03-25-2006, 09:22 AM
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Moderator
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Join Date: May 2003
Posts: 5,782
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logical
Quote:
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Originally Posted by SGU Admissions Dean
St. George’sUniversity’s Open House in London on March 20th - a regularly scheduled presentation - was attended by a surprising number of St. Christopher’s students who were seeking options to continue their education in the face of their uncertain future. We have also received numerous phone calls and emails from St. Christopher students who are uneasy.
St. George’sUniversitySchool of Medicine may have a solution for the students of St. Christopher’s who find themselves in a terrible position through no fault of their own. Our senior administration is inclined to look into solutions but not at the expense of our academic integrity - our duty is to our current students and alumni. Our applications are such that there are six applicants for each seat this fall.
Any solution offered by SGU will ensure that our high academic standards are maintained, that the students have the best chance of licensure in all jurisdictions, and that the students will have the best possible foundation for success in medical school and in the profession of medicine.
Over twenty years ago a Caribbean medical school closed and the students were left without a future. SGU worked with the administration of that school to ensure the students’ futures with the abovementioned quality controls in place.
The Admissions Office spent many days and nights reviewing the admissions qualifications of all students and they were divided into categories of readiness for admission. Students who met the basic admissions requirements were admitted immediately, other students were assured a place as soon as they met the admissions criteria.
Students were not granted advanced standing since it was likely that licensing boards would not have accepted the transfer credit in the future. In lieu of the credit, every student was given a tuition scholarship for any semester they had already successfully completed. We allowed students to take courses without paying to ensure that they would have the best chance of being licensed as physicians in the future.
There may be offers from other medical schools accepting advanced standing credit from St. Christopher’s. However, students should thoroughly check out the ramifications of this. At SGU we are quite familiar with the concept of transferring medical school credit: over 1,200 SGU students have transferred into US medical schools - and we have taken a limited number of transfer students. Fairly recently, we thought credit from one medical school was valid and granted one year of advanced standing. When those two students graduated and tried to be licensed in California, they were unable to be licensed in the state of California until they returned to SGU and repeated their entire first year. The state of California would not recognize the credit, even though SGU did at first. You might find that some jurisdiction will ultimately accept your current credit, but many may not - and at SGU we do not believe in limited futures. We know that the SGU credit is acceptable since so many US medical schools have accepted it, but we do not know about other medical schools credit. You, like us, should be very wary.
SGU is prepared to consider the same type of humanitarian offer to the students of St. Christopher’s. It is a huge undertaking and would only make sense if there are enough St. Christopher’s students who would want this option, especially as it might require that we add a special first term this summer to facilitate this process.
We are better prepared to deal with the complexities of such a venture now than in the early 1980’s. One major difference is that SGU has a thriving undergraduate degree program in its School of Arts and Sciences and can therefore accommodate premedical students as well as those students who do not quite meet the SGU admissions requirements.
In addition, SGU has an extremely well funded and highly developed Department of Educational Services which is committed to assist students with their academic endeavors. Its multi-faceted approach includes tutorials in all courses, academic enhancement programs, help with study and test-taking skills, time management and other areas that may influence academic performance. This department is invaluable to the students at SGU and can aid in a transition process.
SGU has faculty and admissions administrators in the UK at the moment attending to business and who could change their schedules to meet with any St. Christopher’s students this week who want to discuss possibilities. If you are interested and want to add your voice to the St. Christopher’s students who have already contacted SGU, please send an email to sgu@valuemd.com with “St. Christopher’s student” as the subject. Give your contact details so that we can inform you if such a meeting takes place.
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I applaud your post and offer to students. Your discussion of not taking short cuts indeed cuts to the truth; now is the time for SC students to clean up their academic lives and go on with their dream.
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