Going to Saba!?

[drdempsey]

Hi all,

Wanted some opinions on going to Saba. I am a 42 yr old Chiropractor, married and have a 7 yr old daughter. I haven't taken the MCATs yet, don't know if I need them for Saba. Has any other families gone to Saba? What's it like? Are you gone a lot from your kids? Do you have to travel a lot for your residencies? Do you find other Doc's don't value you as a "real" doctor? Any feedback would be greatly apprecieted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Tellingitlikeitis]

well, I think you will be viewed as more of a doctor than a chiropractor is

[jameslynton]

Over the age of 28 - you will have very slim chances of getting into Saba. Saba is a bit wishy washy on the MCAT. Do a very good prep course (do your research) - attempt to get into another school with higher volume than Saba - just my suggestion. Saba has limited room for student family's as do most of the NA Islands except for St Martin. I suggest you look up the posts by drjohnwebb maybe PM - his background and choices may mirror your own. I also strongly suggest you visit the islands and the schools - It will save you tons of heartache and a boat load of trouble.

[Tellingitlikeitis]

that is totally not true. There are plenty of students on saba older than 28. They get in, thye just generally dont make it. Older people cant really learn new material!!!
Hahahaha

[covarubious]

uhm... old geezer of 32 here, top of my class in undergrad, spend most of my time tutoring the youngins! Ageist I say! Ageist! Excuse while I go back out the porch to sit in my rocker and whittle... ;)

[darkmansaad]

as a rule, older students with families tend to struggle a little bit which is understandable. i dont have a kid or wife to worry about when i go home, just schoolwork and then whatever poor decisions i make that night at lollipops. that is probably the biggest reason id say, but most seem to do alright, at least the ones not wearing massive hawaiian shirts (inside joke)

[Reactant]

From my experience of working with mature students in undergrad is I found them very mature and focused on their task at hand. they understand they dont have much time to study as the rest of us as they have other priorities of taking care of the family. Over the years, majority of them have developed stellar time management skills, and often more than not, do better than the youngsters in class.

When I see a mature student in class, i take extra notice to what they have to say.

[Boulderunner]

we had three or four students that were older in our class. one failed and left. one failed and is in a different semester and one is doing alright. I wouldnt stereotype but I think a lot of the younger students just are more resilient. they can push themselves alot harder then a lot of the older folks. Everybody has "great time management skills"(which means that all we do is study), so I dont think that really matters. as our pharm teacher tells us. this is not a battle of the whits . it is survival of the fittest.

[KarmaInsight]

we had three or four students that were older in our class. one failed and left. one failed and is in a different semester and one is doing alright. I wouldnt stereotype but I think a lot of the younger students just are more resilient. they can push themselves alot harder then a lot of the older folks. Everybody has "great time management skills"(which means that all we do is study), so I dont think that really matters. as our pharm teacher tells us. this is not a battle of the whits . it is survival of the fittest.
Older students generally don't seem to have the "fire" that younger students have, nor the memory skills that you really need to do well at Saba.

[covarubious]

Older students generally don't seem to have the "fire" that younger students have, nor the memory skills that you really need to do well at Saba.
lol ok, so how old are we talkin here? I'm sure there aren't many geriatrics heading off to med schools! From the way this discussion is going it might be a good idea to retire from medicine in your 30's or 40's cause your just too old to cut it. lol

[js_paramedic_1979]

My class started with 5 chiropractors in Jan '05. Their ages varied, all were >30 and <45. When we finished on Saba in Aug '06, 4 of the 5 were still in our class. One student had opted to take a semester off, but they all did totally fine with the coursework. The one difference though is that all of them attended Saba with their families back in their home country. This is not to say that it would be impossible to do it with family on the island.

[aspiringmedstudent]

This is a LOAD.

"Older" students do just fine at Saba. There are always people in every semester that either leave or get held back. I think it's possible that the older students may be pegged more easily than everyone else because of the very stereotype this post is creating.

In my experience here (5th semester now) - there have been handfuls of "older students" from each 5th semester class - between 30-50 years old - that have finished and are doing very well in their clinicals.

If anything, I think that Saba looks very closely at these applicants. Let's face it - if you're in your 30's, 40's and 50's trying to go to medical school - you REALLY want to be a doctor - and they know that.

[Boulderunner]

just out of curiosity, is being a chiropractor THAT bad? Is it say, bad enough to go 200k into debt, and spend the next five years wishing you were dead from the stress.

[Moldovanits]

just out of curiosity, is being a chiropractor THAT bad? Is it say, bad enough to go 200k into debt, and spend the next five years wishing you were dead from the stress.


Im doing my undergrad at Cleveland chiro in human biology. And i see students graduating with their dc degrees and only making 45k a year. when they have debts with over 150k. Its a saturated field. And unless you got the business entrepreneurship to start your own clinic its pretty hard to make it. Even insurance companies are not paying much.At the moment people at my school are getting out and going the md route.
My point is its hard to be a Dc today unless you got what it takes.

[Gigi25]

This is a LOAD.

"Older" students do just fine at Saba. There are always people in every semester that either leave or get held back. I think it's possible that the older students may be pegged more easily than everyone else because of the very stereotype this post is creating.

In my experience here (5th semester now) - there have been handfuls of "older students" from each 5th semester class - between 30-50 years old - that have finished and are doing very well in their clinicals.

If anything, I think that Saba looks very closely at these applicants. Let's face it - if you're in your 30's, 40's and 50's trying to go to medical school - you REALLY want to be a doctor - and they know that.

I have to agree 100%, what does age have to do with anything??? Actually, I bet the older students do even better than the younger ones because they don't kill as many brain cells getting tanked at Swinging Doors LOL

:drinkbud:

[Boulderunner]

Im not trying to offend anyone or dissuade anyone. I just call it like I see it. We had one guy over 50 in our class, and he didnt make it past first. He said himself that he just felt exhausted trying to stay up till the wee hours of the night trying to study. We had another guy over 40 who didnt make it past second without failing. And then let us not forget old hawaiian shirt guy, who was on the 8 year plan. and we had another girl in our class who was in her thirties who failed out in first as well. And overall, when you look at the people who are at the top of the class, NONE of them are over thirty. Am I saying that its impossible if you are one of the older group. not at all, hey im 28. But I wouldnt say that being older is going to give you somne kind of edge becuase your more mature. like I said before, the 20 months on the rock are more a battle of physical attrition then they are about intelligence. and also i think that there are quite a few people who come down in their thirties, when you start seeing people in their forties, the number of people in that age group dwindle. and think about if you were forty five when you start. that means that you will be fifty when you start your residency. and from what ive heard the PGY1 years you get put through the ringer. I def would not want to be fifty going in to the first year of my res.

[Tellingitlikeitis]

finally, an honest response

[JLea]

We had another guy over 40 who didnt make it past second without failing.

Since I am the guy to whom you refer, I am uniquely qualified to state that you are dead wrong, BR. I went home with seven kidney stones, was treated, came back and finished second semester. My cumulative GPA is 3.54. That sir, is not failing.

There are some of us over 40 who can and are hacking it.

The bigger issue here is that the Saba rumour mill keeps turning and we keep feeding it.

[darkmansaad]

this thread is like the episode of south park where they tried to take the drivers licenses away from old people. i am laughing equally as hard at both that episode and the people in this thread actually getting defensive.

ps = older students CAN and actually do SUCCEED. im just laughing at the herbs getting worked up on an internet thread. cmon you are probably older than the internet are you really trying to win some sort of intellectual battle on it?? (another joke, please dont get offended)

[Tellingitlikeitis]

Its fun getting people worked up here. They are as ridiculous here as they were on the island

[JLea]

cmon you are probably older than the internet are you really trying to win some sort of intellectual battle on it?? (another joke, please dont get offended)

Umm, what exactly is the Internet? I'm so old I have forgotten.

And I will take my battles wherever I so please... (that sir, was a joke as well)