American University of the Caribbean
The American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine is an international, for-profit, U.S. curriculum-based medical school with a main basic science campus in Sint Maarten, and is based in Pembroke Pines, Florida. The school is owned by Adtalem Global Education, formerly DeVry Inc. since 2011, AUC is accredited by Accreditation Commission of Colleges of Medicine, which accredits Caribbean medical schools. AUC is currently recognised by the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom, meaning graduates post September 2019 are eligible for practice there. 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.
History
Founded by American educator Dr. Paul Tien in 1978, the main campus of the American University of the Caribbean was originally located on the island of Montserrat, but was forced to move to its present location in Sint Maarten after the eruption of the previously dormant Soufriere Hills volcano.Cincinnati, Ohio
While a medical campus was being constructed on Montserrat, AUC started conducting classes under its Montserrat charter in a rented space on the campus of the College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati, Ohio. The first class, with 107 students, started on 14 August 1978.Montserrat
The government of Montserrat granted AUC a parcel of land near Plymouth, where a new campus of 17 buildings was built. AUC began conducting classes at its new campus in Montserrat in January 1980.On 17 September 1989, Hurricane Hugo hit the island, severely damaging the campus. Students and faculty were evacuated.
Plainview, Texas
While the Montserrat campus was being rebuilt, AUC operated at a temporary location in Plainview, Texas on the campus of Wayland Baptist University. Ray Seidel, MD work with both AUC and the Board of Education to help place AUC in their temporary Campus. Classes started again on 17 October 1989 for 3 semesters before returning to Montserrat.Montserrat
The Montserrat campus was rebuilt and AUC reopened it for classes in September 1990. Long thought to be dormant, the Soufrière Hills volcano on Montserrat erupted on 18 July 1995, rendering much of the island uninhabitable, including the entire city of Plymouth. Students and faculty were evacuated, and the campus was buried under volcanic ash.Belize and St. Maarten
AUC reopened its operations in September 1995. 250 students were sent to a temporary location in Belize and 280 students were sent to a temporary location in St. Maarten, at the time part of the Netherlands Antilles. However, on 5 September 1995, Hurricane Luis hit St. Maarten, destroyed much of its infrastructure, and delayed the opening of the St. Maarten operation by three weeks. In September 1996, AUC transferred all students and faculty in Belize to its temporary facilities on St. Maarten.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.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. Supplies were distributed to sheltered students, colleagues, and loved ones in the storm's aftermath. 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 to share their facilities until students were able to return to the Sint Maarten campus.Curriculum
After completing the initial 5 semesters of study in the Medical Sciences portion on AUC's St. Maarten campus, students then conduct 4.5 semesters of training in the Clinical Sciences portion at AUC's affiliated teaching hospitals, whereby the students may choose between teaching hospitals in the United States, The United Kingdom, or Ireland. Both the required core rotations and elective rotations in any specialty may be taken at one or several different clinical sites. After a total of four years of training, students are awarded the degree of Doctor of Medicine.The residency attainment rate for first-time eligible AUC graduates was 88.5 percent in 2016. At least twenty of these residents were named chief residents across ten specialties in 2016.
Accreditation and licensure
AUC is listed with the World Health Organization's Avicenna directory and in the ECFMG IMED/FAIMER database of medical schools, which indicates the school is recognized by the appropriate local government agency.AUC is accredited by the Accreditation Commission of Colleges of Medicine, an independent organization based in Ireland that accredits medical schools on behalf of several governments, including the governments of Sint Maarten and the Netherlands Antilles.
Some states have their own approval processes for medical schools, all of which have approved AUC. These include California. Additionally, New York and Florida have approved AUC to allow medical students to do clinical rotations in their states.
AUC graduates are eligible for registration with the General Medical Council in the United Kingdom, which as a result means that graduates can complete postgraduate training or work at any stage of their careers as practicing clinicians in the UK.