Hey everyone. I'm a Nigerian attending medical school in the Caribbean and I'm home for the holidays. I discovered from talking to other medical students here and doctors that we have entirely different systems of learning and curriculums. My school's program runs for either:
1. 3 years and 4 months if you dont do pre med and don't take any breaks between semesters and 4 years of you take breaks.
2. 4 years and 4 months if you do pre med and don't take breaks between semesters and 5 years of you take breaks.
Now in each semester we have 3 blocks lasting a month each. So 1 block is 1 month therefore 3 blocks are 3 months and 3 months make a semester. I hope I'm clear enough.
[ We only have 3 weeks holidays between MD's i.e. 3 weeks of holiday between semesters ]
We have a total of 10 semesters. 5 semesters of basic med infused with clinical knowledge and skills so you have a clinical background when you begin rotations in your 6th semester and finish in your 10th semester. Each semester is called an MD. So MD1 will be first semester and so on. So MD4 and MD5 will be my second year. Now when I tell Nigerian medical student and doctor's I just finished my second year [ which is MD4 and MD5 ] they begin to argue with me that I've just finsues doing anatomy. Anatomy is done in MD1 for 3 months and thats it. We learn in systems with clinical cases. We also have courses called Patrient doctor skills which we and patient diagnosis and investigation which run alongside all your basic med lectures. By the end of MD1 we all know how to take a full history without supervision. We go for health fairs and treat communities where we can interact with real patients and do diagnosis and investigations while still in basic med. By our third semester we know how to do a full body exam of all systems. I have included photos of the curriculum break down. So I just want Nigerian medical students to explain to me how med school works over here cos I'm getting really frustrated explaining that even tho I've spent only 2 years on med school I have basic clinical knowledge and can handle a patient on my own. One doctor was even asking me if I knew what hypertension was lol. I'll be reading and i can answer any questions we may wish to ask. Thanks!

FTC
SAME KNOWLEDGE BUT DIFFERENT SYSTEM
WAT U LEARN IN 4YRS OVER THERE,WE LEARN FOR 6YEARS IN PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES,AND 7YEARS IN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES (I.E STRIKE INCLUDED)... AND I CAN SAY U HAVE THE ABILITY TO LEARN FASTER COS OF THE ENVIRONMENT .HOPE TO SEE YOU WORK IN NIGERIA AFTER SCHOOLING.

Thanks for your response sybarite7. If it isn't any trouble could you break down your curriculum for me?

dolores23:
Thanks for your response sybarite7. If it isn't any trouble could you break down your curriculum for me?

BRO LETS WAIT FOR THE MEDICAL STUDENTS, AND AN ENGINEERING STUDENT