American University of Antigua

American University of Antigua College of Medicine

Type	Private, for-profit
Established	2004
President	Neal S. Simon, J.D.
Students	1,400 (graduates as of 2015)
Location	Coolidge, Antigua and Barbuda
Nickname	AUA Caribbean Medical School
Website	www.auamed.org

American University of Antigua (AUA) is a for-profit medical school with a US-based curriculum. Its basic sciences campus is located on the Caribbean island of Antigua.^[1] Administrative headquarters are located in Manhattan, New York and it is a division of Manipal Global Education Services. AUA confers the Doctor of Medicine degree upon its graduates.^[2]

History

In 2004, Neal Simon, JD, co-founded American University of Antigua (AUA) College of Medicine.^[3] Simon is also the school’s President.^[4]

Timeline

2004

• AUA opens its initial campus on Friar’s Hill Road, Antigua and Barbuda.^[5]

2005

• The Center for Tropical Diseases, established within the university to research and fight infectious diseases in developing countries, receives a grant from the British High Commission.

2006

• AUA receives New York State Education Department approval for clinical clerkships and residency training in that state.

2007

• AUA breaks ground on its 17-acre campus at University Park, Coolidge, Antigua.
• The Mayo Clinic and AUA establish the American Heart Association International Training Center on the AUA campus. It is the first emergency medical training center in the Caribbean.
• The Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of Antigua the Honorable Baldwin Spencer, and Neal Simon all meet in New Delhi.

2008

• Phase 1 of campus construction is completed.
• India’s Manipal University and AUA unite allowing AUA to provide opportunities in global medical education and research.^[6]
• AUA students hold the first Freedom Fest celebrating diversity in medical education and raising thousands of dollars for local charities in Antigua.
• Together, AUA, the Rotary Club of Antigua, and the Rotary Club of Alexandria, VA, conduct the Breast cancer awareness and Screening Project in Antigua.

2009

• October – inauguration of new state-of-the-art campus in University Park, Coolidge, Antigua.
• Mount St. John’s Medical Centre, located in St. John’s, Antigua forms an affiliation with AUA. Students receive early hands-on clinical training in the 185-bed hospital.
• The US Naval Ship Comfort arrives in Antigua and, with AUA faculty and students, provides Advanced Cardiac Life Support training to medical providers at Mount St. John’s Medical Centre and care to patients as part of its four-month humanitarian and civic assistance mission in the Caribbean.

2010

• January – Classes begin for first time on the 17-acre campus in University Park, Coolidge, Antigua.
• AUA adopts the two-semester academic year calendar, officially mirroring the US medical school schedule.

2011

• AUA is recognized by the Medical Board of California, allowing students to attend clinical clerkships at California teaching hospitals and graduates to apply for residency training and medical licensure in the state.^[7]

2012

• AUA begins the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM-HP) review and accreditation process.
• AUA hosts first annual Women’s Health Day on campus.

2013

• Phase 2 of campus expansion begins. The AUA campus grows to more than 27 acres.
• AUA signs landmark agreement with Florida International University, permitting qualified AUA students to complete all their core clinical rotations in one location.
• AUA partners with Urbana University, creating the first online Healthcare MBA program designed specifically for aspiring MDs.
• AUA sponsors the Tinman Rohr Triathlon in Antigua in honor of the late Jonathan Rohr, an AUA student and triathlete.
• AUA launches Healthy Perspectives, a health TV series hosted by AUA faculty member Vernon Solomon.
• AUA graduates its largest class of more than 300 students, who go on to residencies in the United States and Canada.

2014

• AUA Health Clinic opens on campus, serving students, faculty, and staff.
• AUA is approved by the Canadian Ministry of Education, allowing eligible students to receive Canadian federal loans, provincial loans, and federal grants.
• AUA is approved to offer clinical clerkships in Florida by the Commission for Independent Education of the Florida Department of Education (DOE).
• AUA is accorded accreditation by the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM-HP).

2015

• AUA College of Medicine is approved to participate in the US Federal Direct Loan Program.
• AUA President Neal Simon is appointed Ambassador-at-Large for Antigua and Barbuda.
• AUA hosts the 9th World Alliance for Risk Factor Surveillance (WARFS) Global Conference in Antigua. The main theme of the conference is Risk Factor Surveillance and the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) also participates.

2016

• AUA establishes an Advisory Board composed of distinguished physicians, public servants, and educators. The first meeting is held.
• AUA joins the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI).
• AUA partners with GEMx (Global education exchange in medicine and the health professions), a network of medical schools that expands elective courses and promotes collaboration between medical students at different institutions around the world.
• AUA partners with Florida International University to offer the Global Health MD program.
• The faculty of AUA’s Emergency Medicine Training Center (EMTC) train first responders in First Aid, CPR, and Advanced Life Support at Rajasthan University of Health Sciences in Jaipur, India and Rabindra Nath Tagore (RNT) College of Medical Sciences in Udaipur Rajasthan, India.
• The Medical Council of India (MCI) Recognizes AUA

Accreditations and Approvals

Historically, it’s been more difficult for Caribbean medical schools to obtain accreditations from the various governing bodies that confer accreditations, recognition, and approval on medical schools. As of December 2016, AUA has earned accreditation and approval from the following organizations, agencies, and departments of education.^[8]

US Department of Education

“In 2013, the United States Department of Education, through its National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation (NCFMEA), determined that the Government of Antigua and Barbuda, through its appointment of the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM-HP) as its sole authorized medical school accreditor, employs standards and procedures for the accreditation of medical schools that are comparable to those employed by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) to accredit medical schools in the United States.”

Match

Graduates are eligible to participate in the National Resident Matching Program (US) and the Canadian Resident Matching Service (Canada).

Campus

In January 2010, AUA opened its 17-acre (69,000 m²) campus. The $60 million facility houses more than 75,000 square feet (7,000 m²) of classrooms, a simulation laboratory, a multi-story library, study rooms, an amphitheater, a courtyard, tennis courts, athletic fields, and administrative and faculty offices.

In August 2011, AUA announced plans for an $18 million expansion of the Antigua campus.^[9] The expansion will bring the campus to a total of 27-acres.^[9]

The school’s facilities include a Simulated Learning Center, which has SimMan 3G, SimBaby, Harvey, and Noelle simulators, an Anatomy Lab that is equipped with cadavers for dissection and protection, plastinated body part specimens, models, X-rays, and CT and MRI sections, as well as computer stations with instant access to Adams Atlas, V.H. Dissector, and prerecorded prosected demos.

Students learn Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) at the school's American Heart Association International Training Center, which was established in partnership with representatives of the Mayo Clinic.^[10]

There is also a simulated ward (The Osler Suites) on the AUA campus where students can work with standardized and professional patients to gain clinical experience before leaving Antigua to complete clinical rotations throughout the United States and Canada.^[11]

Curriculum

Since 2010, the university has followed the two-semester academic year calendar that US medical schools follow. The curriculum is also modeled on that of US medical schools. AUA students complete the program in two parts: Basic Sciences and Clinical Sciences.^[12]

Basic Sciences (Years 1 and 2)

Courses follow a two-semester schedule and are taught in Antigua. They include foundational lectures and laboratory competency courses that cover key concepts in human structure, anatomy, medical cell biology, physiology, biochemistry, genetics, clinical medicine, Emergency Medical Training, microbiology, immunology, pathology, pharmacology, behavioral science, and neuroscience. The purpose of this component of the MD Program is to prepare students for Clinical Sciences where they will apply what they’ve learned in a hospital setting.

During Basic Sciences students must take and pass the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) Step 1, which tests their knowledge of everything they’ve studied up to this point. This test is seen by faculty and medical school administrations as an indicator of a student’s ability to apply that knowledge to the practice of medicine.^[13]

Clinical Sciences (Year 3 and 4)

During this time, AUA students complete their clinical rotations within AUA’s network of more than 40 affiliated teaching hospitals throughout the United States, Canada, and India. As of October 2015, AUA’s USMLE Step 1 first time pass rate is 97 percent.^[14]

Clinical Sciences curriculum lasts a total of 84 weeks and requires students to successfully complete core and elective rotations. Students spend 6 weeks participating in foundational rotations in family and internal medicine before proceeding to 44 weeks of clinical core rotations in family medicine, internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, and psychiatry. Elective rotations are then completed during the remaining 34 weeks and are offered in more than 57 specialties.^[15]

Supplemental Degree Programs

American International College of Arts and Sciences - Antigua (AICASA)

Fast-Track to Medical School Program - AS/Pre-Med Degree Program

Through a partnership with AICASA, AUA accepts AICASA graduates who complete the prescribed AS in Health Sciences curriculum and maintain a minimum cumulative GPA set by AUA. All students matriculated in the AS in Health Sciences degree-earning program are automatically enrolled in the fast-track option.^[16]

FIU Global MD Program & Graduate Certificate Program - Core Clinical Certificate Program

Global MD

Offered through an agreement with Florida International University (FIU), “the AUA-FIU Global MD Program is a comprehensive, four-year longitudinal track in global health that is integrated into the curriculum at American University of Antigua College of Medicine.” Once AUA students complete the program successfully, they receive their MD degree and a Global Health Certificate from AUA and a certificate of completion of the Graduate Clinical Core Rotation Certificate Program from FIU.^[17]

Graduate Certificate Program - Core Clinical Certificate Program

In 2013,^[18] AUA and FIU created this program, allowing students to complete all of their core clinical rotations back to back at clinical sites affiliated with Florida International University (FIU) and under the instruction of FIU faculty. In addition to the Clinical Clerkship Certificate program, AUA students have the opportunity to attend elective rotations at FIU. Those elective rotations also include medical research projects.^[19]

Online MBA with an Emphasis in Health Care

AUA is one of two medical schools^[20] that is partnered with Urbana University in providing an online MBA degree with a concentration in Health Care. This course is entirely online, and students can take up to 5 years to complete but can be completed at 2.5 years minimum.

Financial Aid and Scholarships

AUA currently lists 17 scholarships on its website, some of which are automatically awarded to qualified applicants.^[21] They are categorized as academic, cultural, and service awards. Eligible AUA students can apply for US or Canadian federal loans.^[22]

No MCAT Admissions Policy

MCAT scores are not required and not considered part of AUA’s applications process. The school’s “approach to evaluating students [is] holistic” and test scores are not part of any admissions decision. Americans and permanent residents of the United States, however, are required to submit MCAT scores to satisfy governmental regulations.^[23]

Graduate Success

AUA graduates have obtained residencies in competitive specialties like integrated plastic surgery, neurosurgery, pathology, anesthesiology, radiology-diagnostic, physical medicine and rehabilitation, ophthalmology, child neurology, and orthopedic surgery. AUA graduates have matched at residency programs in the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Brown University-Rhode Island Hospital, Yale-New Haven Hospital, and Duke University in the United States. In Canada, they have obtained residencies at McGill University, University of British Columbia, University of Alberta, University of Calgary, and University of Saskatchewan. The majority of AUA graduates obtain residencies in the primary care specialty area.^[24]

Agreements

In 2013, AUA signed a landmark affiliation agreement with the Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine that allows AUA clinical students to complete all of their core clinical rotations in the Greater Miami Area.^[25]

See also

• International medical graduate
• List of medical schools in the Caribbean
• List of universities in Antigua and Barbuda

References

External links

• American University of Antigua College of Medicine

Coordinates: 17°09′32″N 61°47′50″W / 17.158803°N 61.797355°W / 17.158803; -61.797355