Originally Posted by scoobz1981

Okay,
you are asking the fundamental question that everyone wants an answer to. I think there are alot of parts to this question: maybe it would be a good NOVELET if some publisher picked it up and it could be titled "What's the deal with Caribbean Medical Schools?"

Basically, I think the first thing you need to do is apply to an American/Canadian medical school! Now, if you feel that you are NOT competitive or if you think that you will be wasting your time etc. then you have some other questions to be asking.

There is only 1 Caribbean medical school that I know of (and feel free to correct me here - I am not perfect) that is backed by an American Medical School and that is St. Georges University (SGU). That is an advantage over the other schools. So, if you can't get into an American/Canadian school, SGU is a great 2nd choice. Also, if you are from the New York area, this school is great because they place most of their students there (JEFF_SGU would be the ValueMD user to verify this... I am not 100% familiar with SGU, so if this needs to be corrected then please correct me). Also, they have been around very long, and they have a GREAT reputation with the licensing boards and have held California and New York approval for a long time also (don't ask me how long, I know that it is longer than MOST caribbean schools). The only REAL downside to SGU is the number of students that are accepted I think is higher than most other Caribbean schools, they also REQUIRE MCAT's, and they are one of or maybe the MOST EXPENSIVE SCHOOL down here. So for me, this was NOT an option due to the MCAT thing, otherwise I would have gone there as 1st choice and I think if you get into SGU, then you should NOT pass it up. In fact, my best friend Jasser is currently at SGU so if you want to hear what's it like, feel free to ask me for his contact info. He loves it. It's a very professional institution.

So, not an SGU fan. Then SABA is probably the 2nd best Caribbean school. It now has California approval which makes it even more appealing. Up sides to this school are the cost which is I think one of the cheapest tuitions in the Caribbean at roughly $6500 a semester for basic sciences (although cost of living on the island can be quite high as is shipping stuff here). Another plus is that we have been around a long time (not as long as SGU or ROSS). In addition, there are NO distractions here so it is very easy to study (or go completely insane). Now the island has DSL so that also helps things out. The class size is about 55-60 in first semester (and ours was about 53, 20 months ago when I started, so it hasn't gone up that much). Another plus, is that from what I have seen, most students who come to SABA do finish basic sciences, and NONE are really forced to leave. Read one of my other posts on this topic (I don't feel like repeating myself). The downside to this school is that the island is very isolated, and grocery prices are high. The school library has only older journals (a few are kept relatively upto date - like March of this year etc.) and the number of computers in there (19) really is lacking in my opinion. I found it a negative that attendance was manditory because I can NOT learn in lecture (this is just a personal preference). Also, I think what the school fails to tell you and it should make this CLEAR, is that this school is like a WORK environment, not like a school environment as much (at least thats how I felt). I mean, your professors are like your employers and they from my knowledge evaluate you as a student every semester which I think is more work oriented than school (at the University of Toronto, the only time a professor ever cared about u was when you were doing research with them and then that evaluation was used to tabulate your grade). Now, had I known this from day 1, I think things would have been different and I would have been very closed off from the rest of my class, and kept things personal to myself like at work. Umm... negatives... We don't have any clinicals in California YET, but I hope that will change soon. I think that some professors are way better than others, and I think that all-in-all the professors do a good job of showing you the material - not necessarily teaching (but I also had my headphones in my ears for most of my time here so I didn't pay attention that much - although the times I did, I thought that the teaching was anywhere from insufficient - and most of these professors are no longer here - to excellent). I may not like their style, or their attitudes, but I think that they have certainly at least shown me everything that I can expect on the USMLE, and I know that when <a target=new href=http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=c97WUMRO5hY&offerid=47491.10002441&am p;type=3&subid=0 >Kaplan</a><IMG border=0 width=1 height=1 src=http://ad.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/show?id=c97WUMRO5hY&bids=47491.10002441&ty pe=3&subid=0 > had their diagnostic test here, it shocked me that I had seen every question (or the material in it) before at some point during my time on SABA. So putting my feelings aside and being objective, they did their job - thank you! Would I recommend SABA after coming here. YES! Just be professional and pretend its work would be my advice.

My second choice was MUA (medical University of the America's) and the upsides are: Cheap and they have a pre-med program if you don't have all the prerequisites. Downsides: No Cali/NY approval, hasn't been around that long, and you are NOT allowed any porn on the island (which would be hard... I mean soft for me to deal with). I have many friends who are at MUA so feel free to ask for their contact info also.

The other schools... well, I would love to talk about some of the other schools, but I only know what I have been told as RUMORS or from students who "went there." Here is what I have heard, and if anyone is an admistrator from these schools and this info is wrong, COULD YOU PLEASE CORRECT ME!!! I really want to know what the truth is, so please post some updates to this!!!
Ross: admits way too many students into basic sciences, and then has a problem dealing with these students when it comes to clincals, so they cut students throughout the program. The big plus that I have heard about ROSS is its increadible 5th semester and clinical preparation, they supposedly have these LIFE-LIKE models that are programmed to react like real live humans when you do stuff to em like injecting drugs etc. That is just KOOL!!! I would have loved that if SABA had em (hint, hint, nudge, nudge, hurry up and run to the store and buy em... lol)
AUC: Mainly has clinical rotations in Europe (england if I am not mistaken) and very few in North America. Big plus is that they are on a big island and their school is beautiful.... just very impressive facility.

The rest I am not really upto date on so I won't bother... I hope some of this helps. AGAIN, If I have said something wrong, or you know for a fact that one of these RUMORS is wrong, FEEL FREE TO CORRECT ME, I would prefer to be wrong about some of this stuff.

Val