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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 and neither the college, nor the parent university, is listed in UNESCO's database of accredited institutions. 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 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. The Dakar, Senegal campus is currently listed in the FAIMER/IMED database of medical schools based on its recognition by the Senegalese Ministry of Education, however, the Luton, UK location is not listed as being recognized in that country.

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 restricts graduates of SCIMD-COM from registration as licensed physicians and from taking the Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board (PLAB) examination. Currently, this suspension is still in force. The Accreditation Service for International Colleges, a UK-based accrediting agency, has included SCIMD-COM on their list of "Bogus Universities."Due to unknown reasons, this list is not currently available on the Service's website, but it can be verified by Google's cache of the page.

Visas

SCIMD-COM's Luton campus is not listed in the Register of Education and Training Providers published by the British Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Home Office will not grant anyone permission to enter or remain in the UK as a student, unless he or she plans to study at a college on the Register." "The Register does not quality assure the services offered by providers," but instead, "the purpose of the Register is to help the Home Office tackle immigration abuse in the education sector."

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."

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."

The Medical Board of California does not recognize SCIMD as being an accredited medical school, and therefore a degree from this school does not meet requirements for a medical license in that state. New York, through its formal foreign medical school review process, has not approved St. Christopher Iba Mar Diop COM students to complete more than 12 weeks of clinical clerkships in that state. Oregon and Maine, and have added St. Christopher's College of Medicine (the former name of SCIMD-COM) to their state's list of unaccredited schools. Alabama does not recognize a degree from SCIMD as being valid for licensure. The State of Texas has similarly placed SCCM on their list of "Institutions Whose Degrees are Illegal to Use in Texas" and notes that attempting to use the degree to obtain a medical license is a Class B Misdemeanor. In Indiana, SCIMD is considered "questionable" and applications for licensure would be considered on a "case by case" basis (n.b. there is a separate category listing "disapproved foreign medical schools." The Executive Director of the Board of Medical Examiners in New Jersey has stated that New Jersey law requires that students spend the first two years of their medical education studying in the location where the school is chartered. He also stated other states also have denied hospital residency programs or medical licenses to graduates of the school. Another official with the New Jersey's board of Medical Examiners stated graduates of the school would likely not be accepted at any three-year medical residency program at a New Jersey hospital. Graduates are also not eligible to be licensed in Kansas, since state regulations require medical schools to be in operation for a minimum of 15 years, and and the graduates of which must have been licensed in another state or states which has standards similar to Kansas.

Programs

SCIMD-COM offers two English-language curricula: a four-year curriculum for students who have previously completed the necessary premedical coursework and a six-year curriculum for those that have not. There is also a five-year curriculum that is conducted in French at the Senegal campus.

The basic medical science curriculum consists of:

First Semester: Gross Human Anatomy and Medical Imaging, Histology and Cell Biology, Medical Embryology, Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Medical Terminology

Second Semester: Biochemistry, Medical Physiology, Neurosciences

Third Semester: Pathology, Microbiology, Immunology, Medical Genetics

Fourth Semester: Pathology II, Pharmacology, Behavioral Sciences, Medical Ethics

Fifth Semester: Physical Diagnosis, Introduction to Clinical Medicine, USMLE Review

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. Of those 72 weeks, 48 weeks consist of core clinical clerkships in Internal Medicine, General Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Family Medicine. The remaining 24 weeks consist of elective clinical clerkships in the areas of interest to the student.

The UK/European Union administrative offices are located in Luton, England, and the U.S./Canadian administrative offices are located in McDonough, GA, as a result of the school's termination of affiliation with its former representative due to "numerous and grave" reasons.. Although the US headquarters are in Georgia, SCIMD also maintains additional admissions and clinical sciences office in Nassau County, NY.

Media coverage

In 2003, 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 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. UNESCO list
4. Senegalese recognition letter by Minister of Education
5. UNESCO list
6. Chapman, Matthew (6 November 2005). "Some medical degrees 'worthless'". BBC News. Retrieved 2006-08-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
7. General Medical Council. "Acceptable primary medical qualification". Retrieved 2006-07-27.
8. General Medical Council. "Private UK based medical colleges". Retrieved 2006-07-27.
9. List of Bogus Universities from the Accreditation Service for International Colleges
10. GoogleCache HTML version of ASIC Bogus Universities PDF
11. DFES Provider Register of Education and Training
12. UKVisas requirements for student visas
13. http://www.dfes.gov.uk/providersregister/faq-general.cfm#a1
14. ^ Oregon Office of Degree Accreditation. "Unaccredited colleges". Retrieved 2007-05-05.
15. Department of Justice, State of Oregon. "Media Release: Attorney General Closes Down Unlicensed Medical School". Retrieved 2006-08-18.
16. Medical Board of California. "Medical Schools Recognized by the Medical Board of California". Retrieved 2006-07-27.
17. 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.
18. Maine Higher Education. "Unaccredited Schools" (PDF). UnaccreditedSchools-042706.pdf. p. 48. {{cite conference}}: Unknown parameter |booktitle= ignored (|book-title= suggested) (help)
19. Alabama Board of Medical Examiners. "Medical Education Requirements". Retrieved 2006-08-27.
20. Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. "Institutions Whose Degrees are Illegal to Use in Texas". Retrieved 2007-05-05.
21. "Medical Licensing Board of Indiana" (PDF).
22. Thorbourne, Ken (2004-03-30). "SPC partnership with med school hastily called off". The Jersey Journal. p. 1. Retrieved 2006-08-12.
23. Kansas Board of Healing Arts. "Statues: Chapter 65.--PUBLIC HEALTH Article 28.--HEALING ARTS". Retrieved 2006-08-18.
24. 4-year M.D. Curriculum at stchris.edu
25. Clinical Clerkships at stchris.edu
26. Dr. Sow Notice at scimd.com
27. Termination notice at scimd.com
28. http://imed.ecfmg.org/details.asp?country=820&school=&currpage=1&cname=SENEGAL&city=&region=AF&rname=Africa&mcode=820020&psize=25
29. http://stchris.edu/contact.htm
30. RealAudio file, BBC Look East, February 2003

• Unaccredited institutions of higher learning