All Saints - Aruba

[superavacado]

THIS IS A MESSAGE TO CURRENT/FORMER STUDENTS OR GRADS WHO HAVE ATTENDED THIS SCHOOL. i ONLY WANT INFORMATION FROM THESE PPLE AND NOT PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS WHO ARE ATTENDING THERE IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

HONESTLY, HONESTLY, HONESTLY (VERY IMPORTANT TO BE HONEST) HOW IS THIS SCHOOL AND THE PROFESSORS??? HOW EASY IS IT COMPARED TO ROSS/ST.GEORGES/NEVIS TO GET A MEDICAL RESIDENCY IN THE US???? OVERALL THOUGHTS ABOUT THE PROGRAM IN ALL SAINTS???

EMAIL ME AT superavacado@hotmail.com

MUCH APPRECIATED.

[Silvi]

This school is the best.
Small classes and very good professors
Compared to the schools you mentioned, All Saints Aruba is much better as the classes are smaller there is a very good and a direct interaction with professors.

Aruba itself is also no match to the other caribbean islands, they even call it little Miami.

The clinical rotations are also better as they are much cheaper and with a lot of options in the US.

[superavacado]

Thank-you for the post.

Aruba, little miami? I have never heard that.

If it is so good, then why they don't have more students attending that college?

What is the teaching style/method of the professors there?

Thanks-you for the prompt reply.

[Silvi]

The reason you didn't hear alot about Aruba is because All Saints Aruba is only 3 year old
The schools you mentioned are much and much older anf therefore better known.
If you want to know more about the island check the different websites and all the daily flights Aruba has from all around the US, Canada and other countries

The teaching style in Aruba is the same as the others, remember all schools have the same curriculum, however the advantage that the students of All Saints Aruba have over bigger schools is because the classes are smaller and there is a very good and continous interaction with the professors.

[azskeptic]

potential students should look carefully at accreditation issues of Aruba for the schools. Who will evaluate the schools? Aruba has opted out of the Dutch system in the past. As state govts look more to accreditation who will accredit the school you plan to attend?

[sap2356]

Silvi-

i will be starting aruba in jan 2008. i have so many questions on classes. how was the anatomy class, did u get to actually dissect, i know many other schools u dont even get to look at bodies except once a week. what about housing, what places do you reccomend. if possible can you email me at sap2356@hotmail.com. i have so many questions, i ve been trying to contact pratik, dr. vijay for the last two weeks but no one is replying because of vacation i am assuming. also do you take shelf exams at the end of the semester. what about step 1 prep, how many people have passed and what were the scores. i really hope to hear from u soon.

tc
sap2356@hotmail.com
sap
305-266-3227

[Nappi]

Silvi-

i will be starting aruba in jan 2008. i have so many questions on classes. how was the anatomy class, did u get to actually dissect, i know many other schools u dont even get to look at bodies except once a week. what about housing, what places do you reccomend. if possible can you email me at sap2356@hotmail.com. i have so many questions, i ve been trying to contact pratik, dr. vijay for the last two weeks but no one is replying because of vacation i am assuming. also do you take shelf exams at the end of the semester. what about step 1 prep, how many people have passed and what were the scores. i really hope to hear from u soon.

tc
sap2356@hotmail.com
sap
305-266-3227


To Sap and Avocado and Azkeptics:

ASUM Aruba got it's charter in 2004.
At one point the school had over 120 students in Aruba doing their basic sciences.
In May 2006, another school opened on the island of Dominica bearing a very similar name ASUSM.
2 out of the 3 shareholders of ASUM Aruba were involved with ASUSM in Dominica.
Unfortunately to jump start the School in Dominica and for several other reasons, students in basic sciences in Aruba and premed were asked to continue their studies in Dominica.
In fact ASUM Aruba did not receive any new students for the May 2006, September 2006 and January 2007 semesters. The students who joined the School prior to these semesters are all in the United States or Canada doing their clinicals or preparing for Step1 or Step2.
This would answer Avocado's question on why there are so few students in basic sciences.
In May 2007 ASUM Aruba welcomed a new director/shareholder.
Several new decisions/policies were put in place:

-The head office of ASUM Aruba was moved to New Jersey.
-The campus was completely renovated
-A new administration was put in place
-The faculty was upgraded by hiring new teachers.
-The immigration problems that plagued the school in the past were resolved.
-The school had a very lavish white coat ceremony with the highest dignitaries of Aruba present.
-Creation of new clinical sites across the United States.
-New cadavers are being sent for Anatomy dissection before every semester.

Also in non administrative news, many students have passed the USMLE step1 with scores ranging from 86 to 99 percentile.
These results to the least attest to the quality of basic Science teaching in Aruba.

The School has many students doing their rotations in the U.S. some are very near graduation. With the new reforms the School is building back it's numbers in basic sciences.

Regarding accreditation, to answer Azkeptics, Aruba is not changing government, it's Curacao and St. Maarten who are leaving the Netherlands Antilles to become Autonomous.
Saba, Statia, and Bonaire are being annexed by the Netherlands.
Aruba has it's own health and education ministries and they recognize the School.
No Netherlands Antilles Island has an accreditation agency for medical education. They are all just recognized by the local government.

If you have any specific questions about ASUM Aruba, feel free to PM me.

Good Day

[pratik]

well sapneil please check you email i have answered all your questions there.I am on vacation so couldnt reply to your email and what nappi has mentioned is true.i totally agree with the post

[azskeptic]

thats my point. The other islands are joining the Dutch system. It leaves Aruba/Curacao at a disadvantage. if you go to a medical school that has that level of accreditation you'll have no problems with state accreditation issues but non-aligned islands will have increasing problems. Just something to think about as one chooses schools....who will accredit the school.

To Sap and Avocado and Azkeptics:

ASUM Aruba got it's charter in 2004.
At one point the school had over 120 students in Aruba doing their basic sciences.
In May 2006, another school opened on the island of Dominica bearing a very similar name ASUSM.
2 out of the 3 shareholders of ASUM Aruba were involved with ASUSM in Dominica.
Unfortunately to jump start the School in Dominica and for several other reasons, students in basic sciences in Aruba and premed were asked to continue their studies in Dominica.
In fact ASUM Aruba did not receive any new students for the May 2006, September 2006 and January 2007 semesters. The students who joined the School prior to these semesters are all in the United States or Canada doing their clinicals or preparing for Step1 or Step2.
This would answer Avocado's question on why there are so few students in basic sciences.
In May 2007 ASUM Aruba welcomed a new director/shareholder.
Several new decisions/policies were put in place:

-The head office of ASUM Aruba was moved to New Jersey.
-The campus was completely renovated
-A new administration was put in place
-The faculty was upgraded by hiring new teachers.
-The immigration problems that plagued the school in the past were resolved.
-The school had a very lavish white coat ceremony with the highest dignitaries of Aruba present.
-Creation of new clinical sites across the United States.
-New cadavers are being sent for Anatomy dissection before every semester.

Also in non administrative news, many students have passed the USMLE step1 with scores ranging from 86 to 99 percentile.
These results to the least attest to the quality of basic Science teaching in Aruba.

The School has many students doing their rotations in the U.S. some are very near graduation. With the new reforms the School is building back it's numbers in basic sciences.

Regarding accreditation, to answer Azkeptics, Aruba is not changing government, it's Curacao and St. Maarten who are leaving the Netherlands Antilles to become Autonomous.
Saba, Statia, and Bonaire are being annexed by the Netherlands.
Aruba has it's own health and education ministries and they recognize the School.
No Netherlands Antilles Island has an accreditation agency for medical education. They are all just recognized by the local government.

If you have any specific questions about ASUM Aruba, feel free to PM me.

Good Day

[Silvi]

As none of us know these system, i've been gathering some information from the local people who have connections to this concern.
The answer i received is very complicated however it seems that those islands that are going under Holland may will encounter problems with their medical schools as the dutch system does not recognize any foreign medical school.
As for Aruba, Curacao and St.Martin this will remain status quo for medival schools.

The most interesting question that came up thru the locals with concern to the accreditation problem was that why are all the foreign medical schools using the american curriculum and doing USMLI, isn't this because most or all students when their finished want to work in the US?
Who wants to work in one the caribbean islands like Antigua,St.Kitts, Saba, Dominica etc.?
So why are you worry about the accreditation if you have to do all USMLI's anyhow?

To tell you the truth these locals were right, we all want to practice in the US and to do this we have to sit for all the USMLI's.
Having a school accreditted by a local government will not help anyone with a free ride into the US system.

[sureshkatna@yahoo.com]

Sorry it took me so long to reply.

I respect your answer and your insight on things. I guess, just like anything else in the world, you want to go for the best and if you can't get there you settle for something a little less. What I mean is, comparing Ross & St.Georges to ASUM and Xavier. Obviously they have the same cirriculum but lets be honest, more people would rather choose to go to ross or st. georges because of their better reupuation, WHO affiliation, professors, teachings, ect. rather than go to asum or xavier.

I'm sure aruba and xavier are good schools, i would just rather go to ross or st. georges.

I have even heard the pre-med programs in ross/st.georges are far more superior to those in Xavier/Aruba so I can only imagine what the medical courses are like in Xavier/Aruba.

Just my thought on things.