IAU St Lucia- Behind the Scenes - THE TRUTH - Part II

[iaustudent]

Fellow budding doctors,
I've unpublished my blog earlier to make sure that my first mail gets all the expected responses before I unveil the details about this school. Now that my mail has received all kinds of responses, I'd like to take a quick snapshot of the same.

Response Inventory
1. iaustudent06 - 2
2. iau_student_06 - 1
3. iaustudent006 - 2
4. iauinsider - 2
5. howelljolly - 2
6. aucmd2006 - 1 (external student)
7. dt - 4
8. iaustudent023 - 1
9. lolalala - 1
10. brownsuga - 1

The genuine responses have been very less as I expected. As some one has already pointed out, the first 3 users are pretty much in sync in all respects. And I believe I don’t have to explain this coincidence. Considering all these factors, it is clear that there are only very few well wishers for this school. Excluding #6 (aucmd2006), the rest of the group consists of only 9 user ids out of the expected total of 21. But the fact is that these 9 user ids do not belong to 9 different individuals, and the truth is - more than one user id has been created for the same person. By doing that, they have tried to increase the number of responses per user id. These user ids belong to a group of people which consists of teachers as well as a few students who are very close to the management including the relatives of the President of IAU. This very act of hiding the truth by providing the wrong information is the most detrimental one for the whole student community.

I’ve published my blog with full details today. Please visit http://iau-***************.blogspot.com/ (http://iau-***************.blogspot.com/)

I wish you best of luck to make the right decision and embrace a brighter future!...

Thanks,
Ex-IAU Student

[Genossa maximillian]

I sympathize with your posting, you reveal your experiences, HOWEVER I found some flaws in your blog that are raising some red flags about your understanding of some issues.

1- There is nothing wrong with having an MBBS teaching MD students. maybe you are unaware that the MBBS is the degree they confer in many non-US countries, for example a "small" country called the UK.

2- Students without bachelor, not uncommon either. Nothing wrong, it makes you more competitive to have a B.S. though.

3- Dean with a weird sexual orientation, irrelevant. Not your problem, not anyones problem. What he or she does in his or her private life is their problem. Unless he or she sexually harasses you, then you should draw a line. It is the same as if I would say a dean with a weird religion if he practices a different religion than I do, or Dean with weird skin color, if he is different than mine, or Dean from a weird nation, if he is from a nationality I do not belong to. You follow?
You should leave your phobias aside and stick to relevant facts.

Other than that, you did the right thing by leaving.


Fellow budding doctors,
I've unpublished my blog earlier to make sure that my first mail gets all the expected responses before I unveil the details about this school. Now that my mail has received all kinds of responses, I'd like to take a quick snapshot of the same.

Response Inventory
1. iaustudent06 - 2
2. iau_student_06 - 1
3. iaustudent006 - 2
4. iauinsider - 2
5. howelljolly - 2
6. aucmd2006 - 1 (external student)
7. dt - 4
8. iaustudent023 - 1
9. lolalala - 1
10. brownsuga - 1

The genuine responses have been very less as I expected. As some one has already pointed out, the first 3 users are pretty much in sync in all respects. And I believe I don’t have to explain this coincidence. Considering all these factors, it is clear that there are only very few well wishers for this school. Excluding #6 (aucmd2006), the rest of the group consists of only 9 user ids out of the expected total of 21. But the fact is that these 9 user ids do not belong to 9 different individuals, and the truth is - more than one user id has been created for the same person. By doing that, they have tried to increase the number of responses per user id. These user ids belong to a group of people which consists of teachers as well as a few students who are very close to the management including the relatives of the President of IAU. This very act of hiding the truth by providing the wrong information is the most detrimental one for the whole student community.

I’ve published my blog with full details today. Please visit http://iau-***************.blogspot.com/ (http://iau-***************.blogspot.com/)

I wish you best of luck to make the right decision and embrace a brighter future!...

Thanks,
Ex-IAU Student

[Zut Alors!]

I take issue with what you wrote on your blog. One of your reasons for why the school is garbage is because you feel that the Dean, or whoever, is a homosexual? You said he touched your hands and stroked your fingers; in which case, he is a bad Dean because he sexually harassed you. The fact he is gay is totally irrelevant, and as someone who wants to be a doctor, you should be a bit more careful with your words. Would he be any less of a sicko if he was heterosexual and stroked a female's hand? Exactly...

[rspr41]

Your reasoning on bashing IAU is so utterly flawed its funny. No wonder you FAILED your board exams and were kicked out of IAU.

[iau_fall06]

Your entire blog is pointless and also sounds very exaggerated. All your points have indicated that you were not focused on studying and becoming a very good physician and now you are making up stories to comfort yourself.
I am sorry that you did not make the best use of your time on the island. Maybe medicine is not for you. Remember one can only achieve ones dreams if they make an effort, something you failed to understand whilst you were on the island.

[IAUinsider]

I thought I would post my own response to that of the infamous 'iaustudent' who ought to have signed up under the name EX-IAU AND EX-ST. CHRISTOPHER'S COLLEGE OF MEDICINE STUDENT. And in doing so, I may take on the same breakdown as he has, so as to minimize any confusion to my rebuttal.

GAINING MOMENTUM
Albeit this is still in it’s start-up, the improvements that this institution has acquired since first opening it’s doors have been depicted in the same “rosy” picture as stated. The school has revamped much of its infrastructure, both physically with the facilities, as well as with its faculty-gaining a broad spectrum of faculty, including a few teachers that have attributed much time, research, and hold dozens of publications in reference to medical breakthroughs in the US and abroad.

THE MISTAKE
The first mistake that IAUSTUDENT failed to mention is that IAU was not his only Medical School to which he attended. Prior attending IAU, IAUSTUDENT attended St. Christopher's College of Medicine (Luton, England, now affiliated with MUA-Belize), which upon that school 'falling through', decided to follow in his cousin's/fellow St. Chris student's footsteps and enroll in the Medical Program at IAU.
IN FINALE-ALL THE STUDENTS, INCLUDING IAUSTUDENT AND TRUEBIRD, THAT HAILED FROM OTHER MEDICAL SCHOOLS-INCLUDING THAT OF ST. CHRISTOPHER’S, HAVE DROPPED OUT FROM IAU DUE TO VARYING REASONS, SOME OF WHICH INCLUDE FAILING MANY MINI-EXAMS, TO FAILING SEVERAL NBME BOARD EXAMS-INCLUDING FAILING SOME SUBJECTS TWICE (QUALIFYING FOR WITHDRAWAL FROM THE UNIVERSITY).

FIRST IMPRESSION
Upon arriving in St. Lucia, IAUSTUDENT, was not found to be studying or putting much effort to his new classes, oftentimes stating that he knows more than the teachers-in that he had already taken the same classes at his first school (St. Chris) and that these classes would be a breeze. Hardly…He was found to pass 2 out or 4 mini-exams at times, and frequently placed a higher emphasis on extracurricular activities outside of school.

The classrooms here are not small; conversely, the classrooms can hold upto 40+ in students each. Futhermore, if the classrooms are only capable to hold ‘5 students max’, why is it that our facilities/classrooms are reserved by the government of St. Lucia/Medical Council of Vieux Fort to conduct varying seminars which include upwards of 40 or 50 professionals! Rather than place your efforts on visualizing the classrooms that he is trying to portray, see for yourself on the pictures posted on the IAU website/ValueMD website-especially those posted by the students and not the faculty to see for yourself.

SECOND THOUGHTS
The seconds thought that IAUSTUDENT must be talking about are the second thoughts that he had upon returning for his second semester. Inquiring for a tuition refund was never the case. With the sole backing of his parents, and his ‘apparent’ desire to pursue a career in medicine, he never thought of transferring or withdrawing from the university, EXCEPT for the weeks prior to taking his NBME Board exams, to which he put little to no effort in preparing for (which also included a visit back to the US, instead of studying for the upcoming Boards).

WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE ROAD (don’t jump out of a moving car, the A/C may be running) See previous posts on ValueMD…enough said

APPOINTMENT OF THE DEAN
In this day and age, the need for verified and well-suited administration and faculty is a definite necessity for any organization to flourish. Take a look at some of the major headlines in the major newspapers around the world and you will find that many organizations go after key individuals who ascertain the knowledge and education necessary for another organization to succeed as well. Commonly you will see that CEO’s of major corporations are recruited by a competing company, in order to achieve the same or addition success-the same is the case with our dean. The dean, here at IAU, hold a very nice record of previous positions, including serving as assistant dean at several notable medical schools, in addition to his own practice and work within the field of medicine.

THE REGISTRAR AND OTHER STAFF
The registrar and other staff have never-ever impeded in the alterations to any students’ grades/board exams scores-including those of the presidents children-it’s quite simple. If this was the case, don’t you think any/all of the other students in attendance at IAU would not have posted/withdrawn/complained/etc about such an incident? All exams are administered via SCANTRONS and the NBME Board Exams are not even graded ‘in-house’. They are shipped and graded in the U.S. by NBME-itself-thus eliminating the possibility of altering the scores of the students. If the registrar had altered grades to show higher marks on students grades, why is the owners own son has fully complete USMLE-Step 1 and clinical rotations, and is either in the process of taking or has already completed USMLE-Step 2? If his grades were fabricated, how could someone who was ‘not passing’ have succeed this far? Could it be that you may have thought of the idea for yourself?

Strategy developed by the Dean and the President to maximize profit
What would be the point for the dean and the president of the university be to maximize profit and place it into their own pockets? This would place the school, including the students, faculty and administration in jeopardy, as well the livelihood of the university’s ability to keep up and running. By taking the money and pocketing it, the school would be able to stay in the green, and ultimately find itself debunking, which is the COMPLETE OPPOSITE of what is currently going on with this university. Currently the facilities are being complete revamped—and this is only a temporary facility, until the new campus is completed! The computer lab is being fitted with 20+ more machines in addition to the numerous other upgrades that are being implemented (even as I type). Thus, the notion that the dean and the president are in cahoots, and only in the organization for their own profit-maximization is totally blasphemous—to be able to a higher salary, would their priority be towards generating more students, rather than milking only a few students for extra money—it’s plain economics/business…

The Dean and sexual harassment
There has not been any case of sexual harassment at this school and the use of the term “sexual harassment” is not the proper terminology for the type of situation that he has laid out-simply it would be “harassment”, which again is not an issue in this situation; rather, it is IAUSTUDENT own feelings towards the faculty/staff/students towards his behavior, both in-and-out of the classroom. If you put in the necessary time and energy towards your studies, whether it’s here at IAU or at any other university of your choice, the bottom line is that YOU CONTROL YOURSELF, and thus, WHAT YOU PUT INTO YOUR TIME IN MEDICAL SCHOOL IS WHAT YOU WILL GET WHEN YOU GRADUATE FROM MEDICAL SCHOOL (or in some, it is what you don’t receive…)

my message
Take everything you read with a pinch of salt. The words that are being reflected in the dialogue of IAUSTUDENT are due to his own decisions in life, which have left him to make a feeble attempt at altering the mindsets of those looking at IAU as a university where you will go astray—Do yourself a favor, investigate all the bullet points that he has made for yourself, look at the viewpoint/mindset of those making comments on ValueMD, and lastly, make sure to find out the reasons behind each person’s post and see where they are in their career path. It is unfortunate that IAUSTUDENT feels that his career path and aspirations have completely dissolved…having attended two (if not more) medical schools, and have parents and siblings that have succeed in the field of medicine as well, choosing to sit in front of a computer and give up on his “true aspiration” in life instead of fulfilling his dream of one-day becoming a physician is the best determinant his writings—he has nothing else better to do, b/c he’s either too lazy to start over and pursue his dreams or that he enjoys sitting around eating EasyMac and ruining his health…

Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the postings of IAUSTUDENT or of mine, please feel free to contact me and I will do my best to get the “right” answers for you as soon as possible.

Good luck to all of you in your pursuit in the field of medicine!!!!

(P.S. this is my ONLY account on ValueMD!) :)

[IAUStudent006]

Couldn't really have said it any better than IAUinsider. Its a shame to see posts going up like this from a disaffected student. You can see that there are many more positive posts here from the students than the negative ones that so few are posting. For every negative post, you have replies from a number of students (not faculty - and certainly not one individual posting over and over again...). We all have one goal in mind, and if you weren't able to do it at IAU, then I suggest moving on and working on that goal somewhere else. All these posts really do is show how you are wasting time and energy to make the school look bad. If you had serious concerns about what was going on, these should have been brought up BEFORE you left - so you could make the environment in which YOU are studying in a better place. Clearly you didn't care enough when you were here, and you don't care now.
Good luck in your studies - whatever they may be now

[iaustudent06]

First you claim teachers are posting and that students have signed in with different account names...

Can you show which names the teachers are using? Each one of the names you provided belonged to different students, most of who are not related or direct friends with management. Most of the students have already posted email accounts (which has our last names through the school's email system) and even put up photos. Yes only 1/3 of us are actually posting, the rest are studying and quite honestly, have better things to do. Yet you have nothing on your profile or blog about who you really are.... You have not posted your GPA, how well you scored on MCAT, what degree you hold, what professional license you acquired, what major job positions you held, what successful businesses you started, what evets you hosted, or any accomplishments achieved during the course of your disruption of your entire successful life based on the failure of 1st year in medical school. :eek:

BTW, "dt" has been around since 2003 with 1000+ postings, I'm sure he doesn't go to this school.:shock:

What is wrong with MBBS? Does the world (including America) not use MBBS doctors? There are hundreds of MBBS programs even on California's list of approved school. It is still equivalent. What is your next argument, women doctors teaching male anatomy?:p

Since when did the school claim NY affiliation? It is stated NY committee is coming in late Spring, and with approval, loans should follow. Where else was the school suppose to apply for accreditation and loans, the moon?

You claimed in-house grade changes. So did the registrar go change majority of the students who passed USMLE? If so, tell me where I can sign up for this...

Fake drills, no... It belongs to the doctor who is head of clinical coordination. :D

Teachers on campus issue has already been answered, why does a 6 week course require a teacher to stay a whole year... :confused:

The dean is a well respected individual with numerous accomplishments and held prominent positions in schools such as Ross. The president is a successful business man who is not in need of taking advantage of students. It does not make good business nor would it be wise for the future of his own kids. Or will the registrar be able to change the course of history for their benefit also?

Suggesting purposeful student failure is dim-witted. Tuition is higher for clinical semesters and scholarships are not applicable. Would it not make more financial sense to push students into clinicals, hoping Kaplan will make up any deficiencies?

What kind of person would claimed sexual harassment through valuemd rather than reporting it to the appropriate authorities? This claim is a serious criminal and possibly civil case which should not have been brought up in such a comical fashion.

Refund of tuition is available on a sliding scale similar to what is set up by American universities. The school does not offer a refund for failing. Besides, why pay for the second semester if the first was so discouraging? You have to do two semesters before boards, your argument (again) makes no common sense. :roll:

NBME subject boards scores are not published to everyone therefore you would not be able to know how well you did. It can be used later for placements, therefore passing someone who failed is ludicrous, and would eventually lead to failure of the USMLE and backfire for residency, which is contraindicative to what this school, faculty, and students are trying to accomplish.

There is nothing wrong with our building. It has all the necessary equipments and space needed. Check out the pictures here on IAU's album. Other schools such as SGU had to use temporary buildings, so don't expect a new building overnight when the one leased for a SET LENGTH OF TIME is sufficient. This has nothing to do the passing boards and none of us have complaints about it, other than walking up 3 flights of stairs.

School does not had out custom Bachelor's degrees, it offers a pre-med pathway through Texas A&M, one of the biggest schools in Texas.
:D
The government has been working with IAU and it is known that only our students are the ones allowed in local hospitals for observation purposes.

Yes a few failing students left, yet you are the only one making such bogus accusations (along with someone making a weak case over bugs on the island) while our students and long-time members not from our own school are bashing on you.

Maybe you should leave valuemd, since you are failing on here also.:bored:

[smals]

come on, its time to ignore iaustudent and his/her posts. It would have taken him a couple of hours to write all these, wish he had shown equal interest in his studies. Thanks for the info Amigo. good luck with your school hunt

[DOCplucinski]

come on, its time to ignore iaustudent and his/her posts. It would have taken him a couple of hours to write all these, wish he had shown equal interest in his studies. Thanks for the info Amigo. good luck with your school hunt

which one, there's like 8 of them :confused:

[DOCplucinski]

School does not had out custom Bachelor's degrees, it offers a pre-med pathway through Texas A&M, one of the biggest schools in Texas.


Correction, Texas A&M-Commerce...this is a smaller, DII school in Texas

[InterestedMedStudent]

Correction, Texas A&M-Commerce...this is a smaller, DII school in Texas

MUCH SMALLER. Who the hell even knows where Commerce is anyways?

[InterestedMedStudent]

Why can't you guys just go the traditional route, get your undergrad degree, then apply to med school? If you get in the US, great, if not, then apply to a GOOD Caribbean school. Don't sacrifice the safety of your future patients, even if you will be practicing in the North Dakota, by getting a subpar education where you are skimming by loopholes in the educational system just to become a doctor. If you can't make it the traditional way, you won't make it the bootleg way.

[Pompe]

Commerce is about an hour away from Dallas. It is out in the country like the college station campus. I don't understand why "interestedmedstudent" has continued to bash the school since 2004. All of the posts are negative. 1.) How can someone put down the school based upon the ethnicity of the administration? That is racist and unethical. 2.) Another past claim back in 2004 was that the school in only going to be listed on IMED till 2005, but the school is still on the list for 2007. 3.) There was also a statement about lack of a school and students, but now people finishing are passing step 1 and 2 with more clinical sites added. 4.) I am considering just doing the 90 hours to save time. I do agree with considering more established school when possible and following up on all information given by school officials. Normally, people listen to a rationalized individuals with a balanced view on the subject. Please provide criticism based first hand experienced and facts rather than rumors, ignorant comments, and statements based on feelings of inadequate intuition.

[IAUStudent006]

I don't understand InterestedMedStudent's logic... there are no loopholes in the education system here. We take the same USMLE's as US students, and still have to qualify and be accepted for residency programs in the US, so perhaps we lack the "prestige" of the larger Caribbean medical schools, but the path is still the same. Medicine is medicine, no matter where you learn it - its not like the information changes from school to school, you are still taught the same material. As for your comment about "sacrificing" patient safety by studying here - I'm just not going to comment on it. We all know what we are capable of doing.

[Chi]

Hello,
Heard about students doing all they can to have their grades changed continously. Crying to the Dean, by the way how many DEANs has IAU had.
And relatives of the DEAN or creator earned passing grades. All this is being said by a few students attending another credited medical school.
Your population of minority groups are there any?
How many certified US accredited teachers? What is the student/teacher ration? How many students since 2004 has taken the USMLE and passed?
All the best

[IAUStudent006]

First off, I don't know where you are getting this information - but students CANNOT and HAVE NOT had their grades changed because of any reason. As for the number of Deans, IAU has only one Dean currently (although that may change) - and students have passed through IAU that are NOT related to administration (so you're comment about relatives really has no substance to it).
You'll have to clarify what you mean by "minority" students and if the teachers are "US accredited".
As for the student teacher ratio (which is probably in the area of 3:1), it is extremely low. Now this may be because we are a new school and don't have many students, but still an ideal situation in which to learn. As for the numbers of students that have taken the USMLE, we have students that are in the process of taking it right now (or soon) so I wouldn't be able to give you proper numbers on that. Perhaps a member of the admin can help with that.

[iaustudent06]

Hello,
how many DEANs has IAU had.
Your population of minority groups are there any?
How many certified US accredited teachers? What is the student/teacher ration? How many students since 2004 has taken the USMLE and passed?
All the best



There has always been only one dean, DR. C*****N. He has been involved in other reputable medical schools and he is here to stay, especially during this time of NY accreditation for us.
One asst. dean has been let go.
Our school is majority minorities, if that makes sense!
What is an US accredited teacher? Can this be achieved through schools like Devry? "Get your US accreditation to teach in Carribean Med Schools in 3 years instead of 4!"
Student/Teacher ratio on campus is still 1.5/1.
Our school is still around 70% passing for step 1 and 100% for step 2. Good work everyone!

[Genossa maximillian]

..."All this is being said by a few students attending another credited medical school." HEARSAY.

By the way, I have heard Elvis is alive somewhere in Kentucky, all this said by a few musicians who used to play there.

Bottom line Chi, you will always hear good and bad stuff from any school from happy and not so happy students.




Hello,
Heard about students doing all they can to have their grades changed continously. Crying to the Dean, by the way how many DEANs has IAU had.
And relatives of the DEAN or creator earned passing grades. All this is being said by a few students attending another credited medical school.
Your population of minority groups are there any?
How many certified US accredited teachers? What is the student/teacher ration? How many students since 2004 has taken the USMLE and passed?
All the best

[jtu]

Flamming against the medical faculties should be edited strictly.
It is the honorable site for the students not for flam war.
An ethical committee should maintain impartiality and decency in ValueMD

[rspr41]

I agree with jtu the point of this forum is not for bashing students and schools. Realistically speaking and this goes to all Caribbean schools and US schools, you get out of them what you put into them. For example, I know students who have scored 230+ on STEP 1 coming from Caribbean schools, and who's to say that there not better then American students coming from "top tier schools". In the end no one cares where you come from its all about how you perform and whether you know your stuff.

[AUCMD2006]

I agree with jtu the point of this forum is not for bashing students and schools. Realistically speaking and this goes to all Caribbean schools and US schools, you get out of them what you put into them. For example, I know students who have scored 230+ on STEP 1 coming from Caribbean schools, and who's to say that there not better then American students coming from "top tier schools". In the end no one cares where you come from its all about how you perform and whether you know your stuff.

who is to say they aren't better? program directors who won't interview them.

not fair but it does matter where you go to school..i know imgs with 260's who still can't get interviews for surgery,,,if they went to meharry or the worse DO school they'd have a spot without trying so in a program directors view US students are better than most of us...and in the end that is who counts not your fellow students or your parents that bronze and plaque your 230's up on the wall but that program director

[rspr41]

I didn’t mean to say that Caribbean grads can achieve any specialty that they chose. Obviously that is not the case. But the majority of the specialties will ACCEPT Caribbean grads. And if there is a something that you really want to pursue there are other ways around the system by a internal medicine residency for example then going back and applying for radiology if you did not get into it the first time. Yes it’s longer and harder but if it’s what you really want then the extra year or two shouldn’t make a difference. With the exception of maybe dermatology almost any specialty is achievable.

[Drtobe?]

I didn’t mean to say that Caribbean grads can achieve any specialty that they chose. Obviously that is not the case. But the majority of the specialties will ACCEPT Caribbean grads. And if there is a something that you really want to pursue there are other ways around the system by a internal medicine residency for example then going back and applying for radiology if you did not get into it the first time. Yes it’s longer and harder but if it’s what you really want then the extra year or two shouldn’t make a difference. With the exception of maybe dermatology almost any specialty is achievable.


this is what everyone is trying to say. there will be enough trouble in the future just cuz u went to carib route. if you go to a well known carib school, you are more likely to have better chances of passing exams and residency rather than going to these no-name school where there are only 3-4 students we know abt and surprisingly all 4 students are cheerleaders.

[weimar]

Does anyone know anything about Delphil University school of Medicine. Is the accredited? They claim to be approved by the Australia government. Does approve mean accredited by the State Medical Board of Australia? Does anyone know any student that is currently with this school?


Michael

[DOCplucinski]

Does anyone know anything about Delphil University school of Medicine. Is the accredited? They claim to be approved by the Australia government. Does approve mean accredited by the State Medical Board of Australia? Does anyone know any student that is currently with this school?


Michael
search for a thread about Delphi on this site...you may want to stay away from schools like these