American University of Antigua

American University of Antigua

Type	Private
Established	January, 2004
President	Neal S. Simon, J.D.
Location	St. John's , Antigua and Barbuda
Website	http://www.auamed.org/

The American University of Antigua is a medical school located at Friar Hill road at the capital city St. John's in the Caribbean island nation of Antigua and Barbuda.

Introduction

This school was founded by a New York lawyer Neal S. Simon, who has worked for another Caribbean medical school before this. The school officially opened its door in January, 2004. It is listed in FAIMER's International Medical Education Directory as having started instruction in 2004. The New York State Department of Education has approved American University of Antigua for the purposes of allowing its students to complete more than 12 weeks of clinical training in that state.

It has a Health Sciences Library. The students have their own Student Government Association. In June 15th of 2007, groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new 17 acre, 30 million dollars of new campus which is scheduled to be finished in 2009.

Basic Sciences ( 5 Semesters in Antigua)

Semester I

Gross Anatomy/Embryology (9 credits) Structure of the human body and the anatomic principles that provide the basis for physical examination, diagnostics, and therapy in clinical practice. Complete dissection of the human body.

Histology/Cell Biology (7 credits) Properties of cells , in particular their interaction with one another as components of the tissues and organs of the body. Correlation between structure and function at both the light and electron-microscopic levels as a basis for understanding the physiological and biochemical activities of cells and tissues.

Doctor, Patients, and Society (3 credits) Conceptual and practical perspectives of the doctor-patient relationship. The basics of medical history, physical examination, and the relationships between patients and disease are explored both individually and jointly. Basic experience in medical interviewing of patients' physical and mental status, examination, human behavior, illness, medical ethics, public health, risk-factor assessment and intervention, and clinical epidemiology. Doctor-patient interaction in both hospital and ambulatory-care settings.

Semester II Neuroscience (5 credits) Organization of the human central nervous system, with an integration of neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, and neurochemistry. Neurological diseases and their impact on the patient and the family.

Medical Physiology (6 credits)This course provides the student with a sound understanding of the mechanisms upon which life depends. Course incorporates an integrated study of all the body's control systems as the regulation of these mechanisms. Somatic and visceral systems are reviewed both as unique functioning entities as well as a single interrelated system.

Biochemistry (9 credits) Genetics (4 credits) Basic principles of biochemistry as they relate to the practice of medicine. Mechanisms of biochemical reactions in energy production, biosynthesis, and degradation, and their relationship with disease. Biochemical roles of the major organs, biochemical impact on major pathways, and an overview of the metabolic interplay between organs. Chromosomes, their aberrations, and the disorders that result from them. Molecular and clinical genetics, including prenatal diagnosis and genetic screening. An overview of modern genetics, cancer genetics, and gene therapy.

Semesters III

Behavioral Science (6 credits) Analysis of human behaviors that bear most heavily on the practice of medicine. The social science of medicine and social science in medicine. A solid foundation in behavioral medicine and psychopathology.

Microbiology (7 credits)Immunology (2 credits) Comprehensive look at microbiology and immunology, encompassing the molecular cell biology of microbial agents and the human immune system, and presenting a review of pathogenic bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, and parasites.

General Pathology (6 credits)

Semesters IV

Pharmacology (6 credits)

Action of drugs , chemicals, and other biologically active agents on biological processes. Drug action; prototype drugs and their co-agents, and how each effects the biochemical and physical process; manner and mechanism whereby drugs can ameliorate or correct pathological processes; clinical toxicology; drugs used in emergency situations.

Systemic Pathology (8 credits) Anatomic changes in body tissue occurring in diseased states. Relationships between anatomic changes and clinical signs and symptoms under disease conditions.

Introduction to Clinical Medicine (8 credits)

Semester V

Preliminary Clinical Training Greater Miami Health Education and Training Campus The fifth semester program is taught at the clinical sites of the Greater Miami Health Education and Training Center, Michigan, and Baltimore. It is the first semester that is devoted primarily to the clinical sciences. The fifth semester acts as a bridge between the basic science curriculum and the clinical science curriculum.

Foundations of Clinical Medicine (15 credits) The Foundations of Clinical Medicine course is structured to provide AUA students with supervised patient contact in United States clinical facilities. The course concentrates on improving the student's physical examination and diagnostic skills. The course incorporates a review of the basic sciences and their relationship to the practice of medicine, in a clinical setting. The course provides instruction in clinical procedures and various clinical skills that the student will be required to master as the student's medical education continues. The Foundations of Clinical Medicine course provides the student with the necessary skills to appropriately communicate with patients, elicit information from patients, and to incorporate that information with the information obtained in the physical examination of the patient. By the end of the course the student is expected to be able to provide an integrated analysis of the patient's symptoms and to be familiar with various treatment options.

Semesters VI through X - Clinical Rotations Done in the United States

Core Clinical Rotations. Upon successful completion of the Basic Sciences curriculum, students begin their clinical training in the United States. This component consists of 75 weeks of clinical clerkships at ACGME-affiliated teaching hospitals. The Clinical Sciences make up the last five semesters of medical studies and provide a study of clinical skills in the area of patient care, under the direction of medical faculty at affiliated teaching hospitals. Core Rotations total 48 weeks; the remaining 27 weeks are devoted to elective clerkships and required clinical clerkships. Internal Medicine - 12 Weeks This clerkship enables students to gain a general knowledge of internal medicine. Internal medicine is the discipline accomplishing the study and health promotion, disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment of men and women from adolescents through old age during times of health and through all stages of acute and chronic illness. Essential to the discipline are the application of the scientific method of problem solving, decision making, and attitude of caring that is driven by humanistic and professional values. The practice of internal medicine requires comprehensive knowledge of human biology, behavior, and understanding of the epidemiology and pathophysiology of disease and mechanism of treatment. Internal requires that students master clinical skills in interviewing, physical examinations, differential diagnosis, diagnostic testing strategies, therapeutic techniques, counseling and disease prevention.

Surgery - 12 Weeks The core clerkship in surgery aims to develop skills needed by the general physician as well as the general surgeon . The surgery core rotation provides students with experience in preoperative, operative, and post-operative care for patients in all areas that constitute the principle components of general surgery. Specifically diseases of the head and the neck, breast, skin and soft tissues, alimentary tract, abdomen, vascular system, endocrine system, comprehensive management of trauma and emergency operation and surgical critical care. The student will learn how the fundamentals of basic sciences are applied to clinical surgeries. Included, but not limited to the elements of wound healing, hemostasis, hematologic disorders, oncology, shock, perculatory physiology, surgical microbiology, respiratory physiology, gastrointestinal physiology, surgical endocrinology, surgical nutrition, food and electrolyte balance, metabolic response to injury, applied surgical anatomy, and surgical pathology.

Pediatrics - 6 Weeks This clerkship provides a broad overview of general pediatric practice. The pediatric core clinical clerkship provides students with a broad exposure to the health care of students and substantial experience in the management of diverse pathologic condition. Including experience in child health care supervision and conditions commonly encountered in primary care practice. It includes experience with a wide range of acute and chronic medical conditions of pediatrics in both in-patient and ambulatory settings.

Obstetrics and Gynecology - 6 WeeksStudents in the obstetrics and gynecology core rotation are provided with an opportunity to learn basic knowledge skills and attitudes essential to the practice of obstetrics and gynecology. The core clinical rotation includes an introduction the reproductive healthcare and ambulatory primary care for women. Including health maintenance, disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment consultation, and referrals. Students will participate in patient rounds, case conferences, and the coverage of appropriate basic sciences as they pertain to obstetrics and gynecology.

Psychiatry - 6 WeeksThe psychiatry clerkship provides students with knowledge regarding diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment intervention of psychiatric disorders and the common medical neurological disorders that relate to the practice of psychiatry. Students learn about the diagnosis and management of medical neurological disorders encountered in psychiatric practice. Students learn how to take a mental status examination and to evaluate and treat patients of various stages and a variety of ethnic, racial, social, and economic backgrounds. Family Practice - 6 Weeks The family practice core rotation instructs students in the provision of continuity of care and ensures that each student has experience with the interrelating role played by the physician, the patient, the patient's family, the healthcare system, and the community, in optimizing the patients care. Students learn about the responsibilities that a family practitioner has for total healthcare of individual families, taking into account social, behavioral, economical , cultural, and biological dimensions. The student is provided with patient care experience in varied concepts, including out-patient/in-patient, home and long term settings. The family practice core rotation includes the study of human behavior and mental health, adult medicine, maternity and gynecological care, care of surgical patients, emergency care, and care of neonatal, community medicine, care of older patients.

After completion of Core Rotations, students are required to complete a total of 27 weeks of Elective Rotations in any area of interest including dermatology, infectious diseases, anesthesiology, radiology, cardiology, exc.

Licensing

The Medical Licensing Board of Indiana has placed American University of Antigua College of Medicine on the Questionable Foreign Medical Schools list for licensing purposes. This means that graduates applying for licensure will be reviewed on an individual basis by the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana.

External links

• American University of Antigua College of Medicine
• Manipal Kasturba Medical College and AUA Twinning Program