General Q&A

[wolfvgang22]

I concurr, doctor.

[gianefiasco]

"Saba does not share clinical rotation spots with MUA"
Direct From Dr. E the clinical co-ordinator for SABA on Fri Aug. 10th.

[wolfvgang22]

Originally Posted by gianefiasco

"Saba does not share clinical rotation spots with MUA"
Direct From Dr. E the clinical co-ordinator for SABA on Fri Aug. 10th.

That's right...I think they repeatedly say this. Sorry for the mistake. Old myths die hard.

[Blade07]

Does anyone have an idea of what percentage of Saba's clinicals are Green Book? Would it be a difficult proposition to try and arrange to have all your Clinicals be Green Book?

[ConquerMD]

My question is regarding 4th year clinicals. I have read a few posts stating that it is easy to set up your own elective clinicals. Here are a few of my questions:

1) Is it is easy to set up all greenbook electives?

2) I was thinking about trying to do all of my elective rotations in the Chicagoland area and was wondering if it was possible in respect to question 1?

3) Do the USMLE Step 1 scores determine where one can or cannot set up an elective rotation?

4) How do we know if a particular hospital will allow foreign medical students placement into their elective rotations?

[wolfvgang22]

Originally Posted by Blade07

Does anyone have an idea of what percentage of Saba's clinicals are Green Book? Would it be a difficult proposition to try and arrange to have all your Clinicals be Green Book?

All Saba core rotations are greenbook. No, it's not difficult. But be sure you know how greenbook is defined, and if you actually need greenbook.

It seems a lot of people are chasing after rotations in programs with ACGME approved fellowships when they don't need to. To the best of my knowledge only Virginia and Texas require such rotations for licensure.

[wolfvgang22]

Originally Posted by ConquerMD

My question is regarding 4th year clinicals. I have read a few posts stating that it is easy to set up your own elective clinicals. Here are a few of my questions:

1) Is it is easy to set up all greenbook electives?
Yes.
Know if you need them or not and why. I say that because lately I'm seeing a lot of people just bandy about the words "green book" with no clear idea of what that means.

2) I was thinking about trying to do all of my elective rotations in the Chicagoland area and was wondering if it was possible in respect to question 1?
You can do some cores in Chicago (like pediatrics), and you will get to know med education directors who may help you out. More likely than not you can do many electives there, following in other students footsteps with the Saba dean of clinical medicine's help with setting up rotations. That's how it works, generally. No guarantees, though, you are an IMG when attending Saba, and as such extra sacrifice and flexibility are required. As IMGs we are seen as unwelcome competition by U.S. med schools, so they often try to get exclusive contracts with teaching hospitals, allowing only their own students, keeping us out sometimes. Saba has to work very hard to get and maintain good rotation sites for us.
International medical education - it's not for wusses.

3) Do the USMLE Step 1 scores determine where one can or cannot set up an elective rotation?
Yes. You have to pass at least. Individual programs then can set their own criteria after that. Supposedly the hospital I'm at wants scores over 210, but I see that rule bent all the time.

4) How do we know if a particular hospital will allow foreign medical students placement into their elective rotations?
Note if other IMGs have rotated there before you, especially Saba students. Gather info about the place by talking to our dean of clinical medicine, and by talking to whomever is the medical education director at the hospital.

The safest route is always to keep in communication with the clinical medicine office at Saba about rotations you want or need. This way you don't make blunders - remember, medicine is a very heirarchical community.

[Experienced]

Originally Posted by chizit

I am hoping for january 2008 my self still getting my stuff together, matter of fact I need to start school this January and so far I like all I've learnt about SABA but I still have reservations about the way IMG are treated in the US. Do you know if the fact that some schools do not require MCAT has something to do with it?

Apparently this part of the forum doesn't get much traffic but just in case someone else wonders this, I'll chip in my thoughts.

Currently there appear to be 3 tiers of medical schools in the Caribbean but it hasn't always been so. Top tier schools are St Georges (the oldest), Ross, some say AUC but others don't, and now Saba. In fact, the chancellor of SGU spoke recently about top tier schools and included Saba. Top tier schools are well-established, have met the accreditation requirements of the legitimate accrediting bodies and have obtained "approval" from the important states or most of them. Graduates from those schools can be sure that as far as the school's part of the deal, they'll get an education comparable to most North American schools and should pass Step 1 on the first sitting.

Second tier schools are pretty much the rest at this time. They're not as established, don't have all the accreditations and/or state "approvals" and tend to attract and accept students that, in general, will have to work harder to pass the Step the first time. They also tend to attract more students who are not from North America or are children of immigrants: SGU for example has a tiny proportion of Indian students where second tier school IAU is virtually 100% Indian.

The bottom tier schools are those that aren't reputable and whose students may never be doctors. Frankly, I can't think of any that fit in this category currently. Five years ago or so, there was a guy on St Kitts who ran a "medical school" out of a hotel room but it shut down.

The uninformed in North America fear off-shore means third tier, i.e. "fly by night" and unapproved. The fact that Caribbean med schools are privately owned, as opposed to being attached to state universities, probably also feeds into personal prejudices that anything that is for-profit can't be reputable. A number of baby boomer docs, who are now deciding who gets into clinicals and residencies, are anti-business in their gut, if not overtly so. But there's no success like success as they say, and when Caribbean IMGs come to their hospitals and blow everyone away with their motivation, hard work and book knowledge, these old prejudices are hard to maintain.

My two cents. Hope it helps.

E.

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[brandonmedhopeful]

Well, I have contacted several Saba grads that are doing their residency in Canada, and few like to return my emails! Does anyone have an idea as to the best way of getting your foot in the door for doing residencies in Canada?

[ReckonerMD]

During clinicals are students prohibited from using Smart Phones (Treo, etc.) on the wards? Would a PDA be a better investment?