List of disapproved medical schools
LITTLE ROCK (CN) -May 1, 2009 -- The American University of Antigua College of
Medicine claims the Arkansas State Medical Board refuses to accredit
its graduates - most of whom are U.S. citizens - because the Caribbean
medical school competes with med schools on the mainland.
The
plaintiff claims it was "founded in 2004 by world-class American
physicians and professionals in the field of medical education. The
university was subsequently acquired by Manipal University, a highly
respected, privately owned university chartered by the government of
India."
Nonetheless, the college says, the Arkansas Medical
Board put it "on their published list of 'disapproved medical schools.'"
The
plaintiff claims the American Medical Association and the American
Association of Medical Colleges have a history of "damaging and
discriminating against AUA and other medical schools located in the
Caribbean region because the student bodies of those schools are
predominantly American and therefore provide the source of the greatest
competition to graduates of United States medical schools."
But the Antigua school did not sue the AMA or the AAMC - just the Arkansas board and its member physicians. AUA is represented in Federal Court by Leonard Sclafani of New York, N.Y.