Hi, everyone

I'm applying for Jan/ 07 class and will have the interview after a few days... hope I can get the admission and become one of the students in SABA....

...I am from Fukuoka, Japan. / half Japanese and half Taiwanese, currently studying medicine in china/ with a B.A. in literature, incomplete M.A in literature ( still enrolled, not yet get the master degree caz i got the admission from my current medicine school last year so I postponed the study in graduate school n went to china ) and a diploma in law / didnt take mcat....

Though I already checked quite a lot abt the interview, tips, and questions given to other applicants... I still feel nervous
n worried abt my chances to get d admission... since my science gpa is lower than 3.0.... i got 2.8x >__<
general gpa 3.2 or higher.... I am afraid to get rejected due to my gpa.
hope I will surive the interview....

my prob is that i have doubts abt one of the questions which may be given in the interview..... " why u want to leave your current medical school?"
one of the reasons....(actually it is the most important one that make me don't want to stay..) is because of the brutal process in the experimental classes.
if i stay in my current school, i will have surgery class after one year. n we have to use dogs for imitating the operation......
I have seen how the seniors giving anesthesia to those poor dogs n opening their thoraxes or abdomens. I really really feel sad .....i know i would rather fail in d class than hurt these innocent dogs.
Before i went to china, i didnt know med-students in china have to do this kind of experiments.
and the most incredible thing is that they just put those still living dogs in the refrigerator, n leave them die in pain n fear after they come to themselves from anesthesia !!!
...but the chinese think this training is good for improving the clinical skills.
i really really dont want n cannot do such things. that's the real reason that make me hate my school n want to leave here.
but can i directly say the truth if saba ask me why i want to leave my current school???
I know medical schools in Japan definitely dont do this kind of experiments. but what abt medicine schools in other country???
do i sound too emotional if i say the truth?
except this, there r also some other reasons why i want to go to saba. but they sound less convincing than d first one. so should i say the truth?
or i should come up with other proper answers?

hope some one would give me advice.....

thx a lot!

Well, if you recieved an interview then you must have passed the first screening, which is usually grades/credentials/etc.

On your interview, the best thing I can tell you is to stick with the truth. Surely you wouldn't want to sound emotional, but try to portray your lack of interest in the Chinese methodology in a professional manner. Explain exactly why you are leaving your current school and as to why you are wanting to attend Saba. Avoid giving negative remarks of other schools, but do give exact reasons why other schools did not fit YOUR agenda.

Good luck.

__________________
Why you all up in the kool-aid and don't know the flavor..?

Thx for ur reply :-)

but, is china the only country that allows medical schools to operate on dogs?... a regular practice takes place at least once in a week. not for any special or professional pharmacological test...not for any important or unavoidable needs. it just happens regularly in the surgery class.


there's no this kind of practice in caribbean medical schools, right?


i am leaving my current school for not doing this disgusting practice in the third year.... so...just want to make sure that i wont see it in my future school.

:-)

To be honest, that's the first time I've heard of medical schools operating on dogs. I can tell you that I've NEVER heard of such a thing here in the Caribbean. Many countries look at dogs, cats, and otherwise seen as domesticated animals/pets as food. In their culture, there may be nothing wrong with that.

Saba University is tailored after US schools so you will have the same experiences as medical students in the US. No animal mutilation, just the dissection of human cadavers.

Good luck.

__________________
Why you all up in the kool-aid and don't know the flavor..?

Do not want to sound critical, but correct me if I am wrong; many of the big companies (pharmaceutical, cosmetics, etc.), perform experiments just as cruel, if not worse on animals, and it's not a secret. Why is it cruel now when it's done at a medical school setting (if it's really happening) where it's done for the sake of learning? If you take it from that prospective, dissecting a cadaver (actual humans) is also cruel!

My advise is to come up with another reason why you want to attend Saba (and not any other school), as one of your interviewers may be thinking along this line, and you will be shooting yourself in the foot!