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St Christopher Iba Mar Diop College of Medicine (SCIMD-COM) is a medical college located in Luton, England (30 miles north of London). The college is a satellite campus of the Universite El Hadj Ibrahima Niasse (UEIN) in Dakar, Senegal. Two medical colleges exist under the umbrella of parent university UEIN: Ecole de Médecine St Christopher Iba Mar Diop (EM-SCIMD) in Dakar and SCIMD-COM in Luton. The college operated under the name St. Christopher's College of Medicine from 2000-2006. Degrees are now issued from the parent University under the name of SCIMD-COM.

SCIMD-COM is not accredited by any recognised accreditation body. As such, its degrees may not be acceptable to employers or other institutions, and use of degree titles may be restricted or illegal in some jurisdictions. As of April 2006 it claims recognition locally by the Ministry of Education in Senegal.

Accreditation and licensing issues

The college's programmes award the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree through the authority of UEIN, although neither the college nor its parent body are listed in the UNESCO database of accredited institutions. It is currently listed in the FAIMER/IMED database of medical schools based on its recognition by the Senegalese Ministry of Education.

United Kingdom

In November 2005, the General Medical Council (GMC) of the UK announced that it was suspending recognition of the degrees issued by the school due to concerns over the college's accreditation in its parent country, as well as quality assurance arrangements. This restricted graduates of SCIMD-COM from registration as licensed physicians and from taking the Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board (PLAB) examination. As of August 2006, this suspension is still in force.

United States

According to the Office of Degree Authorization in the State of Oregon, "Great Britain ceased accepting its degrees, March, 2006. No Senegalese school issuing degrees under this name exists as of March, 2006. Price, Waterhouse has taken over the entity's records (UK/Senegal) and students who want to get information must contact PWC. It was announced that a portion of Luton (UK) operation became a branch campus of Medical University of the Americas, Belize, March 28, 2006. See Medical University of the Americas. However, the school ownership is apparently in dispute at this time."

In July of 2000, the Department of Justice of the State of Oregon issued a restraining order as well as a lawsuit against St Johns University School of Medicine of Montserrat, which claimed that transcripts issued by the school would be accredited through St. Christopher's College of Medicine (the name of SCIMD-COM at the time). According to the Oregon DOJ, "St. Christopher’s College of Medicine does not appear to be licensed or accredited by anyone."

Currently, New York and California, two U.S. states with formal accreditation processes for medical schools, have not approved SCIMD-COM. Oregon, Maine, and Alabama have added St. Christopher's College of Medicine (the former name of SCIMD-COM) to their state's Unaccredited Schools lists. The State of Texas has similarly placed SCCM on their list of "Substandard or Fraudulent Institutions" and notes that attempting to use the degree to obtain a medical license is a Class B Misdemeanor. The Executive Director of the Board of Medical Examiners in New Jersey has stated graduates of the school "would likely not be accepted at any three-year medical residency program at a New Jersey hospital, a prerequisite to becoming a full-fledged doctor in this state" because New Jersey law requires that students spend the first two years of their medical education studying in the location where the school is chartered. Graduates are also not eligible to be licensed in Kansas, since that state requires medical schools to be in operation for at least 15 years.

Students of the school claim several of the college's graduates have been issued unrestricted medical licenses in other U.S. states and many more have been issued training medical licenses for the purpose of postgraduate medical training in U.S. residency programs.

Programmes

SCIMD-COM offers two English-language curricula: a four-year curriculum for students who have previously earned a baccalaureate degree and a six-year curriculum for other students. There is also a five-year curriculum that is conducted in French.

After completing five semesters of the Basic Medical Sciences (and all applicable premedical coursework) on campus in Luton students enter the Clinical Sciences and complete 72 weeks of clinical clerkships in the U.S., UK, or Senegal. The U.S./Canadian administrative offices are located in Hicksville, NY and the UK/European Union administrative offices are located in Luton, England

Media coverage

The BBC local news programme Look East visited the campus, noting that no private university has ever been given full accreditation in the UK, and that St. Christopher hoped to be the first. It also noted that fees were between 2/3 and 1/2 of the fees charged by US colleges, and that this attracted a significant US student body.

External links

• Official College Website

References

1. "History of St Christopher Iba Mar Diop College of Medicine". Retrieved 2006-08-14.
2. ^ Foundation for the Advancement of International Education and Research. "International Medical Education Directory: St. Christopher Iba Mar Diop College of Medicine". Retrieved 2006-07-27.
3. Senegalese recognition letter by Minister of Education
4. UNESCO list
5. Chapman, Matthew (6 November 2005). "Some medical degrees 'worthless'". BBC News. Retrieved 2006-08-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
6. General Medical Council. "Acceptable primary medical qualification". Retrieved 2006-07-27.
7. General Medical Council. "Private UK based medical colleges". Retrieved 2006-07-27.
8. ^ Oregon Office of Degree Accreditation. "Unaccredited colleges". Retrieved 2006-08-11.
9. Department of Justice, State of Oregon. "Media Release: Attorney General Closes Down Unlicensed Medical School". Retrieved 2006-08-18.
10. New York State Office of the Professions. "NYS Medicine Application Forms / Schools allowed to do more than 12 weeks of Clinical Clerkships in NYS". Retrieved 2006-07-27.
11. Medical Board of California. "Medical Schools Recognized by the Medical Board of California". Retrieved 2006-07-27.
12. Maine Higher Education. "Unaccredited Schools" (PDF). UnaccreditedSchools-042706.pdf. p. 48. {{cite conference}}: Unknown parameter |booktitle= ignored (|book-title= suggested) (help)
13. Alabama Board of Medical Examiners. "Medical Education Requirements". Retrieved 2006-08-27.
14. Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. "Fraudulent or Substandard Institutions with No Known Texas Connection". Retrieved 2006-08-24.
15. Thorbourne, Ken (2004-03-30). "SPC partnership with med school hastily called off". The Jersey Journal. p. 1. Retrieved 2006-08-12.
16. Kansas Board of Healing Arts. "Statues: Chapter 65.--PUBLIC HEALTH Article 28.--HEALING ARTS". Retrieved 2006-08-18. {{cite web}}: line feed character in |title= at position 36 (help)
17. http://www.stchrisimd.com/files/bbc256.ram

• Unaccredited institutions of higher learning