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What is MERP?

MERP (medical education readiness program) is a 15-week program that focuses on preparing students for medical school. It is offered to those who have been conditionally accepted to Ross University School of Medicine. In order to start at RUSM, students must achieve an overall score of 70% or higher. Although 70% doesn’t seem difficult, the program is set at a medical school pace in which students need to learn how to balance their social and academic life to perform well. The curriculum includes mandatory attendance for lectures on four different subjects, weekly quizzes, and three exams. This 15-week program is jam-packed with tons of material that are meant to mimic the curriculum at RUSM.  

My reaction to being conditionally accepted

When I first received the email from admissions, I was extremely disappointed. I felt like a failure. It seemed as if everyone was able to get into Caribbean medical schools and then there was me. I wasn’t even able to get accepted directly into RUSM. All the effort and work I put into my education in order to get into medical school seemed worthless. Luckily, I had a family friend who was and has been more than helpful with all the questions and concerns I had for MERP and RUSM. Being a MERP graduate herself, she told me all about the pros and cons of the program. Taking her advice into consideration and keeping in mind that being a doctor is really what I want, I decided to go for it. Having worked my entire life towards reaching this goal, I wasn’t willing to give up my dream just because I had one extra step to complete before starting my medical journey. 

My MERP experience

In April 2018 I started my adventure at MERP. The classroom was filled with 100 unknown faces that were all there for the same reason as me. Although I didn’t talk to many people, it became a routine to see the same faces almost every day for class. Lectures were from 8AM-12PM most days with a few evening classes. Mondays were quiz days in which we were tested on the previous weeks’ material. These weekly quizzes helped keep me on my toes and made sure I study consistently throughout the 15 weeks instead of cramming material a few days before the exams. The first few quizzes and Mini 1 (exam #1) did not go well for me. Even though I was studying after lectures and taking notes, it seemed like I was doing something wrong when it came to my grades. Since Mini 1 ended up being on a Friday, I decided to take the next two days to relax, re-energize, and revise my study techniques. Although note-taking has always been helpful for me, I needed to add a different way of studying into my routine. They taught us about recalling information and writing it out onto a whiteboard. Without looking back at our notes and any other study resources, the goal was to answer all the learning objectives without any additional help. I started using this method and saw better results in my quiz grades. Monday through Friday, I would go to lectures and take notes on all the material presented. On the weekends, I used the whiteboard method and continuously went through all the learning objectives. This study plan worked a lot better and allowed me to perform more than just average on the last two exams. When I needed to switch things up a bit, a friend and I would talk things out to make it more interesting. Yes, it can be distracting to study with others, but finding a study partner with who you work well can be extremely helpful. 

Overall: 

MERP was definitely worth it for me. Although I was skeptical at first, those 15 weeks taught me a lot about what I was getting myself into at RUSM. We all know that medical school is not easy, but we also don’t understand how difficult it can be to manage life overall when school takes up so much of our time. Having lived 45 minutes away from campus (crazy, I know), I learned how to efficiently manage my time and still give myself some room to relax and enjoy the things I like to do. Even though MERP is a readiness program for medical school, it taught me much more than that. I learned to embrace different ways of learning and studying, which is so important when it comes to medical school. Studying for one class will be completely different than studying for another, and its good to be flexible in changing up study habits. One of the biggest pros of MERP for me was the microbiology class. Our professor/doctor was absolutely fantastic in the way she taught us, and it stayed embedded into my brain. When I started learning about viruses and bacteria at RUSM (1 year after MERP), I was still able to recall majority of the material and this was a key factor in allowing me to perform so much better. Outside of basic studying, I became more consistent with discipline in life. And believe me when I say that discipline is pretty much the key to success. Being able to succeed academically and still having room for personal growth is difficult when we don’t manage our time properly. Even though MERP was time consuming and mentally draining at times, it taught me to make the most of each and every day. 

Even though there are plenty of pros to MERP, there are cons as well. Unfortunately, student government loans are not available for this program. This means that private loans are the only source for students. With the tuition and housing, MERP can cost anywhere from $13,000 to $17,000 (or even more depending on travel and rent costs). This is not cheap in any way. I wish the school was more helpful in providing some financial aid to students since this is a requirement from their end when they conditionally accept students. The only “pro” is that the tuition is refundable if a student fails to pass. But, in the end, that is not what we want as students and it’s not like we can get those 15 weeks back. Another con is the mandatory attendance for lectures. I understand that they want students to experience medical lectures, but we don’t all learn the same way. And to be honest, majority of RUSM lectures are not mandatory. So, I don’t see why MERP cannot do the same. Although some students learn best when they are physically present for class, there are also those (including me) who find it more helpful to view the lectures online at their own pace. 

In the end, I am a proud MERP graduate. I came across many other MERP students (or as we like to call them, Merpies) at RUSM who were embarrassed to say they went through MERP. I understand that it doesn’t feel the greatest to think that us Merpies were only conditionally accepted, but that doesn’t make us any different than the rest of the students at RUSM. I’m proud that I came this far in my medical journey and MERP helped me in plenty of ways.