Barbados is an Attractive Location for Medical Tourism and Education

streamline processes such as licensing/accreditation, work permits, training and accommodation, among other key considerations.

The demand for international medical education has also grown considerably over the years, resulting in an upsurge in offshore schools around the world, including in China, India and the Caribbean. These private, for-profit institutions attract students from across the globe, particularly from North America and India.

Over the past six years, Barbados has proven to be a particularly attractive location for the establishment of offshore medical schools, recording encouraging success in this area with six international medical schools already on-island, and plans in train to accommodate the acclaimed Ross University School of Medicine from January 2019. These schools cater to a diverse student population drawn mainly from Canada, the USA, India and Nigeria.

The shortage of physicians and medical trainees, especially in the USA and Canada, high demand for places in medical schools in these countries, together with the availability, easy accessibility and affordability of medical education offshore in a safe location like Barbados, should see the continuing demand for international medical education. The growth of medical schools will create more jobs and generate much needed foreign exchange for the host nations. They also provide many positive spillover effects, particularly in the tourism, hospitality, housing and transportation sectors.

The Barbados Government continues to enhance the country’s legislative and regulatory framework to ensure that Barbados remains a compelling choice for higher education and, equally, that those that are operational adhere to globally accepted best practice standards.

Medical tourism and offshore schools present exciting new opportunities for the expansion of the Barbados economy, with the backward and forward linkages to other sectors being generally positive. The Invest Barbados team looks forward to ongoing facilitation of investment in both medical tourism and medical schools.