UJ vs SGU

[Protoman2050]

Which medical school is more respected in the US when applying for internal medicine residency, Jagiellonian University Medical College, or St George's University School of Medicine?

Jagiellonian is cheaper then SGU, and is in a nicer area, but your clinicals in SGU are done in the US, and you don't have to learn Polish.

[Trillium]

Do people really go to these schools and learn a new language while learning medicine. It seems impossible.

[Protoman2050]

Do people really go to these schools and learn a new language while learning medicine. It seems impossible.

Well, yes, but the attendings can translate for you. So you don't have to be fluent. Just pass the courses.

[Dave_MD]

as long as your school isn't in the continental USA it really doesn't matter which school you go to. both schools have good match rates. SGU posts theirs, Jag does not. However I can say I know graduates from Jag that have matched into specialties such as Neurology, Cardiology, Orthopedic Surgery and Psychiatry. It is not so much which school you go to, rather it is your USMLE Step 1 Score, clerkship experience and reference letters that will determine how well you stand in the Match.

Also Jag allows for clinical rotations in the USA as well at well respected institutions (UCLA and Rochester for example).

and regarding the Polish course...it's not like you need to learn the language inside and out, just some things that make life in Krakow and in the hospital easier. Also a good chunk of the class has some polish heritage so that helps too i guess.

also think about class size. my class is 30 people. SGU's MS1 class is 550.

and grenada is third world (sorry to anyone from SGU) compared to krakow. and ive been to grenada a few times, so i'm not talking out my *** here either.

my 2 cents, take it for what it's worth...but i'm glad i came to jag.

[devildoc8404]

FWIW, I'd choose Jag.

But then, I came to Europe (albeit not Krakow) and my opinion is not exactly impartial.

[Trillium]

Oh, I see, so all classes are taught in english.

[devildoc8404]

In the English programs in E-Eu, the classroom courses are in English (except for the language classes, of course). By the time you get to clinicals you should speak enough general medical Language-X that you can understand what is going on, but the attendings speak English to help you understand if needed.

[finishingfifth]

Anyone who chooses a polish school over SGU hasent done enough research. SGU is a better academic institution. I have rotated with grads of JU, they talk about the rampant cheating, the many students who cant pass the USMLE, rotations only available in lousy hospitals, etc. The polish school cater to the indian community, advertising heavily in ethnic newspapers to people who dont know any better, but are dying for their kid to be a doctor. Please, for your own sake, go to SGU. Better grads, in better residencies, waaaay more respect. Ross, SGU, Saba, and AUC are all infinitely better choices. Not to mention that polish schools have licensing issues with some states. If you dont believe me, I encourage you to do your due dilligence and find out for yourself.

[KluverB]

Anyone who chooses a polish school over SGU hasent done enough research. SGU is a better academic institution. I have rotated with grads of JU, they talk about the rampant cheating, the many students who cant pass the USMLE, rotations only available in lousy hospitals, etc. The polish school cater to the indian community, advertising heavily in ethnic newspapers to people who dont know any better, but are dying for their kid to be a doctor. Please, for your own sake, go to SGU. Better grads, in better residencies, waaaay more respect. Ross, SGU, Saba, and AUC are all infinitely better choices. Not to mention that polish schools have licensing issues with some states. If you dont believe me, I encourage you to do your due dilligence and find out for yourself.

Just as every Carib school is not created equal, neither are the English programs at the numerous Polish schools. Same goes for "licensing issues", or lack thereof. So yes, do your due diligence. Personally, I would not go the Carib route. YMMV.

Btw, what's wrong with Indians? Though, as an aside, they don't tend to end up at Jag.

[bigndude]

finishingfifth, are UCLA and Rochester lousy hospitals to rotate in? I think your thinking about the other Polish programs which go through agents, charge a lot of money, and makes lots and lots of promises. JU is an extremely old University, one of the oldest in the world, extremely well respected, it is considered the Harvard of Poland. Most of our professors are also well known and respected. You know Wojciech Pawlina who co-wrote the Histo book most people in the U.S. aka (Ross Histo) well, our professor, was his professor, and Pawlina finished JU. Albeit the Polish program, but we still share the same professor/professors and for Histo he is quite good. Also, I really don't see how cheating is rampant in the 4 year program at JU. At other schools maybe, here, I haven't heard about it. And from what I know from other people in the higher years in the program, people have not had any problems passing the USMLE and most have not only passed but done quite well.

[Dave_MD]

another fun fact about Jag alumni....

the person who invented the color system in anatomy atlases of labeling arteries red, veins blue, nerves yellow and lymph vessels green was a Jag MD graduate. and yes, to reiterate bigndude's words, the co author of the most prominent histology book in use in medicine today also went here.

i'm not sure what you mean when you say "rampant cheating" so i'll leave that one alone.

also, out of 30 people in our class, we have one guy with indian heritage...who is actually quite canadian. so you do the math there.

Jag is not like other polish med schools. so please do not generalize the shortcomings of other polish schools to Jag because frankly it's embarrassing and in poor taste.

[devildoc8404]

Anyone who chooses a polish school over SGU hasent done enough research. SGU is a better academic institution. I have rotated with grads of JU, they talk about the rampant cheating, the many students who cant pass the USMLE, rotations only available in lousy hospitals, etc. The polish school cater to the indian community, advertising heavily in ethnic newspapers to people who dont know any better, but are dying for their kid to be a doctor. Please, for your own sake, go to SGU. Better grads, in better residencies, waaaay more respect. Ross, SGU, Saba, and AUC are all infinitely better choices. Not to mention that polish schools have licensing issues with some states. If you dont believe me, I encourage you to do your due dilligence and find out for yourself.

Puh-LEASE. The head of Public Health for the European Union spoke at our medical school a few months ago, and he is an MD from Jag. Yeah, must be quite a crappy school, huh?

Painting Jagiellonian with the same brush as every Eastern European (or Polish) school is akin to saying that Saint George's is just like every Carib school. All it does is show how little one knows about the subject.

Jag has a long and distinguished track record, excellent US academic relationships, and appears to do just fine when it counts... at the match.

I do encourage due diligence on the part of the OP, and s/he will readily discover that finishingfifth's opinion moves into last place on this particular issue.

[ginlolay]

"Puh-LEASE. The head of Public Health for the European Union spoke at our medical school a few months ago, and he is an MD from Jag. Yeah, must be quite a crappy school, huh?"

It is called affirmative action.

"Painting Jagiellonian with the same brush as every Eastern European (or Polish) school is akin to saying that Saint George's is just like every Carib school. All it does is show how little one knows about the subject".

The pot is calling the kettle black.

[devildoc8404]

It is called affirmative action.

Mmmm-kay, if you say so. For the record, though, they could have chosen a guy from any other school in Poland, not to mention the entire Eastern (or Western) EU, and they picked a Jag grad.

The guy's actually pretty impressive. But then, I'm sure you know that.

The pot is calling the kettle black.

Huh? Re-read my post. That's exactly what I was saying. One can't say Jag is like every other med school in E-Eu/Poland any more than one can say SGU is like every other med school in the Carib...

[finishingfifth]

If you want to work in europe, I would encourage you to go to JU. However, the OP asked about IM residency in the US. Btw, one can rotate at UCLA and UR as a student at any school, they are fourth year electives that are open to any good applicant. Look at the US match list for top carib schools vs. Polish schools. The story is self evident. I am not saying that JU is an inferior school, but for the purpose of getting a US residency SGU is superior, no matter how impressive the histo department is....

[bigndude]

If you haven't seen the match list of JU don't comment on it. SGU posts theirs, Jag doesn't. But, look at where people are and you'll see they go to good places, and get the residencies they want. I know of one grad working at Yale now, I know of one grad who just finished a plastics residency (he came here to speak last year), I know of another in gas and the list goes on. And what we said about the hist dept has was just a Tidbit about the school. Other famous profs and doctors from Jag are also out there and known. Look up some certain anatomical names, then look at where the person was a professor, you'll see quite a few were from Jag. As I said its a unversity thats been open from the 14th century, one of the oldest, and most prestigious in Europe, not an MD mill on an Island, from the last 50 years.