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. The old school building is located in Oranjestad, the capital and largest city in Aruba. The campus has a facility with over 125,000 square feet of space. The old campus houses classrooms with modern 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.

XUSOM is constructing its new campus with state-of-the-art facilities in Hato, a prime location in Aruba. The new campus dormitories with facilities like the dining hall, swimming pool, gym, soccer, basketball courts, and mini- golf course were inaugurated on the 14th of August 2021 by the Honorable Prime Minister of Aruba, Ms. Evelyn Wever-Croes. The current group of students has been staying in the new campus since September 2021. Phase Two of new campus construction, the Academic buildings, is projected to be completed by 2023.

Xavier University currently offers a Pre-Med program, M.D. program, and B.Sc. Nursing program. Beginning in 2022, Xavier university will be launching online and distance learning programs: Master’s degree (Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Pharmacology, public health, Infectious disease and global health) and PG certificate programs in Neuroscience, Biomedical informatics and Health communication strategies.

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. All the students have full access to a wide variety of digital library resources to prepare for the USMLE Step 1. 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).[1]

• Xavier University School of Medicine is recognized by the New York State Education Department (NYSED)[2] 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.[2]

• Xavier University School of Medicine is fully accredited by the Accreditation Commission on Colleges of Medicine (ACCM) of Ireland.[3] ACCM is the official accreditation body for the medical schools in Aruba. ACCM is recognized by the World Federation of Medical Education (WFME), ECFMG, and NCFMEA under the Department of Education, Washington D.C.

• Xavier University School of Medicine is approved by the Kingdom of Jordan.

• The Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and Other Health Professions (CAAM HP) posted a Website Advisory to notify the public that XUSOM misrepresented their accreditation status (https://caam-hp.org/news-details/Website+Advisory+Nov+12+2021/c86d0b79-4870-11ec-a671-f23c911818f6)

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

• Official website