Ross Vs SABA whats the better choice for getting Canadian Residency ?

[NikolaTesla]

Im currently in the process of applying to SABA and Ross.
I have a close friend from undergrad going to Ross who raves about the school, and says alot of positive things. However, I am a Canadian who is currently finishing a masters degree in clinical pathology, and Im very much hoping to come back to Canada for residency ( in family med, Internal Med, maybe others). Anyway, Ive been reading on the residency matches on Saba that there are quite a few Canadians that have matched in Canada in 2007 and 2008. Also I notice that some of the students here have been saying that Saba has a good reputation in Canadian Residencies... and that 45% of the student population of SABA is Canadians. Ive looked up the residency matches for Ross and almost all are in the states.. with the exception of 2 or so being in Canada for 2007/08. Im wondering if anyone here can give me an unbiased answer in terms of which of the 2 schools would give me a better shot of coming back to Canada? Ive spoken with the Admissions people in both schools and they both have given me excellent responses interms of my chances for acceptance. Can anyone give me any good, unbaised advice as to which school would be better ? or if they are even both equally good.
Thanks alot.
-Canadian Clinical Scientist

[mario345]

proportion wise, saba matches more canadians than any caribbean school. so yah, if your goal is to come back to canada, definitely pick saba over ross.

[NikolaTesla]

Yes I agree with you there... but that also could be explained by the fact that 45% of the student body in Saba is Canadian.. where as from what Ive been told by numerous sources that Ross student body is composed of roughly 4 - 5 % Canadian.. which is dramatically lower.. which would obviously explain the higher proportion of people from Saba coming back from Canada

[mario345]

...are you sure that ross is only 4-5% canadian?
gotta be more than that.

[NikolaTesla]

My close friend who is attending Ross, and the Ross website both confirm that the population of Ross is 90% or more US students.

[gianefiasco]

WEll I dunno abotu Ross butSABA definately has about half the class from Canada and the ratio is increasing every year.

A ton of people in my class are doing almsot all there rotations in Canada and plan to do their Residencies there so it is definately possible with hard work.

[NikolaTesla]

So it is possible to do many of your rotations in Canada ?
But wouldnt that be a bad idea in case you plan on applying for American Residences as well as a back up ? If you do your elective rotations in Canada then will they still count if you submit your applications for American residences ?
I am strongly considering doing the majority of my elective rotations in Canada, since I am doing a Masters in Pathology at Western's Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, I know every single prof in the department, and many many more of the profs in other departments in the University Hospital, so Im considering asking them to preferentially give me spots for my rotations, and possibly my residencies in Western.
I dunno if Im completely out of my gourd or if any of the aforementioned plans would even possible.

[CANKID]

I know AUC is ~4-5% Canadians, and Ross' website says 5%.
Don't forget the class size at Ross. They accept 350 people. 5% of 350 is ~18 people. Saba accepts ~75. 50% of 75 is ~38. So, even though the overall amount of Canadians at Ross appears low it actually isn't as low as it seems. In conclusion, Saba has ~twice the amount of Canadians, but their Canadian Residency placements far exceeds that of Ross' (much more than twice the amount).

[NikolaTesla]

I dont know what to do... This is proving to be a considerable moral dilemma... I have checked the stats of both schools..
Ross is older, more established... more expensive.... has what appear to be much nicer facilities than Saba... larger class sizes... apparently a higher attrition rate and alot more American students....

Saba was my number 1 choice... and it appeared to be the more Canadian Friendly University... but Ive been hearing great things from people at Ross... and I dont know which school to persue...
They are both good and bad in their own ways...

[CANKID]

Thank you :)

I think if I went to Ross I wouldn't try to get back to Canada either, considering the cost of going there! I would stay in the U.S and make more money to pay off school loans, then TRY to get back to Canada.

[medicboy]

I agreeeee!

[woods]

Is Ross still having issues with getting their students into clinical positions?
That would be something to consider.
I'm a Canadian and want to come back to Canada. I chose Saba because their students have been very successful in getting back to Canada and Saba has a good reputation within the medical community here.
So when I factored in the other pros such as low tuition cost, small classes, safe island and great testimonials from students I knew it was the best choice for me.

[mario345]

I dont know what to do... This is proving to be a considerable moral dilemma... I have checked the stats of both schools..
Ross is older, more established... more expensive.... has what appear to be much nicer facilities than Saba... larger class sizes... apparently a higher attrition rate and alot more American students....

Saba was my number 1 choice... and it appeared to be the more Canadian Friendly University... but Ive been hearing great things from people at Ross... and I dont know which school to persue...
They are both good and bad in their own ways...
what about safety?

[atropine]

There probably is a bias because of the percentage of Saba which is populated by Canadian citizens. However, that same factor means that Canadian residencies will be most familiar with Saba, so you will not just be attending "one of those Caribbean schools" necessarily. At least I hope so! ;)

[ttwl]

Doing some electives in UWO.. and almost all the attendings i met know about Saba or to the least heard about it. From what i understand.. saba is much more popular in the maritimes though.. they probably all heard about it.. i guess its a smaller community...