Ross University School of Medicine

The medical school was founded in 1978 as The University of Dominica School of Medicine by Robert Ross, an entrepreneur.[4][5] At the time, it was housed in leased facilities at The Castaways Hotel, with an inaugural class of 11 students.

In 1985, California state medical licensing officials (the Board of Medical Quality Assurance), began investigating RUSM, along with other medical schools located in the Caribbean.[6] The officials released a report stating that RUSM had nearly no admissions standards, and that the school was in the business of providing medical degrees to "everyone that wants one."[6] RUSM agreed to implement a number of changes recommended by the board and has since graduated over 11,000 practicing physicians.[6]

In the late 1990s, RUSM expressed interest in opening a U.S.-based medical school in Casper, Wyoming, but accreditation was denied by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the organization that accredits MD-granting medical schools in the United States.[7] Some local individuals welcomed the economic impact of a new medical school on the town, but critics questioned the quality of education at a for-profit institution.[7] In 2003, RUSM was acquired by DeVry Education Group,[8] which has since renamed itself Adtalem Global Education.

In 2017, RUSM hired a PR firm, Edelman, to enhance its image.[9] Later that year, the school was impacted by Hurricane Maria, when the Category 5 storm made landfall on the island of Dominica. The hurricane knocked out communications, effectively isolating RUSM from the outside world. The campus suffered moderate damage from the effects of Maria. Students and faculty were located through a university-initiated roll call, and then were evacuated from the campus to the U.S. mainland.[10] [11] In October 2017, the university announced that classes for the fall semester would resume mid-October aboard the GNV Excellent, an Italian ferry that would be docked off the coast of the island of St. Kitts.[12] The ship was reconfigured as an educational venue. In November 2017, Ross University School of Medicine relocated temporarily to Knoxville, Tennessee, for continuation of medical school classes. Lincoln Memorial University (LMU), based in Harrogate, Tennessee, and with operations in Knoxville, provided the operational capacity and the technical capabilities to support RUSM faculty, students, and staff.[13]

Ross University School of Medicine permanently relocated from Dominica to Barbados for the beginning of the 2019 Spring semester due to extensive damage done at the prior campus in Dominica after Hurricane Maria.[14][15]

Ross collaborates with Dillard University, Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Tuskegee University and Saint Peter's University to educate more Hispanic and African-American doctors in the United States of America.[16] [17] [18]

According to the university's website, RUSM is accredited and recognized by the following agencies:[19]

• National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation (NCFMEA)[20] through the U.S. Department of Education, allowing American students to participate in the U.S. Federal Direct Student Loan Program[21]
• Barbados Medical Council (BMC)
• Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM-HP)[22]
• General Medical Council of Great Britain

The university also has state-specific accreditation from California, New York, New Jersey, and Florida.[19]

The Ross University School of Medicine pre-clinical campus is located at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre at Two Mile Hill in Barbados. The campus features a medical and anatomical imaging laboratory, a simulation center, and classrooms equipped with several plasma screens and projection equipment, similar to the previous campus in Dominica.[23][24]

RUSM accepts students for three different entering classes per year: September, January and May. The fall entering class is typically the largest each year. Since September 2010, the university has followed an organ systems-based curriculum for its basic sciences.[26] This is divided into two different tracks, known as "Accelerated Curriculum" and "Curriculum" as of May 2013. The accelerated curriculum track covers the basic sciences in 60 weeks of study (four semesters), while the Curriculum track covers the same material in 75 weeks (five semesters) with integrated study breaks. Both tracks share identical first semesters, allowing students more time to decide on the track they wish to pursue.

According to the US Department of Education, 56.6% of students completed the program on time in 2019.[40]

Pass rates of students and graduates on United States Medical Licensing Examinations (USMLE) in calendar year 2019 were as follows: [40]
Step 1 – Basic Science 96.73%
Step 2 – Clinical Knowledge 96.86%
Step 3 – Clinical Skills 89.93%

The Step 1 and Step 2 CK results are comparable to the pass rates among the 110 ranked medical schools in the U.S. News Best Medical Schools rankings that reported their USMLE pass rates:[41]

Step 1 – Basic Science 96.3%

Step 2 – Clinical Knowledge 96.6%

According to the US Department of Education, the median student loan debt for RUSM US students is $348,601.[40] That is substantially higher than the $179,186 average indebtedness by student for the 117 US medical schools tracked by US News. [42]

Since opening in 1978, the university has graduated over 15,000 students who are practicing in the US and Canada.[43][44]

• Ray King, MD, PhD – Assistant Professor, Division of Colorectal Surgery at University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health [45]
• Kristen Marie Rezak, MD – Assistant Professor of Plastic, Maxillofacial, and Oral Surgery at Duke University School of Medicine [46]
• Amy Rezak Alger, MD – Director, Surgical Critical Care Fellowship at Duke University School of Medicine [47]
• Maggie Tomecka, MD – Former member of the United States U-21 national soccer team
• Henry Bello – shooter in the Bronx Lebanon Hospital attack on 30 June 2017[48]
• Nicole Saphier, MD – Director of Breast Imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Monmouth, author [49]
• Sona Patel, MD – also known as "DOC420"
• Michael R. Williams, DO, MD – president of the University of North Texas Health Science Center[50]

• International medical graduate
• List of medical schools in the Caribbean

• Ross University School of Medicine official site