Xavier University School of Medicine

Xavier University School of Medicine (XUSOM) was founded in 2004 and is chartered by the government of Aruba with authorization by the Ministry of Education of Aruba to confer the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree and other health professions. As of 2022, it is no longer accredited by the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and Other Health Professions.[1]

The old school building is located in Oranjestad, the capital and largest city in Aruba. The campus has a facility with 125,000 square feet of space. The old campus houses classrooms with audiovisual aids, laboratories including an Anatomy dissection lab with plastinated cadavers and Anatomage table, skills and simulation labs, faculty offices, administrative and support staff, library, and transportation facilities.

Xavier University currently offers a Pre-Med program, M.D. program, and B.Sc. Nursing program.

Xavier offers two programs; the Pre-Med Program and the M.D. program.

The Pre-Med program is a one-and-a-half-year program for students coming in from high school or for students who have not completed all of their pre-requisites. After the completion of the Pre-Med program, the student can transition into the M.D. program.

The M.D. program at XUSOM is delivered over four calendar years. During the first two years, the program covers the Basic Sciences. Students study at the university’s campus in Aruba. The Basic Science curriculum follows “integrated organ systems” with early clinical exposure and clinical skills training. The school runs a standardized patient program on the island, and students take Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE). Students also visit local physician clinics and complete a hospital observership on the island. Interactive lectures, small-group discussions, problem-based learning (PBL), team-based learning (TBL), clinical case presentations, and laboratory experiences are used in teaching-learning. Courses like Professionalism, Medical Humanities, Cultural Competency and Behavioral Sciences are integrated into the different organ systems. The school uses NBME (National Board of Medical Examiners) subjects and customized examinations to assess competency. The final semester focuses on preparing students for the USMLE (United States Medical Licensing Examination) Step 1 examination. Students are enrolled in the Kaplan live program along with regular classes by qualified Basic Sciences faculty. Xavier students have achieved more than 96% pass rate in USMLE Step 1 for first-time test-takers in 2019 and 2020.

During the last two years, which cover the Clinical Sciences, students move on to clinical clerkships at the university’s affiliated hospitals in the United States. The core clerkship rotations are conducted at ACGME-approved (Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education) sites in various states of the USA like New York, Illinois, Maryland, and Washington DC. The total curriculum for clinical rotations is 84 weeks, including 12 weeks of Research and Intro to Clinical Medicine, 48 weeks of core rotations, and 24 weeks of elective rotations.

• Xavier University School of Medicine is listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools (WDMS).[2]
• Xavier University School of Medicine is recognized by the New York State Education Department (NYSED)[3] to allow students to complete more than 12 weeks of clinical clerkships in New York State. XUSOM is one of eight Caribbean medical schools so approved by NYSED.[3]
• Xavier University School of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Commission on Colleges of Medicine (ACCM) of Ireland.[4] ACCM is the official accreditation body for the medical schools in Aruba.
• In November 2021, the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and Other Health Professions (CAAM-HP) reported that XUSOM is no longer accredited by CAAM-HP.[1]

• International medical graduate
• List of medical schools in the Caribbean

• Official website