WASHINGTON, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Evidence presented to Congress suggests Ross Medical School on the island of Dominica may be shortchanging U.S. taxpayers and students, officials allege.
Ross accepts U.S. students who fail to qualify for medical schools in the United States. The U.S. students qualify for federally backed student loans, which last year amounted to more than $150 million, the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times reported Saturday.
Fewer than one-third of Ross's students finish in four years, compared with nearly 100 percent at U.S. medical schools, and about 20 percent of the students fail to find a residency placement in the United States, which is key to obtaining a license to practice, regulators who accredit offshore medical schools recently told Congress.
Ross is one of about two dozen offshore medical schools that accepts U.S. students. All of the schools need to raise their standards, the regulators said.
A Ross spokeswoman defended the school as a high-quality institution, comparable to U.S. medical schools.
"At a time when our country is in desperate need of quality physicians, they will help fulfill the unmet need and make important contributions to society," Rebekah Herbison said.
