Deficiencies of Some Med Schools

[hydprince4u]

The following schools were noted by evaluation teams to have multiple, serious deficiencies. AAIMG urges prospective applicants to proceed with caution and to carefully investigate any school listed below in order to arrive a their own conclusions. Applicants are encouraged to read the AAIMG web page section titled, “Words of Wisdom.”

Windsor School of Medicine,
St. Christopher, West Indies, 2000
Deficiencies
Section I a,b,c,d, e,g,h
Section II b,c,d,f,
Section III b,c,d,e,g,h,k
Section IV c,f,g,j,l,k,m,n
Section V a,d,e,f,h,j,l,m
Section VI a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,j
Section VII b,c,e,f,g,i
Section VIII e
No substantive changes were noted since the last site visit. The entire campus still consists of two small rented buildings in an industrialized port area. Classrooms are poorly equipped with one inadequate multipurpose lab and no real medical library. One anatomy cadaver is used for multiple terms. Course descriptions and the curriculum breakdown are inadequate. Small faculty teaches numerous courses and there no listing of clinical hospital affiliations. There are no federal or regulated private loans. Complaints have been received from students about slow refunds and withholding of transcripts. Free housing advertised on web site is so poor that most students will pay to rent apartments.

University of Sint Eustatius,
St. Eustatius, Netherlands Antilles, 1999
Deficiencies
Section I b,c,d,e,h
Section II c,d,k,l
Section III b,c,d,e,,i
Section IV c,f,l
Section V b,c,e,f,h,j,l,n,m
Section VI b,d,e,f,h
Section VII b,d,e,f,g,i
Section VIII b,c
No substantive changes were noted since the last site visit. A promised campus complex has failed to materialize and there has been significant turnover in faculty and administration. Classrooms are in rented local buildings and can require up to a 30 minute walk from one area to another. “Dorms” are actually run down local hotels. There is insufficient library space and inadequate book and journal holdings although the computer lab is well equipped. Curriculum has a minimal 32 month total duration with an unrealistic number of basic science courses crammed into four terms. School does not publish hospital affiliations or loan programs. Large student body contingent from African country was withdrawn by government last year. School accepts large number of transfer students, some without proper documentation or completion of a full basic science curriculum. Advertising of success rates on web site is misleading.

International University of the Health Sciences,
St. Christopher, West Indies, 1997
Deficiencies
Section I a,b,c,f,g,h
Section II a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,j,k,I,
Section III b,c,d,f,h,I,k
Section IV c,d,e,f,g,k,m
Section V b,d,e,f,g,h,i,j,k,l,m,o
Section VI b.c.d.e.f,g,h,I,j
Section VII a,b,c,d,i
Section VIII a,b,c,e
No significant changes noted since last visit for school with a primarily distance learning curriculum. Grants advanced placement to allied health professionals; full-time residence on St. Kitts is not required. Problem based learning on computer with tutorials gives insufficient basic science preparation. No labs or real library at “campus” site which is a solitary rented building, “ Brannigan House”. Lacks permanent onsite faculty and the web site list is misleading about actual faculty involvement with students. While hospital experience on St. Kitts has expanded, local physician preceptors are not skilled in problem based learning. There is no list of clinical sites and no federal or regulated private loans are available. Several state licensing boards will not license graduates of this school. Marketing is misleading on web site. Several new affiliations listed in India but Medical College of London does not appear to exist nor have a current link from IUHS. Web site advertises eligibility to take PLAB in U.K. but this was not confirmed by General Medical Council in U.K. The website for IUHS has been expanded to list affiliations with other institutions in the United States, United Kingdom and India. There were no site visits to these “affiliates” and the London contact appears to have vanished.

St. Matthews School of Medicine,
Ambergis Caye, Belize, Central America, 1997
Deficiencies
Section I b,c,d,f,h
Section II c,e,k,l
Section III a,b,c,d,e,f,i
Section IV b,c,f,g,m,n
Section V b,d,e,f,h,I,I,j,l,m,n
Section VI a,b,e,h,i
Section VII b,e,f,i
Section VIII c
This school has experienced serious internal management problems with both high faculty and administrative turnover. Relocation of basic science campus last year to a rented office building in the Cayman Islands provides only the most basic classroom facilities. The labs and library remain inadequate; plastinated parts are used in anatomy instead of cadavers. School is very decentralized and the Maine campus at a small remote college still lacks proper structure for a basic science instruction. Portion of instruction done in USA may create licensing problems, although this school is still too new for many test cases. Possible licensing issues are still not realistically addressed by the school. School takes significant amount of transfer students and failures from other medical schools. Web site is misleading as to facility and actual onsite fulltime faculty. Clerkship program is loosely organized.
University of the Health Sciences, Antigua,
West Indies, 1982
Deficiencies
Section I a,b,c,d,g,h
Section II a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,j,k,l
Section III b,c,d,h,j,k
Section IV f,g,I,k,m
Section V b,c,e,f,,h,j,k,l,m,n
Section VI a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,
Section VII b,c,d,e,f,g
Section VIII a,b,c,d
Distance learning, part-time attendance, and advanced placement to allied health professionals are part of this curriculum. The school also specializes in quickie, but expensive, “conversion” degrees-for dentists, veterinarians, doctors of osteopathic medicine and chiropractors to MD’s. There is a run down permanent campus in a remote location with a guard at the gate. Visitors are not welcome. The dorms are old barracks. There are insufficient laboratories and a small library with a few old books and journals. Insufficient faculty are onsite (one elderly fulltime anatomist this past visit) and the faculty list on web page is very misleading. There is no list of clerkship affiliations or preceptors and the school has no relationship with the local hospital or health care community. Stafford loans were withdrawn on an emergency basis in 1995 by US Department of Education, there are no current financial aid programs. Letters sent by former students complain of inability to obtain transcripts and vital licensing endorsements as well as tuition refunds. This school has been in existence over 20 years but web site fails to list graduates with residencies. There are email contacts for more recent graduates but we received few replies.
Spartan Health Sciences University,
St. Lucia, West Indies, 1981
Deficiencies
Section I a,b,c,d,h
Section II a,b,c,d,f,g,j,k,l
Section III c,d,k
Section IV c,f,m
Section V b,ce,f,h,j,l,m
Section VI a,b,e,f,h,I
Section VII c,e,f,I
Section VIII a,b,e
There are no significant changes since the last site visit. There is some improvement noted in the permanent campus building that sits next to a bottling plant in an industrial area of Vieux Fort. There is a small stable faculty who each teach several courses. Nearly all are foreign trained with the exception of 2 Spartan graduates who never completed residencies. There is no alteration in the minimal four trimester basic science curriculum which is taught in a piecemeal approach. It is impossible for all the basic science and pre-clinical topics to be covered in such a short time frame. Two cadavers, one male and one female, are present in the tiny anatomy lab. There is a small library with internet access but the holdings of books and journals are insufficient. There is no listing of hospital affiliations and students must pay own clerkship fees, which can be several hundred dollars a month. 66 weeks of required core clerkships includes only 6 weeks of Pediatrics but 20 weeks of core surgery and surgical subspecialties. The main teaching hospital is a small facility for civil servants in Juarez, Mexico, which tends to run a low census. There is little structure to the teaching program and students must often find there own clerkships in the USA. Federal loans were withdrawn 1997. Despite establishment in 1981 and claims of licensed graduates in 40 states, this school can provide the names of fewer than 60 licensed graduates. There is a history of legal sanctions by California and injunctions by the Texas Attorney General.

St. James School of Medicine,
Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, 2000
Deficiencies
Section I a,b,c,d,f,g,h
Section II a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,j,k,l
Section III b,c,d,g,h,i,j,k
Section IV d,f,g,l,k,m,n
Section V b,c,d,e,f,h,j,k,l,m,n,o
Section VI a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,I,j
Section VII b,c,d,e,f,g,i
Section VIII c
This school began by taking transfer students to clerkships before basic science instruction actually commenced. The basic science curriculum attempts to cram the first two years of medical school into four short trimesters. The facility consists of a few classrooms in a very old school building with no gross anatomy lab or cadavers. There are a few microscopes and improvements in classroom equipment but the overall impression is one of high school science facility, and a poor one at that. There is limited internet access but no real medical library. Up to date journals and texts are woefully absent. There is high faculty turnover and some teachers are also students. Some faculty teach many courses that are often not within their field of expertise. This school has minimal admission standards and has a high percentage of transfer students. Recruiting is directed toward granting advanced standing to allied health professionals; a policy clearly stated on the web page. Allied Health professionals pursuing this course of study are at risk for licensing problems. Another program targets foreign trained MD’s in a “rehabilitation” program. There is no listing of clerkship affiliations in the catalog or on the web page and applicants are given false assurances that their clerkships will meet “greenbook” standards by recruiters.

St. Martinus University, Curacao, Netherlands Antilles, 2003
It appears every Dutch island with the exception of Aruba now has a medical school. There is a sketchy web page showing a minimal basic science program crammed into four short trimesters. The new medical is located in Otrabanda, a charming, older area trying to attract business and tourist interest. The facility is a cavernous, old school building sorely in need of renovation for basic medical school facilities such as labs and a library. There were a handful of students and three faculty (one was the Dean) present. The Dean was a former administrator at the University of Sint Eustatius. This school hopes to attract Venezuelan and South American students with plans for extensive development and charges a great deal of tuition for a practically non-existent program. There are no loan programs to date. Curacao is a large island with one large major teaching hospital and more sophisticated medical community than most Caribbean islands. For the time being, St. Martinus rates Global Deficiencies Categories I-VIII.

St. Mary’s School of Medicine, Castries, St. Lucia, West Indies, 2003
This school first surfaced in the Pacific Basin with a WHO listing in the Cook Islands, Rarotonga. There was an aborted effort to hold classes in the Hawaiian Islands resulting in the loss of tuition to many students. The promoter, who had an office in El Paso, Texas, then began instruction across the border in Juarez, Mexico, following the time honored tradition of CAHSU and Spartan. Complaints to the Texas Attorney General by students led to governmental scrutiny and this school vanished from site for a few years. It has resurfaced with a web site and alleges a campus now on the island of St. Lucia. The address on St. Lucia is actually a post office box and there was no evidence of a campus. Furthermore, the World Health Organization is unable to verify any request from the Ministry of Health of St. Lucia to list this school in the World Directory of Medical Schools. St. Mary’s WHO listing has been removed from the Cook Islands. Students are not approved as of the fall of 2003 to take the USMLE exams by the ECFMG. The web site gives no names to contact other than “Admissions” which is how inquiries are answered by email requests. Students are not required to pay an application fee by must put down a non refundable matriculation of $950.00. St. Mary’s is more than deserving of the Global Deficiencies, Categories I-VIII. There are probably a few confused souls who will actually send a deposit to this place.

Grace University,
Belmopan, Belize, Central America, 2000
Deficiencies
Section I a,b,c,d,f,gh
Section II a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,j,k.l
Section III a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,I,j,k
Section IV c,f,g,I,k,m
Section V a,b,c,d,e,f,h,j,k,l,m,n
Section VI b,c,d,e,f,g,h,I,j
Section VII b,c,d,e,f,g,h
Section VIII a,c,d
Grace University has been in existence for over 15 years and reinvented itself on several occasions. Opening initially on the island of Nevis with a minimal operation, a Cambridge, England, “campus” was subsequently opened. The site visit in 2001 revealed a shabby, run down upstairs flat on the outskirts of Cambridge promoting a distance learning program with advanced standing for allied health professionals. The school closed briefly when it lost its charter then obtained registration in Belize. The operation moved to the capital, Belmopan, with promises of building a new campus. Grace remains true to its prior modus operandi and has its classes in a rented two flat building on a dirt side road in a residential area. A handful of students hear lectures by a few visiting faculty in the made over living room and bedroom “classrooms” in this dreary place. There is no catalog and the web site misrepresents the program, facility and faculty members. There is no list of hospital affiliations. This school has run out of the promoter’s home in Florida despite regulations by the Florida Department of Education that requires an approval process. Run from this one.

Central American Health Sciences University,
Belize City, Belize, Central America, 1996
Deficiencies
Section I a,b,c,d,f,h
Section II a,b,c,e,f,g,j,k,l
Section III b,cd,e,g,h,k
Section IV a,b,c,d,f,g,j,l,m
Section V b,c,d,e,f,h,j,k, l,m,n
Section VI b,c,d,e,f,g,h,I,j
Section VII c,d,e,g,I
Section VIII d,e
There are few changes since the last site visit. The school has moved further from Belize City into an area designated as the “free zone.” This is a guarded area for businesses investment and other entities. The building is an improvement over the former structure but nevertheless rented. There is a large library with computer access but holdings are sparse and most woefully outdated. Students live in nearby small village; this is an isolated area. The anatomy lab held two desiccated cadavers with dirty dissection tools lying about on trays. There is minimal faculty presence; most are part-time. The handful of students present during the site visit state they spend only two terms in Belize then go to the Juarez, Mexico, “campus.” Our site visitors confirmed that this is, in fact, a store front facility directly across the border from El Paso, Tx. The school does not publish a hospital affiliation list. There is a history of sanctions by the Texas Attorney General.

American International School of Medicine,
Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, Guyana, South America
Deficiencies
Section I b,c,d,f,g,h
Section II a,c,d,e,f,g,h,j
Section III b,c,d,e,h,i,k
Section IV a,c,f,g,m
Section V b,d,e,f,h,j,k,l,m,n,o
Section VI a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,I,j
Section VII b,d,e,f,g
Section VIII a,c
Application to this school can only be made online and faxed to a number in Massachusetts. Information available on the web site is still incomplete. Minimal facilities and labs still characterize this school which gives advanced standing to allied health professionals and clerkship credit for on the job training. There is some experience available in local hospitals. There are few fulltime qualified faculty members and no list of clerkships. The promoter is a graduate of Grace University with no postgraduate training. Tuition refunds are given only in the case of proven serious illness per the web page.
Centro de Estudios Universitarios Xochimilco,
Ensenada, Mexico
Deficiencies
Section I b,c,d,f,gh
Section II a,b,c,e,f,g,h,I,j,l
Section III b,cd,h,I,k
Section IV a,f,g,k,m
Section V d,f,g,h,l,n
Section VI b,c,d,e,f,g,h,I,j
Section VII c,d,e,f,g,I
Section VIII a,b,d

This school has opened and closed in a number of locations in Mexico for the past 15 years. It moved from central Mexico to the Baja peninsula to attract gullible Americans. It was featured in 1992 on a national investigative news program and subsequently lost U.S. Federal loans. The campus is still housed in a former hotel. There are no labs and few fulltime faculty. Admission standards, course attendance and testing requirements are lax. Faculty is primarily part-time and courses are taught in a haphazard order. There is no list of affiliated hospitals and haphazard clinical supervision.

[OLDPRO]

BTS PLEASE PLEASE lock this thread, this is a load of crap and is 5 years old.
everyone who knows, this is old news by a biased source who never reviewed
our Medical school or the others. This has been posted and reposted to death.

[IndianSClink]

Originally Posted by hydprince4u

The following schools were noted by evaluation teams to have multiple, serious deficiencies. AAIMG urges prospective applicants to proceed with caution and to carefully investigate any school listed below in order to arrive a their own conclusions. Applicants are encouraged to read the AAIMG web page section titled, “Words of Wisdom.”

Windsor School of Medicine,
St. Christopher, West Indies, 2000
Deficiencies
Section I a,b,c,d, e,g,h
Section II b,c,d,f,
Section III b,c,d,e,g,h,k
Section IV c,f,g,j,l,k,m,n
Section V a,d,e,f,h,j,l,m
Section VI a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i,j
Section VII b,c,e,f,g,i
Section VIII e
No substantive changes were noted since the last site visit. The entire campus still consists of two small rented buildings in an industrialized port area. Classrooms are poorly equipped with one inadequate multipurpose lab and no real medical library. One anatomy cadaver is used for multiple terms. Course descriptions and the curriculum breakdown are inadequate. Small faculty teaches numerous courses and there no listing of clinical hospital affiliations. There are no federal or regulated private loans. Complaints have been received from students about slow refunds and withholding of transcripts. Free housing advertised on web site is so poor that most students will pay to rent apartments.

hydprince4u, let me remind you that this year is 2005, not 2000, ok!
Where have you been for the last 5 years of your life?????
Don't post any more B.S stuff, please.

[bts4202]

The AAIMG has been discussed ad naseum. I am locking and linking it to one of the most recent AAIMG threads. See hyperlink below.

Also, since this is not about st christopher's COM, I am moving this to the main forum.

http://www.valuemd.com/ftopic10425.h...ighlight=aaimg

[stephew]

yes, kindly read up on the controversies of the AAIMG. Be warned.