This is an update of a post I made in April,2006, for our new colleagues arriving for the next semester. My, how time has flown by. Will I ever get off this rock?

I thought I'd summarize the questions that will come up in the next few weeks (they always do ). You can do searches for more detailed info:

1. If you notify the school when you are arriving, a taxi driven by the best taxi driver on the Island (and you can tell him I said so) will pick you up (at either the airport, or the harbor in Ft. Bay). He drives a dark blue van, and is a very, very nice guy. The school picks up the first ride charge. Look for him and he will take care of getting you where you need to go (Matthews or Hillside Dorms). Get his phone number, you might want to call him later on (throughout your stay on Saba).

2. There is a better than 50% chance that all of your luggage will NOT arrive on Saba with you, thanks to WinAir. Don't panic. It will most likely arrive in the next 24-48 hours. The taxi driver picks up the luggage that has School luggage tags at the airport, and takes it to the school. If you miss your luggage, check at the school for it. It will be in the very large mass of other luggage at the Cafeteria.

However, because of this, it might be a good idea to have a few necessities in your carryon luggage.

If you arrive on the ferry, you're responsible for your own luggage.

I don't have any advice for those in Hillside dorm, but if you're in Matthews: Get along with the landlord. He's a character, but if you don't cause him any grief, he can be a good friend.

3. Most likely, the weather here is quite a bit warmer than what you're used to. It's also very humid, which makes it harder for your body to lose heat. So, take it easy, and drink lots of water. Cool, lightweight, light colored clothes are best. The classroom temperatures are a matter of great debate, you may want to bring a sweatshirt or sweater if you like it warmer than the rest of the class.

4. You can drink the water out of the taps. You can also filter it, or buy bottled water. I used to filter my coffee water because I brought a Britta pitcher with me, and drink bottled water for convenience, but don't have any problems drinking the tap water. Now I just use the straight tap water for coffee. Think of it as an opportunity to boost your immune system.

5. There are few places to eat on the island, and they close early - 9 PM at the latest. Don't wait to eat until late and go wandering, there won't be very many (any) places open. So, it might be a good idea to get some food put away early on.

There is a restaurant at Matthews Dorm (on the ground floor) that is open later. The Taxi driver runs it, and the food is pretty good.

When you do go out to eat, it can take quite a long time. All the food seems to be prepared just for you. Sometimes the restaurant will be out of a menu item - usually a good sign, it means a lot of people have ordered it. Adapt.

6. In your first wanderings about, check out My Store - the big grocery store in the Bottom. For about $8 you can purchase a case of 1.5 liter bottled water (12 bottles) and they will deliver it to your dorm for free. Just ask them to deliver it. My Store offers a 10% discount on Wednesdays and Saturdays, also. They accept Guilders, US Dollars, or credit cards (but you don't get the discount on credit cards, I think). Most of the grocery stores in Windwardside offer the discount too.

7. All the grocery (and other) stores are closed on Sunday (as are some of the restaurants). There is no place to buy food EXCEPT the grocery stores, unless you go to a restaurant. There is no 7-11, McDonalds or other convenience store on Saba.

8. This is not the States (or Canada), and the grocery stores are NOT a Safeway, Albertsons, or Loblaws. They probably have (between all the stores on the island) any items you really need. They may not have the brands you are used to. Get used to it, it won't kill you to try new things.

9. There are two kinds of cell phones on the island - TelCell, and Chippie. TelCell is sold at Satel (the phone co, which is just across the street from My Store) and works everywhere. Chippie is sold near the Chinese Restaurant (down the road from Family Deli) in the bottom and works most everywhere, these days. They cost about the same.

10. Try and get around on the island before school starts, and check it out. You can hitch hike pretty much anywhere during the day, assuming that there is traffic (morning, noon and late afternoon is better). Women are pretty safe during the day, but if I was female I'd be cautious at night, go with a friend and be careful (like you would anywhere). With your cellphone you can call a taxi driver and get a ride pretty much anywhere for $10 or less.

11. If you go walking at night, take a flashlight with you. The drivers here are ... sportsman. Give them a chance to see and avoid you. Walk on whatever side of the road gives them the longest chance to see and avoid you. The roads here are like a ride at Disneyland, the straigtest most level place only allows max speeds of about 35 mph for about 45 seconds....if you press it.

12. Be sure to get to Windwardside and locate the ATM, ICS (even if you're not planning on using their service), and the stores. Saba is a tourist destination (no, REALLY!) and the stores are used to people wandering in and out.

There is now an ATM in the bottom, too. I've had indifferent luck with it working, but I understand that they've gotten most of the bugs out of it and it works now.

13. Say hello and smile at other people when you pass them. Wave at them when they drive past you. It's the Saba way, and it will go a long way. Sabans are very chatty people (compared to most places) and if you don't chat back, you reinforce the bad reputation that the students can have.

If you go to a store, most all of them (all the bars and grocery stores) take US Dollars without a problem. The official exchange rate is 1.8 NAF (guilders) to $1. Some places take a little cut and give you 1.77 instead. It's always nice if you have some guilders (you can get them from the ATM's), especially for small purchases at some of the stores - you can drop a $20 on them and clean out their change.

I've found that it's best to get guilders from the ATM for the gas station. They take a bit more than 1.77 there, so I just pay in guilders.

14. If you get here very early (a week or so), consider getting dive certified - there are three dive shops on the island, Sea Saba (the first thing you'll see in Windwardside when you drive in from the Bottom), and one at Scouts Place (between ICS and Big Rock Market, also in Windwardside). There is also a dive shop in Fort Bay below "In Too Deep", which is a great place to get lunch if you're down there. Diving here is like diving in an aquarium, and having something besides medical school to think about every now and then will help keep you saner. Ask about school/student special pricing, especially at Sea Saba.

15. Dress is pretty casual everywhere, and certainly at school. T-shirts and shorts are fine.

16. Now, for those of you who are demanding some study advice, because you're OCD/ADHD (hey, all of us in medical school are to one degree or another):

Don't fall behind in any class - you can't get caught up. Study every day (especially anatomy). Get the word docs from last semester and read them the day BEFORE the lecture. The professors may have revised word docs, if so thats great - but show up to class with a basic grounding.

You can't physically read all the required and recommended text books. Don't even try. This is a lecture-driven program, and the lecture materials have ALL the information you need to do well. Limit your books to those necessary.

Anatomy (especially) is all about memorization. There are 6000 structures to memorize in the next 100 days. You don't really have much to 'understand' but there is a LOT of memorization. Figure out a way to deal with it quickly.

Want book advice? Do a search, or bring:
Netters, a
Histo atlas,
BRS for Anatomy, Histo, Embryo, ONLY.

Get your Netters and have it drilled for a 3-hole binder at Kinkos (or whatever Canadians use for a Kinkos), that way you only have to carry around the section you're working on.

Bring two boxes of gloves, and one box of scalpel blades - #10 or #22. You don't need a dissection kit. There are buckets of tools in the Anatomy Lab.

You will also need a few pairs of gloves in 3rd Semester (Neuroscience lab) and 4th/5th semesters (physical diagnosis and Intro to Clinical Medicine). You don't need a stethoscope, oto/ophthalmoscope or any other diagnostic tools yet - you can use the stethoscope and BP cuff in 2nd semester, the ophthalmoscope in 3rd (if you have it) and the rest in 4th.

Bring 2 or more sets of scrubs (you can have your name embroidered on them, unless you're a tool, just do your first name). Any color is OK. Scrubs that followed you home from a hospital are OK.

Other things to bring? Maybe some earplugs (to help prevent distractions, especially during tests). Earphones for your music. Some sort of hat (again, a lighter color - all my black baseball caps are counterproductive).

Things I wish I brought with me? It's funny, but I actually brought too much. I did have to buy some actual notebooks here, and some staples (I brought a stapler but forgot the staples?), but thats about it. Bring whatever pens or highlighters you think are good, they may not be available here.

How to get it here? Depending on how much you bring, the cheapest may be to just pay the airlines the extra $$ for more than 2 bags, or for overweight bags. Or, Hassell-free shipping will work.

Want laptop advice? Any laptop will do. It should have wireless (802.11b/g) and at least a 60gb HD. The library has wireless after 4:00 PM so you can surf from there. I REALLY suggest you get a spare power cord and power supply (Ebay is cheaper) and bring them, if yours breaks you're in a very bad place until you can get replacements (and express delivery costs a minimum of $40, and still takes at least a week).

People use regular laptops, tablets, Macs, whatever. The only consistent factor is that MS Word and Powerpoint are used exclusively. If your laptop totally dies, the SGA has a couple of loaners available until you can get a replacement.

Bring a 1 GB or larger USB flash drive, to exchange data on. There are some videos of dissection and lectures floating around so a bigger USB drive is a good idea. If your laptop has a CD or DVD burner, bring blanks to backup onto. Consider bringing a digital camera, there's lots of beauty here to share with the folks back home.

Set up (and stick to) a schedule for studying. Schedule yourself to study from (say) 7-10 pm every week night, and M, T, Th, and Friday you will study Anatomy, and Wed you'll work on Histo. Weekends study 3 hours each day. Work on your informatics projects (when you get them) and embryology. If you can get a solid grip on embryo, you will get a 'bonus' 15 or so points on the Anatomy block exams. Blow it off, and you lose those points.

Spend extra time in the Anatomy lab, and not just before the practical exams. Drill the structures into your mind, and you'll be fine for the tests.

There are few good places to study in a group, except in someones dorm room. The library is for quiet study - so be quiet there, please . The tables in the cafeteria are available at night for discussion groups. Keep in mind that there might be several other groups there too. The light is poor. There are few electrical outlets so bring an extension cord.

Days to blow off studying: The evening of Block exams - go to Swinging Doors for a BBQ dinner (Tuesdays and Fridays, Windwardside). It's over, but it starts again tomorrow, so enjoy tonight!

12. RELAX! You've made it, you're here, in Medical School! Just how great is that? Don't start studying anything until Day 1. (Yes, I know that I said you should show up having read the word docs, this is the one exception). There will be enough to study then.

In the mean time, take it easy, find the Gazebo at school (you'll spend a lot of time there), and locate the Histology lab (on your right, from the gazebo) and the Anatomy Lab (on your left). You'll spend a LOT more time in both of them. The Histo lab is the first semester classroom, and where you need to be for orientation.

Some students will share their fears with you - especially those that were around last semester. They'll tell you how hard this class, or that class is. Well, they are, medical school isn't supposed to be easy. But, it can be managed.

Have confidence in your professors. The Anatomy Professors are really EXCELLENT, I didn't have this Histo prof but I've spoken to him and he seems terrific too. The Deans are terrific and available if you have a problem.

If you have any difficulties, any concerns, any problems, anything...talk to them. They will bend over backwards to help you out. Ask for help early. And don't listen to others tell you how terrible it will be - it won't be. Just work hard and do your best.

If you have a family, contact SoS and get advice from them.

If you don't have a family, you should be getting an email from your mentor (probably during the break). Unfortunately we mentors don't have to be on the island until the day after you do so it may be hard to meet up early. Email your mentor if you have any questions.

Welcome to Saba, and if there's anything I can do to help you, I'm Rick de Castro (the older, but not oldest guy) and I'll be in Classroom 4. I'll help you in any way that I can, if you ask.

__________________
"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."

--Theodore Roosevelt