Just came home from visiting St. Maarten and the medical sch

[docsmile]

Hello all,

I just returned home in Toronto from visiting Saba and St. Maarten.
I dont know everything there is to know about the islands and or the medical schools but I did get a lot of my own questions answered, so if anyone has any questions I will try to answer them.

Doc :D

[aksharma]

Which do you prefer?

[docsmile]

that is a very difficult question, one which i am still debating over in my head. But I will tell you the pro's and cons of each.

AUC: St. Maarten is very alive, loud and noisey. the people are nice but not as nice as in Saba. the city is sort of safe but nowhere near the safety level in Saba.
The city is more modern and the transition from canada or the usa to St. Maarten would be much easier than that to Saba.

Saba: Saba is a beutiful island where the people are extremely nice and everyone actually knows everyone else. there is not much to do there, unlike st maarten. the campus is beutiful yet, as you can tell by the pictures on the websites AUC is more modernized.

I think it all depends on what it takes to make you study. If you enjoy loud places with lots of casinos and clubs then AUC
but if you like peace and quiet and more relaxed studying environments than SABA.

Doc :D

[teratos]

AUC will allow practice in all 50 states. Saba will limit you, but not much. I think Saba cannot be licensed in CA, NM, TX, and maybe KS. If that doesn't matter to you, then it truly is a matter of personal preference. G

[WantMD]

Thanks for the insight.

The two schools that I am still debating are SABA and AUC. I am very satisfied that I will like either island, so it boils down to three things: Cost, Academics & Licensure.

Cost: SABA is a hands down winner of course. Both the school & housing areless expensive at SABA.

Academics: This one is still "fuzzy" in my mind. I've heard good & bad. Basically, I'm a self learning type of person. Give me a book and tell me what date the examis on and that's all I need. Of course, I'm still hoping to go somewhere where the teachers are good. I'm pretty sure AUC is good in this respect. On the other hand, people from SABA have told me that they think 80% of their profs are excellent and their scores on USMLE are very respectable, so I'm thinking SABA may be also good.

Licensure: AUC is a hands down winner of course. However, there are SABA licensed people in every state in which I consider moving. I do not have my heart set on any particular state. AUC wins here but the difference may not be important to me.

My experience so far with SABA has been excellent, they were quick to process everything, they were responsive, courteous and really a pleasure to deal with. When I was accepted, they sent a letter to the Dr.'s who wrote LORs for me thanking them for their time and inviting them to a Dean's tour of the university. I thought this was really classy.

AUC on the other hand has not been quite so good. They lost my transcripts and are very slow.

I still haven't decided where I want to go. Initially, my heart was set on AUC and SABA was a backup plan. However, I am slowly changing my mind and "may" go to SABA instead of AUC... Still undecided though...

This is my journey so far...

Merry New Year & Happy Christmas!

WantMD :-)

[anencephalic]

WantMD,
I agree 100% with DocSmile's assesment...My wife and I took a day trip to Saba recently and absoultely loved it (although we saw the med school, we didn't get a chance to look around or meet people :cry: ...maybe next time?). For me personally, the island is TOO laid back for my tastes (but then again, I am a city boy) but has an inherent charm all its own. Both schools will get you where you want to go and provide you with the necessary tools to be a successful physician. Congratualtions to you on doing all of your research/homework and not relegating your selection of medical schools to something as trivial as a postcard on the wall or a glossy photo brochure (sorry teratos & FLK...couldn't resist! :? ). Best of luck to you whereever you may end up pursuing your medical education...between Saba & SXM, I doubt you can make a "wrong" choice!

Aloha,

[###]

.............

[Golgotha]

Hi. This is a good thread with a decent side-by-side comparison of my two top choice schools: AUC and Saba.

One thing I would add is that AUC students are eligible for Federal Student Aid while those at Saba are not (I think, I've just started my research two days ago). However, the tuition difference is such that you will probably require the same amount of private loans to cover costs at either school.

The more I try to decide, the more I feel like flipping a coin and just being done with it. I am leaning toward AUC, though.

thanks
-dp

[tRmedic21]

AUC does require 80% attendance of all classes, which is evaluated randomly throughout the semester. I believe 1st sem last term had a pretty strict attendance check regularly, but I am not sure about that.

[anencephalic]

...Yep. Attendance was checked routinely for practically every class on a "random" basis (they occasionally announced it! :shock: ). Most people attended anatomy while there were drastically less attendees for other classes (by the time we had a month left in biochem, I think we regularly had about 40 people out of a 125+ show up for lecture :? ). Still others filtered in during the breaks and signed the attendance sheets without actually attending. Oh well. The 80% attendance policy has something to do with federal loans (what exactly, I am not quite sure).

Aloha,

[springstuff]

They took attendance alot last semester however they usually mentioned that it was in order to comply with the Stafford requirements. Also, states such as CA actually require the school to certify attendance above %80, in order for you to be approved for licensure. So it's in your best interest that the school feins a strict attendance policy. Then you can just find ways around it such as signing and then leaving or getting someone to sign for you.
AUC does have student loans, so that's a great benefit for the obvious reasons and some that aren't. Approval for Stafford loans is a vote of confidence from the powers that be in the US so that says something about your school. Also, with all that money out in gov guaranteed loans, states aren't likely to suddenly decide they don't wan't to license AUC grads. It would be an economic catastrophy. Of course with loan approval, AUC has the torque to charge exorbitant prices as compared to non loan schools.
Other than that, AUC seems to be a decent school that isn't too irritating to attend. The Island offers very little inconveniance or culture shock.

[AUCMD2006]

"AUC seems to be a decent school that isn't too irritating to attend"


best statement about the school i've heard yet! :lol:

this place (the island) sucks, it's anoyingly slow and the people are rude unless you have a dollar in your hand on their behalf though they are very creative, speacially the governement ..every semester they come up with some sort of scam to get money out of you by charging for "temporary residency permits" or "foreign driver license" or "re-entry permits" of course they say they aren't targeting AUC students but who the hell else leaves and comes back frewuently, drives with out of country licenses, and is here long enough to need a temporary residency permit?
the school is great most professors are either top notch or ok my problems start when i leave the campus and enter the twilight zone were time has slowed down to a trickle and i need to keep my wallte permanently open to get anywhere....hehe ok enough venting did i mention i hate this island? maybe it's b/c i am from florida and i am around palm trees and sand all the time all you guys from seattle and the north are still walking around like this is paradise or something....give it some time it will get old.

[microphage]

hehe ok enough venting did i mention i hate this island? maybe it's b/c i am from florida and i am around palm trees and sand all the time all you guys from seattle and the north are still walking around like this is paradise or something....give it some time it will get old.

Yes, it does get old but at least the island is a bit better than most of the rest in terms of living conditions.

As for the palm trees, I just wish people would climb in front of the palm tree in front of my house and steal all the coconuts. :evil:

[tRmedic21]

Not me.

I have been here a year, and I still love the island. Of course, I get involved alot with the island, we go to the breach, bought a small boat, snorkel and scuba frequently, hunt lobsters, shop for jewelry/clothes, visit lots of restaurants, etc.... I am sure if I didn't do all of these things, then yes, I would get sick of the island, because the attitude of many of the locals is that we are here to be their cash cows, and expecting any service for our dollars is just selfish and spoiled of us. :roll:

I spend a lot of time with my neighbors, BBQing on the balcony, overlooking the beautiful lagoon (babyback ribs are CHEAP here). On any given night, we might be sampling the latest of 20 or 30 different imported Scotches or a half-dozen good beers to relax, playing chess, or listening to music, watching movies on DVD from the local video store, playing games, or just plain shooting the breeze. There are cruises on catamarans around Sint Maarten or to other islands, frequent concerts with Caribbean musicians, heck, we even went to Carnival and saw Shaggy and Sean **** together for $15 a ticket! That woulda been like $60 a person in the US!

I agree that the island can get old, and it can certainly get you down, but I made the decision not to let it get me down.... and so far... it's working! :wink:

[microphage]

Of course, I get involved alot with the island, we go to the breach, bought a small boat, snorkel and scuba frequently, hunt lobsters, shop for jewelry/clothes, visit lots of restaurants, etc....

Be afraid... very afraid.... They just opened up a Tiffany's on Front Street. :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[tRmedic21]

That's been there a while, my son.... just like the "Penny's". lol

It ain't the real Tiffany's, either.

[AUCMD2006]

it is tourist place so if you have the cash to spend then you will have an awsome time here like ***** said there is a lot to do unfortunately tickets back home are expensive and i have to share the burden of my kids tuitions with my wife so it basically leaves me with enough money to catch a movie every few weeks and maybe buy a bottle of water and go hicking every week which by the way has been really cool b/c there are so many places to explore and walk around but as far as the locals and the attitude it is just unbearable. example of the type of attitude: last sem i got my car punched by a local and i got bit...hehe they tend to stop in the middle of the road to chat, keep in mind it is a two lane road, so i just went around and this guy started yelling at me telling me i should wait for them to finish before going b/c this is st maarten and "this is what they do" and this isn't my country and i should leave etyc etc to which i responed if it wasn't for the dutch the french and tourits he would be wiping his buttocks with palm trees and if he wasn't so lazy maybe he could drive the extra 6 feet to the side of the road then he charged...hehe

[tRmedic21]

***???

Someone BIT you? Man, there would be another body in the lagoon for the lobsters to feed on if that were me.... that's ridiculous.

Yes, many of the locals hate us just because they can. Get used to it. If they stop to yak in front of me, I just lay on the horn and hold it till they move. They can't really talk much with a car horn blaring a few feet away. ;)

[teratos]

Laying on the horn is how they do it, so it shouldn't be much of a problem.

My last day on the island I had rented a car to take all my stuff to the airport. It was just one day. The guy said "It'll be $35 for the car and $50 for the flat tire" Well, I didn't have a flat tire, but he insisted I did. The car had been taken into the back, so I know there was gonna be a flat on it. I asked to borrow his phone. When he asked what for, I told him i was calling AMEX to cancel all the charges. He quickly took the tire fee off my ticket. G

[AUCMD2006]

1st semester after 1st anatomy test i went to the beach and on the way back a guy thought i was looking at his girl so me and my smart mouth told him i wasn't and she looked like she could breastfeed sideways on her knee so he went after me, i pushed him and was holding him on the ground telling him to calm down i didn't want to fight so he bit me and i started punching him in the face so he would let go when his girlfriend tackled me and pushed me down the little hill and i rolled on some rocks.....it's funny now and i'm glad the skin didn't break.....wonder why my policy is to saty home? i guess it's partly my fault too b/c of my mouth....oh and i had it out with the dreadlock guy by the gyro truck too...i asked him to shut up b/c i wouldn't give him a dollar to watch the car and he started cursing infront of my friends two litlle girls he runs pretty fast for having all that hair...hehe is it too much to ask to just be left alone? i guess they are just used to people walking away .....i'm glad i'm 6-1 and most locals are in the 5 and change range though :D

can't we all just get along?