Govt to probe new medical school

[bruggadown]

QUESTION # 5
The school’s website notes concerning a Student Clinic

A clinic, staffed by a licensed physician, will be provided on campus. It will also be used for clinical instruction as a learning tool for our students. This clinic will serve our student population including immediate family members in the community in which the school is located. The hours and the location of the clinic will be announced.


How is it that you are providing a clinic on campus when you don’t have sufficient staff to teach the students? Or is this merely propaganda to attract students?


QUESTION # 6
The school’s website notes
Administration has just announced a tuition increase scheduled for the January IMSA Class of 2010. The tuition will increase to $51,000 for the entire four year academic career. Please contact us if you have any further questions.


QUESTION: How is it that you are announcing a tuition increase when it is quite clear that your school is still poorly organized and clearly under staffed?

QUESTION # 7 The school’s website notes Re Currently Enrolling for 2007 Classes -

We are currently taking applications for this next SPSOM September Class.

Calendar for May 2006 Class

Pending update... Please check back soon.


QUESTION: It is now March. How come that you can not post a calendar for May at this time? Is it because you know that you will not have any new students then? Or do you do things at the last minute in a ‘hodge podge , slap dash’ way as described by LSW?

How many new students did you get in January? You take in students three times a year, right?

Don’t prospective students have a right to any or all of these questions, before spending their $51,000?

QUESTION # 8

Re The Chief Operating Officer

Besides being a tour guide, as noted on the website how is this person qualified to assist the Chief Academic Officer with day to day functions of SPSOM in Rarotonga?

How is it possible that a person who is not medically trained can direct a medical school?

Why does not the Rarotonga campus have its own Medical Chief academic officer?

It seems that the posts we are reading about this school are true. So many things are not making sense to us.
Can the administration come on this forum and give us some explanations?

QUESTION # 9

You have pictures of four persons under the heading Distinguished Faculty and Professional Staff on your website, but I am at a lost concerning how they are distinguished. You have not told us in what way any of these folk are distinguished.

The Chief Academic Officer has been shown to tell lies and to be incapable in the posts on this forum. Can you dispute this?

The Chief Operating Officer Med-School Group seems to have a poor testimony and to be a person of ill repute, judging from the article in the New Zealand newspaper which reads “S---------, the school's founder, has had a shaky past. He has been convicted for fraud and disciplined by American authorities for prescribing the wrong medicine to a patient.”

The Chief Operating Officer S.P.S.O.M. looks more like “Rose” in the BBC television series Keeping UP Appearances.

Does any of these people teach at the school? Who are the real faculty?

QUESTION # 10

The school’s website that the school is maintaining a consistent evaluation of the course with the students to give them a fair idea of how the school is progressing.

Can you tell us how?
Dr D—says students pay US$39,000 to attend SPSOM and this is about half of what they would normally pay in the US. Is it US $51,000 or US$39,000? Which?


My research reveals that students can get a better education at St James Medical School cheaper. Also St James has students who have passed Steps I & II and some in residencies. From the reports on this page, it does not seem that SPSOM/IMSA students will pass any of these milestones any time soon.

In its “invitation” the school promises to be “student friendly, forming the foundation for an exciting and rewarding career in medicine. Come join us to pursue your dream and life's vocation” they promise, but their failure to answer reasonable questions seems to suggest that attending this school, might well be a nightmare. I AM TOTALLY CONFUSED

[bruggadown]

MORE QUESTIONS STILL

When I was reading the AUA forum I saw this statement
“I would like to start by saying that AUA is a great medical school, the administrations are experts in the private med school industry; they adapt their many years of knowledge and experience to this institution. The faculty is comprised of many well known experts most notably Dr.***** and Dr.***** and the level of instruction is of a very high caliber in all subjects. This University has great future potential with all the resources available to it; they are in the midst of constructing a brand new state of the art campus which will far exceed most US based med school campuses.”

Can any one of the students at SPSOM truly say this about their school?

Can you honestly say that your school is a great school? Or heading that way? What encouragement do you have to offer prospective students?

Can you honestly say that the administrations are experts in the private med school industry and that they bring any years of knowledge and experience to the school?

Can you honestly say that the faculty is comprised of many well known experts? Or are you taught by podcasts or by watching experts on CD’s

Can you honestly say that the level of instruction is of a very high caliber in all subjects?

If your curriculum is being conducted in the piece meal fashion as we have been told,have you asked the administration how exactly they will cook your transcripts to indicate what exactly you have been taught?

Can any one of the students at SPSOM help prospective students by giving us any info or advice?

Can lsw come back in the forum and give us some answers since you were there for some time? Have not seen you for over a month? Have you been paid off? Have you been paid to keep quiet?

[Genossa maximillian]

You can ask questions until you die in this forum and SPSOM won't answer you a single one. You may PM Iswiltshire. He seems to have all the school's scoop.

Originally Posted by bruggadown

MORE QUESTIONS STILL

When I was reading the AUA forum I saw this statement
“I would like to start by saying that AUA is a great medical school, the administrations are experts in the private med school industry; they adapt their many years of knowledge and experience to this institution. The faculty is comprised of many well known experts most notably Dr.***** and Dr.***** and the level of instruction is of a very high caliber in all subjects. This University has great future potential with all the resources available to it; they are in the midst of constructing a brand new state of the art campus which will far exceed most US based med school campuses.”

Can any one of the students at SPSOM truly say this about their school?

Can you honestly say that your school is a great school? Or heading that way? What encouragement do you have to offer prospective students?

Can you honestly say that the administrations are experts in the private med school industry and that they bring any years of knowledge and experience to the school?

Can you honestly say that the faculty is comprised of many well known experts? Or are you taught by podcasts or by watching experts on CD’s

Can you honestly say that the level of instruction is of a very high caliber in all subjects?

If your curriculum is being conducted in the piece meal fashion as we have been told,have you asked the administration how exactly they will cook your transcripts to indicate what exactly you have been taught?

Can any one of the students at SPSOM help prospective students by giving us any info or advice?

Can lsw come back in the forum and give us some answers since you were there for some time? Have not seen you for over a month? Have you been paid off? Have you been paid to keep quiet?

[bruggadown]

Thanks for your advice Genosa. I have already tried that. But all I can get out of lswiltshire is

“DON'T THROW ROCKS in an empty mango tree” and
“Watch out for the googly!”

He says right now he is concentrating on watching the cricket world cup.

Seems like that’s an excuse for being paid out. Wonder how much he got?

I cant understand how I am interested on information that will impact on my future, and he is only concerned about a silly game! Anyway, I got two pieces of information from two other persons about SPSOM’s daughter school IMSA, which I will post here.

We proved it for our selves

Some friends and I who were planning to attend IMSA thought that the posters here were bashing this school unfairly, but we were not sure. (Guess we really wanted to go there because of its convenience to us). So in order to find out the truth and see for our selves, some friends and I drove into Mexico to Nuevo Guerro. Weatherman’s posts about passports was one of great concern for us since we were looking to live in Falcon Heights, or as near as we could.

Weatherman wrote……. I am going to bring up the point again, that by going into Mexico on a daily basis without being able to show it on your passport is going to be a killer. You have to be able to prove that you were in a foreign country on a full time basis while you were taking your preclinical training before you will be accepted to take exams in most states. That is true for Texas and it is true in most other states.

We found that it was exactly just as he said the Mexico officials did not stamp our passports when we entered or left the country. This happened on two occasions. Also the US officials did not stamp our passports when we returned across the American border. So there is really no way that we would be able to prove that we were out of the country for medical training. It was just as Weatherman said. Thanks for alerting us Weatherman

Weatherman wrote…….
You will be in an area where illegal immigration and drug smuggling are the primary sources of revenue. The nearest town on the U.S. side is about 30 miles away (Rio Grande City) that barely meets the description of a town. The area around Nuevo Guerrero is rather stark desert. “


We drove along Highway 83, and found that from La Joya onward that for the most part it is indeed a very dusty, dry and desolate place. The school really operates from a refurbished library of a secondary school in Nuevo Guerero. It is truly a single one door classroom with no library. But we only saw one person that looked like a teacher in the several hours we hang around

Another poster wrote ………..


That the school is registered in Texas means that you are hired under Texas law. However, you will in effect be working in Mexico. You will be working OUTSIDE OF THE US. Hence you will not be operating under TEXAS or US LAW. If they terminate you illegally with out proper cause; for example for racial discrimination, or any other reason, you have no recourse.

From the time you tell the lawyers you were working outside of the USA, they tell you, that you have no recourse; no legal rights. So you will then have to seek legal representation in Mexico. Just note that carefully!

Note also they will lure you to Texas (my wife and I got a trip to Rarotonga) and then when you ask about your contract, they will tell you there is no contract to tender, and that you have an “at will contract.” In other words, they can dismiss you at will!...... and they will!

We asked our family lawyer in Fort Worth if you can be fired at will if you have an “at will contract”, and he said YES!

We asked him also if it is true that a person working outside of the USA is not under the legal jurisdiction of Texas law, if contracted by a Texan firm, and he said NO! Sure doesn’t sound good for prospective profs or students.

Seems the school is really having difficulty attracting proper staff too, cause I sent a fictitious resume to IMSA, and they e-mailed me back, wanting to know more, even though my credentials don’t match the subjects they advertised. This doesn’t sound good at all people. I certainly plan to stay away. I might even put them on scam.com

[bruggadown]

This is the second note that I got. More questions though, without any answers. But its so funny!


AFLACK!

Since everyone is asking questions on this thread, I would like to ask some more questions about some rumors going around that has leaked out somehow!

1-IS IT REALLY TRUE THAT - people have applied and paid their full tuition for IMSA even though they had none of the qualifications for medical school?

2-IS IT REALLY TRUE THAT - S------- was offering $1,000 per head for anyone to bring in names of those that would like to go to med school, and that admissions officials were being bombarded by people that were no more prepared to enter med school than someone off the streets?

3 Is it true that names of high school students, etc. were being submitted?

4-IS IT REALLY TRUE THAT - there was a man by the name of XXXXXX who worked for the Boarder Patrol, and who when interviewed, had already paid all his money though he did not have the accepted admission qualifications?

5- IS IT REALLY TRUE THAT - this man was not accepted even though L---- S----- told him he could attend?

6-IS IT REALLY TRUE THAT there were many applications for people in the same situation, except that they had not paid the money?

7- - Is this slack selection of students by admissions what IMSA means by this line on its website?...........We encourage all qualified applicants, including non-traditional students, to apply for our 2007 classes.

8- -Is this what IMSA means by we advocate and champion the student who is absolutely qualified to be a physician but unable to achieve entry into an American medical school?

9- - Is this what IMSA means by those with limited educational opportunities who only need a chance to compete in order to succeed?

10- -Is this the type of disadvantaged group of students that IMSA will direct down the path to success according to its website?

11- What about the American populace who will suffer if such quacks get into the system? Oh sorry, we forgot they would just be following in the founders footsteps. Wont they?

Maybe IMSA should be renamed AFLACK UNIVERSITY OR TWO TEACHERS MEDICAL SCHOOL or AFLACK TWO TEACHERS MEDICAL SCHOOL

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

ANSWER: AFLACK! AFLACK! AFLACK!

[lswiltshire]

Medical school denied govt approval

21 March: Government has reversed its decision to let the South Pacific School of Medicine set up in Rarotonga and its withdrawing its approvals.
Two years after giving the medical school the go ahead, cabinet has decided to no longer support it. The door may soon be closed on the American medical school that has been operating since last May.

On 9 March cabinet approved the decision not to give support to the continued establishment of the school as an international medical school, not to grant a temporary charter of three years, not to create a monitoring committee and not to provide permission or support for active recruitment of students to the school.

Bruggadown! You see all the balls turning the wrong way? Well that’s what you call a googly! (A googly in cricket is when a leg break bowler bowls an off break!)

Crickey mates! Hi it seems Ive been watching too much cricket. LOL

[bruggadown]

http://www.ciherald.co.ck/
Monday 19th March 2007

The South Seas Medical School will close on advice from a letter sent to the organisation from the government. Radio Cook Islands this morning contacted the school which is based at the Rakahanga Hostel, a Health Specialist confirmed that a letter was received by government that the school will close but would not release any details. He did say that the school is still in operation, and would not comment further. Radio Cook Islands had made attempts to contact the school's major shareholder, Lily Henderson who is currently out of the country. When the school opened last year, a donation of $50,000 was made to the Rakahanga Community for the use of its premises. Radio Cook Islands asked the health specialist from the South Seas Medical School whether this money would have to be reimbursed, and advised us to contact its office in America for comment. Radio Cook Islands also asked whether the students who are not Cook Island nationals will be reimbursed their course fees – the Health Specialist would not comment and again referred us to contact its head-office in America.

MONEY BURN UP! WHAT YOU EXPECT?

I wonder if the probe on valueMD affected the Government's psition? LOL

BRUGGADOWN! BRUGGADOWN! BRUGGADOWN! BRUGGADOWN!

[Genossa maximillian]

Real problems. Is there another source of information we can use to re-confirm ? That will be nice.

Originally Posted by bruggadown

http://www.ciherald.co.ck/
Monday 19th March 2007

The South Seas Medical School will close on advice from a letter sent to the organisation from the government. Radio Cook Islands this morning contacted the school which is based at the Rakahanga Hostel, a Health Specialist confirmed that a letter was received by government that the school will close but would not release any details. He did say that the school is still in operation, and would not comment further. Radio Cook Islands had made attempts to contact the school's major shareholder, Lily Henderson who is currently out of the country. When the school opened last year, a donation of $50,000 was made to the Rakahanga Community for the use of its premises. Radio Cook Islands asked the health specialist from the South Seas Medical School whether this money would have to be reimbursed, and advised us to contact its office in America for comment. Radio Cook Islands also asked whether the students who are not Cook Island nationals will be reimbursed their course fees – the Health Specialist would not comment and again referred us to contact its head-office in America.

MONEY BURN UP! WHAT YOU EXPECT?

I wonder if the probe on valueMD affected the Government's psition? LOL

BRUGGADOWN! BRUGGADOWN! BRUGGADOWN! BRUGGADOWN!

[dgjomo12]

South Pacific school of medicine has chance to respond - says Cook Islands DIB

[Genossa maximillian]

For the update, as well as to Az.

MY PERSONNAL ANALYSIS:

The government in Cook Island must have realized they have invested more monet in their satellite campus in Mexico rather than the Cook Islands. Any incentives in student spending money in their soil is dramatically dissipated. It is simple economics. Yes there are other issues, quality , professors, etc. I am not saying those are not as important, but knowing how this business works from the inside out, we are not fooling anyone here.

Of course, that is my theory, like Doctorbabe used to say.

I would say the school has lost trust from the Government, and in this kind of venture, you need a trusting partner in Government. If you don't believe me, asK St. George's, AUC and Ross, and in most recent history, AUA.

Originally Posted by dgjomo12

South Pacific school of medicine has chance to respond - says Cook Islands DIB