Thread: Mua Pros Vs. Cons for future students

Here is some information for students considering attending MUA. From an MUA STUDENT! First off, as an mua student my opinion may be a little bias (of course we would all like to say we go to the best school), however i will try to simply state facts.

Pros:
1) As far as going to any island to study medicine, i believe Nevis is by far the best for many reasons. -first there are not too many distractions as nevis is more of a quiete get away island. i mean imagine going to school in st martin (a crazy tourist island), which by the way is my favorite island becuase its so much fun, however its not a place where I (me personally) can study. if your the type of person who gets distracted easily (like me) then nevis is where you should go.
-second reason. i know you here all this stuff about nevis being the safest island from mua officials, i can not speak for other islands as i do not know, however i have been in nevis for over a year and never felt unsafe. of course there have been people who have got there house broken into or whatever, but i have only heard of like 3 robberies since i have been here. everywhere you go will have crime, but i do think nevis is very safe.

-three- most local people here are nice, and have strong religous beliefs, which is good to know. however there are a lot who really hate the students and are obviously racist, which is very unfortunate. but you dont interact much with locals, becuase your constantly busy with school.

-four- nice beaches with noone there, so you can actually study on the beach if you like.

2)Faculity: I can honestly tell you that i was EXTREMELY surprised with the faculity here. they are the best teachers i have ever had, and thats no bull, they are very laid back down to earth people who love to teach, and are very good at it. they will do anything to make you learn this stuff. i went to one of the top undergrad universities, and i can honestly say some of these professors here are by far better than any professor i had.
3) Dean T: by far the most caring person i have met. loves to teach, and truly loves medicine.
-he is the SMARTEST person i have ever met. he really motivates you to want to learn and get at his level.
-he really cares about his students ( i mean the guy gives his personal cell phone number to the students, and tells you to call him anytime day or night if you have ANY problem) which if very comforting.
4) new building: i have walked in the new building and it is a very nice building, really nice classrooms with really comfortable seats (however they are kind of close to each other).
-building is overlooking the water and has 2 huge balconies facing the water.
- there is a GYM!! in the new building. personally im sick of working out at these crap gyms. i need some real equipment.

5) school has 2 buses, so you could live here without a car. which is good esp if your on a tight budget

cons:

1) Rotations: i can imagine this is one of the biggest factor for most people considering a school. MUA currently only has 9 rotation sites. so if your hoping to do a rotation in your state, chances are mua does not have affiliations. you will here all this garbage about mua getting new sites, dont believe it, until they actually get the site. there is a rumor about mua getting a whole bunch of new sites, but when i emailed Dr. ******* the head of clinical dpt. she said this is all rumors. i personally dont mind where i do my rotations, but many people might.

2) mua does not have a site in the US for 5th term, as does Ross and AUC and even Windsor (lol). it is not exactly cheap to fly out here, esp. for canadian students.

3)library is small, and poorly deigned. for example anytime someone walks in and out you see them. but there is a back section which is more secluded. however the dean (being the caring person he is) allows us to study in classrooms as well, becuase the library gets too crowded.

4) loans: no federal loans


all in all i think mua is very good, and profesional. if your considering attending here, prepare yourself for a tough curriculum.
if any students have questions about mua you can msg me.

Another thing to keep in mind about comp shelf and USMLE pass rates. The school is very much wanting to get licensure in CA. First time passing scores are an absolute must. That is why the test has changed, along with the passing scores.

Originally Posted by TonNgoc9

Wait...so none of the profs will write LORs ifyou want to transfer to a differentschool? Are they allowed to do that?

Thats what I heard, but i am not sure if thats true, i would like to know the answer to this question as well. i dont plan on transferring, however knowing that this school wont write a LOR if a student wishes to transfer disturbs me, and i would be ashamed of my school. I highly doubt its true, as it is unethical, and opens up chance for legal action, highly doubt the school is that stupid.

on the night of the Dean's meeting with students it was specifically mentioned that any transfer student would get a LOR....another rumor mill.

I totally agree that MUA is a great school for anyone who wants to work hard and be a great doctor.....The profs are great and the Dean is working very hard to make this great school even better

yeah. the dean mentioned this as well several other times.

After being here for over a year I have only met 1 person who transferred out that was in good standing with the school and doing well, they transferred to a school with lesser tuition costs to save money and regretted it afterwards.

Originally Posted by joe soap

on the night of the Dean's meeting with students it was specifically mentioned that any transfer student would get a LOR....another rumor mill.

Originally Posted by joe soap

on the night of the Dean's meeting with students it was specifically mentioned that any transfer student would get a LOR....another rumor mill.

Well, looks like the dean says a diff thing in front and does a different thing at the back. i'm not surprise lol...

He has always maintained and not in favor of giving LOR for any transfers, he told all the profs not to give LOR even before now.

I know a student who wants to transfer few weeks ago but could not get LOR from a prof. the prof told him that the DEAN specifically told them not to give LORs.

wow............why would a person want to transfer? Unless your just totally messing up at your current school, why would you go thru the hassel...?

This is a med4 having a "med4" attack... it'll be ok. They can't fail you, you fail based upon the NBME actually scoring teh exam. And the 62 first time pass rate is barely above passing for USMLE.

So, THEY CAN'T FAIL YOU TO SAVE CLINICAL SPOTS.

And did anyone hear about the 19 new clinical spots that opened in Washington state, etc.?

Why say baseless things that make others worry?

Originally Posted by SPODAT

And did anyone hear about the 19 new clinical spots that opened in Washington state, etc.?

I'm glad your facts seem to be well documented

Well, just trying ot balance things out. Thoughtless, anxiety provoking posts and rumors are all you need with teh stress of classes, loans, block exams, the library lady (kidding)... jeesh.

And I forgot to say, even if they were "trying to fail you", good for them, because believe me, it's a horrible thing to not pass the USMLE the first time, you fall into this time period, where you start forgetting things, and it's a lot of really tough, courageous, heart breaking work to stay on top of it enough to pass the first time.

US Schools... there the idea is you are ready to pass when you come out, any further studying is just to up your grade a few points. There's not better time than the same week you get back, asap.