Hi everyone,

I decided to post this message after browsing through a few of these posts and reading a lot of disturbing and conflicting information.

First, a little about me...I graduated in 2002 and am now 2 months from finishing my residency in IM. I'm going to be doing a fellowship in pulmonary/critical care medicine starting in July. That is exactly what I've always wanted to do and Ross got me there. Isn't that all you need to know? Many of my present collegues are also ross graduates, two of my classmates are also here and will be doing fellowships in both GI and Cardiology starting also in July. BOTH ROSS GRADS! Trust me, there are a lot of us out there. Once you start residency, no one asks if you are a foreign grad. So for those who are considering alternative options to US med schools, if you really want to go to medical school more than anything...then go for it!

You have to be dedicated, living in Dominica can be extremely tough but, also very enjoyable. Yes there is a very high failure rate. Out of my original class of 180 students, only 27 made it to fifth semester without repeating. But, that's also because Ross accepts almost everyone who wants to give it a try and I hate to say it but...not everyone is meant to be a doctor. If you are truly dedicated, willing to make some sacrifices you will find that you will have one of the best experiences of your life, you will become a better person and in the end....you WILL realize your dreams of becoming a doctor. All you need to do is ask yourself, is it worth it? If you ask me, I would do it all over again in a heart beat.

And for everyone who is there now....keep working, tackle one obstacle at a time and you will get there. Believe me, time flies faster than you know and...there is light at the end of the tunnel.

If I can answer any specific questions, please feel free to ask.

Best of luck to everyone and remember....being a doctor is phenomenal!

Thanks for the encouraging words!
Good luck to ya!
So where are you starting your fellowship?

__________________
It's a Zen life....live, laugh, love, and be happy!

We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly.
-Sam Keen, from To Love and Be Loved

Hey justdoit,

Thanks...are you about to start first semester? If so, good for you, be excited, you are going to have fun.

I'm doing my fellowship at UConn, where I am doing my residency. I interviewed all over the country and at some really great places. ie. Stanford, Baylor, Case Western, Cleveland Clinic, Tufts, Rush etc (see ross isn't a handicap) but in the end I just wanted to stay put, I loved my residency...UConn is awesome, I own my house here in CT plus all my friends are going to be here either for fellowships or jobs so, it seemed like the obvious choice. Bottom line....most doors will still be open to you in the end.

Take care and good luck!

ROssgrad:

As a parent of a current Ross student I wish you best of luck. I wish more of your colleagues would post on this site and let current and future Ross students be aware of the possibilities out there if they are willing to sacrifice many of the nicities for a few years.

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When you become my age you will realize all of the hard work and studying was worth the effort.
"60 years young" another 60 to go if my doctor sons keep me alive with free prescriptions!!

holy...

only 27 out 180 made it to miami without repeating? that's gotta be the worst semester ever.

there's nothing like that now.

Shauge19:

You don't need statistics to figure out how many kids from a particular class made it to Miami in 4 semesters. All you need is someone who made it to Miami in 4 semesters to estimate the number of students making it to Miami in 4 semesters. My son recently finished Miami and well over 50% of his class passed a ll 4 semesters. In fact very few students failed Miami.

__________________
When you become my age you will realize all of the hard work and studying was worth the effort.
"60 years young" another 60 to go if my doctor sons keep me alive with free prescriptions!!

You have to remember that I was on the island 1999-2000 and life at ross was much different, in a totally different system. We didn't have Miami, we did fifth semester on the island. The classes were different, in fact the school was owned by someone else. The failure rate was much much worse, every semester was that bad. It has improved dramatically since then. Most of the campus buildings that are there now weren't even there then. They have built up a lot in the last few years.

Also, a lot of the people that repeated, still graduated, just a semester later. And, a lot of them left voluntarily. We lost 80 in our first semester alone, 30 left voluntarily and 50 failed. Some people don't even make it out of the airport before they turn right around and go home. Pretty stupid if you ask me but...I guess it itsn't for everybody.

rossgrad:

Dude, you are my hero man....er....Doc......wish more people like you posted in this forum. Also wish Ross updates their residency lists on website. Just curious, did you ever think of transfering after your second year? I know its very difficult and will ultimately depend on availability of seats.

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MS 3-RUSM
CLASS OF 2009

Hahahaha thanks tranke, I appreciate it. I kind of stumbled onto this site by accident and felt compelled to post. I remember what it was like, it's hard enough and all I wanted to do was talk to someone who had actually made it through so that I could say yes it's possible. It's like this endless up-hill battle and I suppose it still always will be, there is always that next obstacle. For example, my last hurdle was step 3, ooops but then in August I have my Internal Medicine boards ooops then I'll have to take my pulmonary and critical care boards oh and then I have to recertify all over again.... But, even so, life is much better after you graduate!

Anyway, I suppose I considered transferring for all of about a split second. I can remember, we were all standing outside the library and there was a rumor going around (like most things at Ross) about the school being for sale. This total sense of doom came over all of us like we were going to be left high and dry. I guess in Dominica to break the monotany you'll try to find drama anywhere....hahahaha After all, it is like Lord of the Flies down there...people get nutty. A friend from my class transferred to some school in Ohio. I didn't really pursue it though because, I didn't want to delay any further. I felt like the "advantage" I could get wasn't worth adding another couple of months onto the time I spent in school which in turn would have meant I would have missed the match and sat out a year. Besides, I knew anything I wanted to do as a residency wasn't going to be difficult coming from Ross. I was still thinking about surgery, in fact I did get offered a prematch spot in surgery but I turned it down. But, I didn't have any interest in those fields that really are reserved for US grads ie....dermatology, opthamology and orthopedic surgery. So, long story short it was of no benefit to me whatsoever to transfer. I would only recommend it if in fact you are interested in any of those specialities. They are very competitive even for US grads. Otherwise, don't stress over it, it truly is not necessary.

Yo Rossgrad-thanks for all the insight thus far.
About how much total have you spent on school, starting from Ross?