The Embryo/Histo Prof. at SMU (My Experience!)

[ER Doc]

The Embryo/Histo Prof. has got to go!!

He is the worst professor that I have ever encountered in my educational experience. It is quite disappointing to be paying so much money for a Medical Education and getting someone like this. He is in fact very knowledgeable in the area he teaches, however, lacks the ability to relay the information in a proper/legible/and understandable manner to students.

His exams are frankly ridiculous! They are very poorly written, have numerous errors and typos, confusing, and often times misleading. He can care less whether you are actually learning the material. Seems as though he is not on your side, but against you. The exam averages are usually low (mid 60%), which directly reflects his lackluster performance and inability to teach. His inability to teach is directly affecting our ability to learn! He refuses to answer any questions during examinations.

He has previously taught at several other Medical Schools. While at SMU, he has had numerous complaints about him by students concerned with the quality of education they were receiving in Embryo/Histo. He should be teaching at Windsor, St. James, or some of the lower tier schools. You can't park a Pinto in a Beverly Hills Mansion!

Prof's should nourish and motivate their students to do the best they can and making their learning an enjoyable and educational experience. This is completely lacking with him.

I hope SMU will take all these complaints and nagging students into consideration and provide us with a different and more qualified Embryo/Histo Prof.

I encourage any other SMU students taking, or who have taken, Embryo/Histo to post their experiences with this individual.

Again, these are my personal views of the Embryo/Histo prof (although there are numerous others that share these feelings). I do not represent SMU in any way. I am just a disappointed and dissatisified student. I am not lodging a personal attack on him. I am just making aware his inability to teach and the many difficulties I have encountered with his classes. SMU is a great school, hence the reason I am attending. This is the only problem I have encountered. The rest of my experience has been phenomenal. I encourage anyone interested to apply to SMU and become part of a growing Med School!

[MDTOB]

ER Doc,

I too have had very similar experiences in dealing with this prof. He is a very difficult and close-minded person.

It's a terrible reality that something like this could actually keep you from achieving your dream of becoming an MD!

We can only wish for the best!

Good posting!

[jguru2]

is not good...I hope that Dr. Heller or Mr. Yates could communicate this with admin...This is the type of news that turns newbies off...it does not matter if you have 99 good profs out of a hundred...people will see that one bad 'one'.

[SMU_Information]

We absolutely want the students to express any concerns they might have with any part of SMU. The admin of SMU is always paying attention to what is said here and on the official forums.

jguru2 is also correct in his observation that we as people always tend to focus on the negative. I would like to thank ER Doc for adding that he has had an otherwise good experience at SMU, as MDTOB has also stated in the past.

Thank you for your honesty.

[ER Doc]

I always hope that the Administration listens to the student body. I'd like to believe this, however, by keeping a prof (that has had numerous complaints about his teaching, etc.) for 4 semesters at SMU has proved that this has fallen on deaf ears.

I only hope that he can better himself for the benefit of all of us future docs. It's quite difficult to do well and perform at your best when put in a situation like this.

He must realize that there is a reason that the class average on his exams is substantially low, and adjust his teaching skills accordingly.

[ranvier]

I too have had experiance taking this professor. The tests can be horrible, but that is not my greatest concern. I think I could deal with the tests and even the instruction if I was actually being treated like a medical student and not an undergrad. THE TEACHING IS NOT CLINICALLY ORIENTED AT ALL. We have to teach ourselves the clinical aspects for the shelf and the boards and more importantly, our futures as good physicians. If maybe it was suggested that the clinical side of these classes be brought out more...........I mean we are medical students. I have a degree in Bio, and I'm taking the same classes I took in undergrad. Don't confuse, :wink: Im not talking about difficulty levels here, what I am saying is that we need to know what diseases arise from certain tissues, for example, and things more geared toward passing boards and becoming good doctors. Sorry for repeating myself here but......im to lazy to backspace now. Is this clear? :)

[STOPWHINING]

Er Doc,
you make good points, but you fail to see one major issue - YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH IT!!! there is simply nothing that you can do...ranting and raving on a St Matts forum will change absolutely nothing...perhaps you should have talked to a HOD or someone other upper faculty rather then complained here and make St Matts look bad.

As a 1st semester, surely you realize that when undergrads are looking on these sites the good in each school rarely means much, but the bads will cause for skewed judgement. Though I do agree that the professor in question is definitely difficult to deal with, dont put him on blast for everyone to see when the vast majority of people who read this post will only see that there are bad professors at St Matts at will be pulled away from this school. There are so many positives about St Matts...i cant even begin to list them all, but there is no other international school that i would rather be at.

Lastly - you are beginning your medical school journey. if you think that there arent going to be other professors, or clinical supervisors or residency directors or bosses that give you the same problems that this professor apparently gives you, then you need a reality check because life isnt always the way that we want it. you need to simply either roll with the punches or drop the class and re-enroll when you are ready for it. sorry to be so direct, but you are not helping people with this post you are simply damaging the schools view in outside people's minds. please keep your comments to yourself, these posts are meant to help people make the decision on where to begin the rest of their lives...please dont post your opinions on professors that no one except students have heard of.

[jgilbert63]

Stop Whining,

I respectfully disagree with your statement that negative posts will skew the decision making processes of potential students. I'm intelligent enough to realize that one bad professor does not negate all the good aspects of SMU. I simply use this information as one data point in the overall due diligence process of vetting this school. Give me credit having enough sense to not be a sheep and blindly follow the herd.

I do cede your point that students will have to deal with crappy professors and situations beyond their control. That's the real world. If any potential student thinks medical school (whether it be SMU, SGU, AUC, Ross, etc), residency, or private practice will be devoid of incompetent co-workers/superiors, you had best readjust your site picture and expectations. I do think, however, that shining the light on a problem is value-added and may likely serve as the impetus for getting the problem corrected. Bad news does not get better with age.

As a student considering SMU, I want to know both SMU's good and bad points. I can only make informed decisions if I have as many facts at my disposal as humanly possible.

Best Regards,

jgilbert63

[AmericanIMG]

stop whining does make a point though in that the poster says that proper channels need to be maintained for criticism to be constructive and not just troublesome. there is a maintained order of command that needs to be followed...i honestly cant think of any good that putting a teacher on blast on a ValueMD forum can bring.
As for views being skewed, jgilbert63, you are obviously not one of the "sheep" as you say, but unfortunately many people that are doing research on medical schools in the Caribbean look to ValueMD for their information...hopefully most will be looking for into depth and will not take into account somones random ranting.
As for SMUs good and bad points i know of many many good points and very few (if any) bad points...feel free to PM me if you have any questions
goodluck!!! :wink:

[ER Doc]

JP,

If there are so many complaints, issues, and concerns with this Prof., why does SMU continue to employ him?

Obviously, the other Medical Schools that he taught at didn't keep him around for long, as is the reason he ended up at SMU.

I don't understand why SMU is holding on to him?

As SMU grows and becomes increasingly more competitive, not only must it weed out inelligible applicants, but Professors as well!!!!

As a school official, I'm sure you can shed some light on this concern shared by many of us here at SMU!

Thanks in advance.

[SMU_Information]

AmericanIMG makes an excellent point that there are proper ways to go about these things. While I am not faulting you for venting your feelings about the class, I will not be discussing anything relating to this on ValueMD.

The admin has looked at a copy of your post, and is aware of your concerns. You might also want to consider speaking with Dr. Heller, as he is the Dean of Student Affairs. You may PM his ValueMD address if you would like to keep your identity confidential.

You can of course, always contact me, although in this matter I've pretty much said all that can be said.

Have a good one.

[ranvier]

I just thought i would respond to all this stuff since I put my 2 cents in earlier. St. Matthews is by far the best school in the carribean in my opinion. I furthermore do not think, using common sense, that anyone would decide to not attend St. Matthews because of a negative comment about a single professor. The teaching here is generally good and as stopwhining explained, you are going to have good and bad professors and/or bosses throughout life. I think most of us as medical students are all adults with undergrad degrees and realize this fact. It is not enlightenment for most and to simply state the fact is not helping the situation either. ErDocs post was an obvious vent of frustration and is understandable from time to time. This is a free voice forum and it should remain as such,...............to certain degrees if relavenance is observed. Medical school can be frustrating and stressful. I think the main point here is that students invest a lot into their education and they want to get a lot out of it. I will end by simply restating for any unattending students that SMU is top choice for foreign, and I dare to say, domestic US education. If your confident in yourself to do great on the boards, what other chance in your young life will you have to come to a beautiful tropical island for two years. The education is great, the staff is great, and it is all around an awesome adventure.

[ontherock]

Wow, wow, wow… where is one even to begin replying to some of these ridiculous remarks. Does this ‘ERDoc’ actually think that on his/her journey to become a doctor, everything is always going to be peachy? Let me tell you something, the road you must travel to be a physician is not always straight and smooth. It can be very bumpy and full of twists and turns and unexpected roadblocks. If it were such an easy path, you and I would be in a U.S. school (am I right?). And about some of your comments, there is NO teacher on the face of the earth that “can care less whether you are actually learning the material”. If they didn't care, they wouldn't have gotten into the profession. Have you ever bothered to talk to the instructor? I HIGHLY doubt it. People are so quick to judge. He is one of the kindest individuals I’ve EVER met. Hey, there have been instances where if I have a question and go talk to him, he’ll spend an hour or more just making sure I understand the material. How many profs do you know that will do that? And you think that the class averages are so low on the tests…. HAH!!.... Wait until you get to Physiology where the averages are 40’s and 50’s. I bet you’ll be on the forum whining up a storm about that prof. You won’t know where to begin. You’re the pinto in his class (the mansion). He’s a remarkable individual. You’ll thank him one day for making you study so hard. Yes, his tests are challenging, but not tricky, and definitely not impossible. If you read and know the material, come test time there will be no misleading questions, no tricks. That's some free advice for any class you ever take. Do you want him to just tell you what will be on the exam? How would you ever pass your boards that way? ‘StopWhining’, thank you for trying to knock some reality into their lives (I hope it worked). And for any prospective student out there reading this, ever heard the saying that 5% of the people have 95% of the complaints? This is one of those cases. I can say that SMU is a great school on a beautiful island full of excellent professors and very intelligent students. Come for a visit, you’ll see.

[ER Doc]

The Embryo/Histo Prof is the BEST!

8 out of 70 passed the last Embryology Test! (11%)

13 out of 70 passed the last Histology Lab Test! (19%)

Great teaching = Great Results!

With these results, how could they possilbly get rid of him!!!!!

[hope2bdoc]

ER doc,

Can you please post some more information regarding class performance, in various subjects if possible. Is SMU on a curve? Is a curve implemented on class by class basis? Is there a certain minimum grade that should be attained in various courses to remain competitive for a decent FP residency (in terms of location and reputation), or is it mostly step scores. What format are the tests? Do they have a note service? Is the attendance rule really enforced? (I tend to study on my own and usually just daydream thru class, though i almost always take excellent notes, it's a robotic thing, hard to explain)

Finally, though there is certainly no reason to think of such things at the start of such an adventure but your histo example has put me on alert, what if one fails a course like for example, anatomy? do you then just repeat that course along with the subsequent ones in second semester or are you held back until finishing that.

Thanks in advance.