What are the issues involved with going to medical school in the Caribbean and then becoming a doctor?

Well once you finsh you have to pass a comprehensive test in the states  a med school equivalaent of the SAT  and you only have so many times to take it if you fail more than  twice i think you can't take it again.

Well if you go to medical school in PR as soon as you pass the boards(same as in US) you are a doctor. any other place I don't know, there are at least 3 accredited Schools of Medicine in Puerto Rico if you are interested I advice you to check them out, its the same as studying in the States.

There's two issues going to foreign med schools. First, you need to check if your med school is listed and eligible for ECFMG certification. Without that certification, you can't take the USMLE board exams.

http://imed.ecfmg.org/

Second, and this is a big one. Any highly competitive residency programs will be denied to you. There is a very strong bias against any foreign med school graduate in US residency programs. Doesn't matter if you have connections or made a huge donation to the hospital. Their policy is written in stone and won't make any exceptions. My nephew is a St. George Uni grad and we tried without success to get him in a surgical residency even though he is the top 10 in his class with 3.9 GPA and top 10% on Step 1. Made no difference at all. The non-competitive residencies are available without issue. Like pediatrics, family medicine, internal medicine, and so forth.

So if you want to become a surgeon, dermatologist, or any competitive specialty, you must go to a US med school or US osteopathic school.

I disagree with Dr. K, as I know numerous people who graduated from Caribbean schools and went through programs that are highly competitive.

But he is right about the ECFMG.  The USMLE is an exam that has to be taken by anyone intending to practice in the US.  It doesn't matter where you are educated--even US students have to take it.

Due to the variability in the quality of education in Caribbean schools, you want to be sure that the state you intend to practice in recognizes the school.  Many states simply state that they review each application for licensure on a case by case basis, but that's not really true.  There are some schools that are unacceptable.  The most comprehensive list of unacceptable schools is maintained by Oregon's Office of Degree Authorization:  http://www.osac.state.or.us/oda/unaccredited.aspx

Many states follow the California approved school list.  The last time I checked, there are only 4 Caribbean schools approved by the state of California and in essence, if California approves the school, all of the states will accept the school.  This is their approved schools list:  http://www.medbd.ca.gov/applicant/schools_recognized.html

And this is their unapproved schools list:  http://www.medbd.ca.gov/applicant/schools_unapproved.html

The lax standards of the Caribbean schools are well known by state medical boards.  Some states are requiring applicants to show their passports to prove they were on the island when classes were in session.  (I know of several people who only came to the schools to take tests and returned home to study--not acceptable to the state boards).

Some schools don't require all of the prerequisites that US schools do.  There are several states that won't license applicants if they haven't completed all of the undergraduate pre-reqs.  Your best move is to review your state medical board's licensing requirements.  All states post them.  Here's a link that will provide a link to all 50 states' medical boards:  http://www.fsmb.org/directory_smb.html