St. Vincent and the Grenadines is home to All Saints University College of Medicine (ASUCOM), a Caribbean medical school offering four- and five-year M.D. tracks. Graduates of ASUCOM can practice medicine in all UN-recognized member states, including the U.S., U.K., and Canada.
While this sounds promising, getting through medical school is hardly so simple. Challenging coursework, unfamiliar interactions in a medical context, high-stress environments, and disagreeable professors are all challenges that you may face while at ASUCOM. In certain cases, these challenges can spiral into academic probation, formal hearings, and serious sanctions.
If your standing at ASUCOM comes under threat for any reason, an advisor can help. A professional with experience assisting medical students during their toughest times can be a massive asset to you.
Honor Code
Honor Codes hold great weight in medical schools, serving as the standard against which you will be judged. The ASUCOM Honor Code is “the individual and collective responsibilities of students to work together in order to ensure that honorable conduct is maintained.”
You may also suffer discipline if you fail to honor ASUCOM's core values, which include:
- Professionalism
- Competence
- Compassion
- Respect
- Integrity
- Humility
Medical schools like ASUCOM do not only judge you by your academic performance, though they certainly do judge that. ASUCOM will also examine your interactions with fellow students, faculty members, and patients. Your professors will gauge your overall competency as a medical practitioner. Deficits in any single aspect of your performance could lead to formal sanctions from the university.
Remediation
It is no coincidence that ASUCOM’s Requirements for Graduation are largely academic in nature. Before they can proceed into a residency program, students at ASUCOM must:
- Complete all of their Basic Medical Sciences coursework (with adequate grades)
- Complete 80 weeks of their Clinical Sciences rotation (showing sufficient competency)
- Complete the competency examinations required of all medical professionals
- Complete various other academic and administrative requirements
In order to achieve these goals in the provided timeframe, ASUCOM students must exhibit consistent academic performance and rectify poor grades when they occur.
Remediation is one way to make poor grades right. Though literature on ASUCOM's exact remediation policies is limited, medical students may generally retake examinations, courses, or other blocks of study at least one time. Should they fail when remediating a course, they may face more severe penalties including expulsion.
Graduation rates for medical students are generally between 81.6% to 84.3%, per the Association of American Medical Colleges. Though Caribbean medical schools do not generally have such high matriculation rates, the best Caribbean schools generally graduate the majority of their students—and remediation may be a significant reason why so many students obtain their degrees.
Retaking coursework may be a suitable option for you based on your personal circumstances. There is often a significant financial cost to remediation, though. Additionally, residency entrance boards may see that you had to retake coursework and evaluate you harshly.
Before accepting the financial cost and potential reputational harm of remediation, speak with an attorney-advisor about any other options that you may have.
Expulsion
Words like “expulsion” and “dismissal” are a college student's nightmare. When you've accepted life-altering loans and invested a significant portion of your life into medical school, these phrases take on an even more ominous ring.
Medical students must understand that professors and administrators view them as future medical professionals. Tolerance for ethical misconduct, poor interpersonal skills, academic underachievement, or even innocent mistakes may be limited.
You may face expulsion from ASUCOM for the same infractions that may warrant expulsion from other medical schools, including:
- Failure to achieve satisfactory grades when remediating coursework or training
- Academic dishonesty
- Unprofessional interactions with other students, faculty, patients, or others involved in your medical education
- An unexplained leave from ASUCOM
Individual medical schools may determine what constitutes “unprofessional behavior” or “misconduct”. ASUCOM will oversee any disciplinary proceedings that involve you, including those that could result in your dismissal.
You generally have the right to present your case, especially with a consequence as serious as dismissal pending. Whether through a one-on-one meeting with a Dean, a formal hearing with a multi-person administrative panel, or other university-sanctioned proceedings, you should take full advantage of your chance to clear your name.
A losing outcome in your case could:
- Result in permanent expulsion from ASUCOM
- Leave you burdened with your medical school debt
- Delay or prevent your graduation from any medical school
- Be a life-changing event (in the worst sense)
Your admission to All Saints University College of Medicine could be your best chance to become the medical professional you hope to be. If you are facing any sort of punitive measure, retain an advisor to help you out of your predicament.
Appeals
In most cases, especially those where your reputation and likelihood of graduation could suffer harm, you can appeal a ruling issued by ASUCOM.
Though certain decisions may be ineligible for appeal, your advisor will explore every possible avenue for reversing an unfavorable ruling. Knowing that Caribbean medical schools may have vastly inconsistent adjudication processes and timelines, your advisor will be ready to appeal from the moment that you receive the initial decision. They will file your appeal in accordance with any deadlines and oversee every step of the appeals process.
Hiring an Attorney-Advisor for a Medical School Issue
Medical school students face a non-stop stream of assignments, labs, and generalized pressure—and this only accounts for the academic side of their life. When a student faces a whole new set of concerns because of a medical school issue, then life can become truly overwhelming.
You should not even consider handling your medical school issue on your own. Not only may you lack the necessary experience and knowledge to defend yourself properly, but you may suffer mentally and physically due to the demands of your case. Fundamentally, too much is at stake to leave anything to chance.
Attorney Joseph D. Lento understands how Caribbean medical schools operate. Attorney Lento has a long track record of helping medical students resolve their promotion issues, misconduct allegations, accreditation issues, and other pivotal challenges. Attorney Lento and his team at the Lento Law Firm will quickly learn the facts of your case and craft a thorough strategy for your defense.
Call the Lento Law Firm today at 888-535-3686 or contact us online to learn why our Firm is the right choice to resolve your medical student issue.
