which dorm to choose?

[gianefiasco]

I am starting in may at SABA and am wondering which dorm to choose and whether or not I should get a single or a double?

[bigkap87]

Choose hillside if you can afford it.

[BTH]

Salutations "gianefiasco":

First of all, you have to ask yourself if you want your own room or not. And if you do, then you should get Hillside since a single at Matthews is pretty expensive. If you don't mind sharing a room with someone and want to save some money, then get Matthews. Of course, Hillside has much nicer rooms but hey, it's only for 4 months. Good luck. Ciao.

[gianefiasco]

Salutations "gianefiasco":

First of all, you have to ask yourself if you want your own room or not. And if you do, then you should get Hillside since a single at Matthews is pretty expensive. If you don't mind sharing a room with someone and want to save some money, then get Matthews. Of course, Hillside has much nicer rooms but hey, it's only for 4 months. Good luck. Ciao.

So is hillside THAT much nicer then mathews?

[bigkap87]

So is hillside THAT much nicer then mathews?

ummm... yeah :)

[islandhopper]

So is hillside THAT much nicer then mathews?

Let me put it this way, if you don't mind live above a graveyard with no privacy (where Matthew dorm used to be I was told), occasional theft (couple of people lived there from my class have had problems of theft), bad *** attitude from the landlord (he can be difficult) and sky-rocketed laundary bill (yes, they charge you way more than the Hillside dorm; even water, so they said it costs extra to heat up the water) than Matthews is the way to go -- I personally will run to the other way as fast as I could knowing that Hillside is a much better option, aside from the fact that it is more expensive..

[psychMajor]

how much is hillside for single and double?

[islandhopper]

how much is hillside for single and double?

I don't think there are doubles in Hillside. When I started my first term, it was $2400 USD for the entire term..I heard they raised an extra 600 USD this term...I will suggest you to call Gardner to find out the actual rates..

[psychMajor]

i know its not the right thread...

...is it wise to choose Saba over SGU?...its a big dilemma for me

[islandhopper]

i know its not the right thread...

...is it wise to choose Saba over SGU?...its a big dilemma for me
I think the answer really depends on you...I switched to Sgu because of its better clinicals -- save the hassels of doing all green-booked rotations at multiple sites...Saba offers decent education as far as passing the USMLE goes and frankly, lots folks go to Saba because of its affordable tuition...I personally cares more for the amount of time and money spend, am I to be able to practice where I want to practice?..Because after all, Sgu is the most established offshore med school. Although Saba is on the right track but for me, I just didn't want to take any chances -- others may disagree with me, but I think it is a judgement call...

[psychMajor]

I think the answer really depends on yourself...I decided to go to Sgu because of its better clinicals -- save the hassels of doing all green-booked rotations at multiple sites...Saba offers decent education as far as passing the USMLE goes and frankly, lots folks go to Saba because of its affordable tuition...I personally cares more for the amount of time and money spend, am I to be able to practice where I want to practice..Because after all, Sgu is the most established offshore med school. Saba is on the right track but for me, I just didn't want to take chances -- others may disagree with me, but I think it is a judgement call...

what is green-booked rotations ?....so at sgu...you stay at one hospital the whole clinical period...but saba you keep changing?

[islandhopper]

what is green-booked rotations ?....so at sgu...you stay at one hospital the whole clinical period...but saba you keep changing?

PM me if you have any questions regarding to Sgu and Saba as well as the clinical rotations. I think this is a thread about which dorm to choose from -- Matthews or Hillside. This is kind of off topic:)

[rdecastro]

what is green-booked rotations ?....so at sgu...you stay at one hospital the whole clinical period...but saba you keep changing?

It is possible to do all your clinicals at 1 location (not necessarily 1 hospital) from Saba, it depends on what your scores are, if you have a family, and what electives you want to do.

Greenbook rotations are those approved by the ACGME.

[islandhopper]

It is possible to do all your clinicals at 1 location (not necessarily 1 hospital) from Saba, it depends on what your scores are, if you have a family, and what electives you want to do
Yes, but to do all green-booked rotations, people very often have to wait for their terms because there are simply not enough green-booked spots available for eveyone who is interested from Saba. I have even heard horror stories of delaying one year to graduate because of it -- though it might be an extreme case. But the point is, doing all green-booked rotations from Saba is definitely more hassel than other established Caribbean schools.

[rdecastro]

Yes, but to do all green-booked rotations, people very often have to wait for their terms because there are simply not enough green-booked spots available for eveyone who is interested from Saba. I have even heard horror stories of delaying one year to graduate because of it -- though it might be an extreme case. But the point is, doing all green-booked rotations from Saba is definitely more hassel than other established Caribbean schools.

Yes, but it's getting better. And travel is broadening - I'd rather have a good clinical experience than stay in one location.

After all, it's possible to travel all across the country, practicing in a variety of neighborhoods, hospitals and states. Thats also good experience for deciding where to try and match in residency.

Of course, travel might be difficult for those with families - which is why family status is one of the criteria currently used to determine who gets the single-location clinicals.

[islandhopper]

Yes, but it's getting better. And travel is broadening - I'd rather have a good clinical experience than stay in one location.

After all, it's possible to travel all across the country, practicing in a variety of neighborhoods, hospitals and states. Thats also good experience for deciding where to try and match in residency
Yes, there are people who have done it, but the general consensus was that it is much hassel to move around once every few weeks, scramble to fill in the electives between cores in order to save time, and not to mention having to worry about finding a suitable housing everytime you move. Though some people thought it was a great experience to see different neighborhoods, hospitals and states, but I bet most people would probably think twice before they choose to do so had they known how much stress and hassel this could have involved. Personally, I would choose to go to a more established school just to avoid such nuisance given there is much hurdles to overcome already by going to an offshore med school. But I am sure there will always be people who aren't afraid of challenges and doing just the opposite for the above-mentioned reasons.

[ddtobemd]

Yes, but to do all green-booked rotations, people very often have to wait for their terms because there are simply not enough green-booked spots available for eveyone who is interested from Saba. I have even heard horror stories of delaying one year to graduate because of it -- though it might be an extreme case. But the point is, doing all green-booked rotations from Saba is definitely more hassel than other established Caribbean schools.

Saba has enough spots available for everyone to do green book core rotations. And also one can do back to back rotations without loosing any time. Talk to Sandy Murphy in the clinicals dept. for the latest info or send her an e-mail at clinical@saba.edu to verify this info.

dd

[islandhopper]

Saba has enough spots available for everyone to do green book core rotations. And also one can do back to back rotations without loosing any time. Talk to Sandy Murphy in the clinicals dept. for the latest info or send her an e-mail at clinical@saba.edu to verify this info.

dd
Unless Saba has changed this much in the last three months. Last time I talked to her was yes it is possible to do all green-booked rotations and yes, it is also possible to do it back to back without losing anytime. But the real question is, is it possible for everyone who is interested to do so in such a timely manner all at the same time? In my opionion, it is better to get the informaton from the clinical students who have actually gone through the process and have seen the truth. Do a search on this forum, the opinions of the clinical students is out there. The last thing anyone wants to do is drop a few grand into a school and realize they would rather have gone to somewhere else.

By the way, if anyone has tangible/reliable info about Saba's clinicals, please do share. I would be very interested to know how Saba has developed thus far.

[psychMajor]

Unless Saba has changed this much in the last three months. Last time I talked to her was yes it is possible to do all green-booked rotations and yes, it is also possible to do back to back without losing anytime. But the real question is, is it possible for everyone who is interested to do so in such a timely manner all at the same time? In my opionion, it is better to get the informaton from the clinical students who have actually gone through the process and have seen the truth. Do a search on this forum, the opinions of the clinical students is out there. The last thing anyone wants to do is drop a few grand into a school and realize they would rather have gone to somewhere else.

By the way, if anyone has tangible/reliable info about Saba's clinicals, please do share. I would be very interested to know how Saba has developed thus far.

let me ask a simple question:

well ok..you may be correct it was not possible to do clinical the way they wanted to...and problems here and there...

BUT...do you think its still worth it to spend twice the tuition?

(its like buying sony and JVC

i would buy the sony if its like 10-15% more...but not twice more...given that the JVC does the job even better!)

[Gavanshir]

(its like buying sony and JVC

i would buy the sony if its like 10-15% more...but not twice more...given that the JVC does the job even better!)

This might just be off-topic, but I consider Sony to be a better product than JVC.

[psychMajor]

This might just be off-topic, but I consider Sony to be a better product than JVC.

would you pay twice the amount for a sony tv...which is identical in performance (if not better)?

[islandhopper]

let me ask a simple question:

well ok..you may be correct it was not possible to do clinical the way they wanted to...and problems here and there...

BUT...do you think its still worth it to spend twice the tuition?

(its like buying sony and JVC

i would buy the sony if its like 10-15% more...but not twice more...given that the JVC does the job even better!)
I think it is a judgement call. This question has come up over and over. Just do a search on the SGU form and you will get a more comprehensive answer. I think just like what others have said, when you consider for an offshore med school you need to know:

1)The school's passing rate for the Boards
Though the avg passing rate of the students as a whole isn't indicative of how well an individual will perform, but it can be a factor to consider assuming the quality of education affects the student's performance (I think SGU and Saba students are probably doing equally well)

2)% of people who made it to the boards in a given class
A hard data to come by. But my impression is that given the attrition rate in both Saba and SGU -- SGU "might" have a slightly lower attrition due to their DES program -- again I don't have hard stats on this -- I would say SGU is better in Saba in this regard?

3)Kind of residency people get and where.
Looking at the matching list from both Saba and SGU availabe on both their website -- Don't think these are comprehensive lists -- roughly the same proportion of people end up in primary care in both schools, though there seems to be proportionally more Saba students in FP and more SGU students in IM.

4) Cost, life style..
Sgu is definitely more expensive than Saba in this regard. This is where the judgement call comes in. Both islands are tough to be, hence are called "the rock" though some people eluded that Grenada is more bearible than Saba. As I said before, given the clinical situation in Saba, I would rather go to AUC or SGU to avoid such nuisance given the difficulties I'll face as an IMG already. Had I known this and have visited all campuses, I wouldn't have dropped my 20 grand in Saba and go straight to AUC or SGU. Again, this is because life style is important for me, more so than the issue of money.

So in a nutshell, is SGU worth it? I can't say it is. Since I didn't apply to any other schools and didn't have any other choice either. But given the circumstances, I would rather go to SGU than staying at Saba simply because I don't mind the large class sizes and a smoother ride in the clinicals.:)