US state licensing boards accept graduates of medical schools that do not meet specific accreditation or legal recognition requirements.
Source: DeVry Lures Medical School Rejects as Taxpayers Fund Debt