TROPICS MD
Reflections of a Caribbean Medical Student
Welcome to my site! I am creating this blog to help document my journey to becoming a physician through Caribbean Medical School at American University of the Caribbean. After all the negative stigma's against Caribbean medical programs, I hope to further clarify the questions many medical students have about International Medical Programs and questions they may have about medical school.
I am currently in the September 2021 class in my third year of medical school. I have left the island of Sint Maarten and I am currently in my core rotations at BronxCare in Bronx, New York. I am excited to document my journey and many of the experiences I have as a Caribbean medical student at AUC. Please message me if you have any questions about medical school. Thank you for following my journey.
Cheers to life as a Medical Student! Hopefully my adventure helps yours. :)
About Me
A little bit about me... My name is Tayler Avakian. I grew up in Lodi, CA. When I was 15 I had some health problems that caused me to have several surgeries. Once I started learning more about the medical field I grew more and more intrigued at the possibility of becoming a medical doctor. My parents, Deanna and Gene, own a mortgage company and have always been all about business. Needless to say, I never grew up knowing anything about the medical field.
As an undergraduate, I went to San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, CA and earned my A.A. in Math, Science and Teaching. I then transferred to UC Davis where I graduated with my B.S. in Psychology. After working at Lodi Memorial Hospital as a scribe and at Urgent Care Now as a medical assistant, I knew becoming a physician was my place in the world. Due to my health problems, my GPA was NOT the greatest. So, I started a post baccalaureate program at Dominican University and moved to Chicago to start my pre-health journey. After 2 months in the program, I excelled tremendously. My professor, Dr. Hughes, informed me of my options at Caribbean medical schools. After completely finishing my first semester with a 4.0 in 6 graduate level courses, I started studying for the MCAT and then began applying to Caribbean medical schools.
I received an acceptance letter from AUC's MERP program in the April 2017 class in Miramar, FL. Once I was accepted I started looking at so many other blogs from students in Caribbean medical programs including Benji Ho's blog Diary of a Caribbean Medical Student. I wanted to record my experience to help those people who are looking into Caribbean medical schools and curious about the process. Over the next several years, I hope to be as open as I can to help you picture my realistic experience as a Caribbean medical student.
Hope it helps!