If you are staying at the dorms, I advise you bring one. I found the lighting at the Rawlins dorm insufficient. One of those clip on desk lamps is sufficient. Take off the bulb when you pack it. It could burst inside your luggage in transit. you can get fluorescent bulbs there (at TDC). The whole island runs on 220 Volts AC. However Rawlins has a step down transformer and so runs on 110. Dont forget to bring a decent surge protector. Power surges occur very often, the last thing you want to happen would be a toasted laptop.

If you can also bring a portable external drive, to back up your notes and lecture stuff.

hi tanaka
Abt the ink cartridges, exactly how many pages of printing are we talking abt, do u have a rough idea?

We've been here for 2 semesters now, and here are things that I brought:

Pillows (a must!)
Extra sheets (you can buy them here, but decently expensive)
Pur water filer w/lots of extra filters (get the best one, it's worth it)
Towels and washcloths (can also get them here, but can get expensive)
Printer with extra cartridges (there are cartridges for HPs and Lexmarks
available here, but they cost on average $100EC or $37.50 each)
Food storage containers (hard to find, and costly here)
Extra long USB cables and ethernet cables
Surge protectors (a definite must, as others have pointed out)

I wish I had brought:

A Swiffer
Microwave safe dishes
a few pots & pans
Plastic cups/tumblers
Desk lamps

Hope this helps anyone coming soon

You will be doing tons of printing. powerpoint notes and your own notes, etc... Even if you bring more than enough printers for that semester, you still have the next semester. By then you will have an idea as to how mich printing you will be doing.

My first semester there, I brought 4 of each (black and color cartridges). As said by the above poster, they do have some ink available on the island, but very expensive.

thanks guys
btw, i know its a tropical place but how warm and cold does it exactly get?Is there ANY variability in the weather around the year.What kinda clothing shud we bring.Mattress and sheeting?

Just bring light beddings/sheets. DO NOT bring a comforter. You will be bathing on your own sweat.

Also just light clothing. A sweater or two will do. Bring an umbrella, or a rain coat/poncho....

a ha! i'll save my ten minutes a day for nail appointments by waking up early covered in sweat every day! genius!

Girl, for you its very important to bring a nail clipper. Coz if you survive til the 4th semester (which I presume you will....given you will study hard to get there) those nails are coming off! You dont have a choice, Dr. E or whoever that administers your PD lab & lab exam will make sure it comes off. Might as well get started getting used to not having long nails. It's also not sanitary for a doctor to have long nails.

Thank you for the posts on what to bring and what you will need extra of.

Any particular need for a colour printer or would a b&w one suffice? Reason I'm asking is that I've used a laptop to study all year and have a laser black printer for backup (if and when I do print notes)

I'm assuming that wont be the case in med school? If a printer is essential, would you recommend a colour laser printer? Comes out cheaper per page in the long run