I'M FLYING DOWN TO SABA TO VISIT AND FINALIZE MY DECISION TO ATTEND; I WAS ACCEPTED FOR SEPTEMBER 2005. MY PRIMARY REASON FOR MAKING THE VISIT WAS TO SPEAK DIRECTLY WITH THE CLINICALS COORDINATOR TO GET A REALISTIC PICTURE OF WHAT AND WHERE MY CLINICALS WOULD BE. I'VE HAD SOME MUCH APPRECIATED FEEDBACK FROM THIS FORUM, BUT I WANTED TO HEAR DIRECTLY, FROM THE SOURCE, AS TO KIND OF CLINICAL OPPORTUNITIES THAT ARE AVAILABLE (OR UNAVAILABLE) IN NEW YORK CITY.

WHEN I CALLED TO SET UP THE APPOINTMENT, I WAS TOLD THAT AS A NEW STUDENT, "IT'S TOO EARLY, SHE WON'T MEET WITH YOU." I GOT THE EMAIL ADDRESS OF THE DEPARTMENT AND WROTE A REQUEST, BUT GOT NO RESPONSE.

MY DECISION TO SWITCH PATHS AT 38 AND FOLLOW A DREAM OF BECOMING AN MD HAS A SIGNIFICANT OPPORTUNITY COST ATTACHED TO IT. I'M A LAWYER, AND I ALREADY MAKE MORE MONEY THAN I COULD HOPE TO MAKE AS A DOC. I OWN MY HOME IN MANHATTAN, AND WILL BE LEAVING IT TO LIVE THE STUDENT LIFE IN SABA. IF I'M GOING TO SPEND HALF A MILLION DOLLARS TO BECOME A DOC, AND LOSE THE OPPORTUNITY OF MAKING MILLIONS MORE, I FEEL IT'S ONLY RESPONSIBLE TO HAVE A WELL FOUNDED PLAN FOR THE FUTURE.

MY MOTIVATION FOR ATTENDING SABA WAS THAT IT FIT ALL OF MY REQUIREMENTS. IT'S A THREE YEAR PROGRAM, THEY DIDN'T REQUIRE ME TO TAKE A LOT OF ADDITIONAL PREREQS OR THE MCAT, AND THEY HAVE NY AND CA APPROVAL. IT'S QUICK IN AND QUICK OUT, AND AT MY AGE, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE.

BUT AT THIS STAGE IN MY LIFE, I DON'T WANT TO LIVE LIKE A REFUGEE DURING MY CLINICAL TRAINING. I WANT TO KNOW WHERE I'LL BE LIVING. IF I CAN'T DEPEND ON DOING ALL OF MY CLINICAL WORK IN THE NEW YORK METRO AREA, THEN I WANT TO BE ABLE TO PLAN ON AN ALTERNATE LOCATION. I'M NOT WILLING TO JUST CROSS MY FINGERS AND HOPE FOR THE BEST 2 YEARS FROM NOW.

MORE THAN ANYTHING, I'D LIKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO SIT ACROSS FROM A DESK FROM A PERSON WHO CAN ANSWER MY QUESTIONS HONESTLY AND WITH AUTHORITY.

DO ANY OF YOU HAVE RECOMMENDATIONS AS TO WHO I COULD CONTACT TO MAKE THAT HAPPEN?

THANKS SO MUCH. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT ENCOURAGES ME ABOUT SABA IS THAT SO MANY OF YOU ARE WILLING TO SHARE YOUR GOOD AND BAD EXPERIENCES. MEDICINE IS ALL ABOUT AFFILIATIONS, AND IT SEEMS LIKE THE STUDENTS AT SABA ARE FAIRLY TIGHT.

BIGGUY

Please let us know how it goes.

BTW, three year program? Only theoretically, afaik. 20 months of basic sciences, then you need to take step 1, then 72 weeks (minimum, plus travel time) of clerkships. But, don't worry about it, it's worth it.

__________________
"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

Well, first of all, if you're flying to Saba to meet the clinical coordinator, you're flying in the wrong direction. All of the clinical rotation portion of the education is handled out of Saba's home offices in Gardner, Massachusettes. Come to Saba to see what the island is like & what living here is like during your 20 months of Basic Sciences, but coming to Saba isn't going to tell you anything about Clinical Rotations.

The Clinical Coordinator as they told you, is very unlikely to meet with you as since she is already very busy coordinating all of clinical rotations for the hundreds of Saba students who are currently in the rotations portion of the education. It is a very small office & as it is, all of us already paying Saba students bug them on a daily basis trying to figure out where & when our rotations are going to be. She comes to Saba once each semester to meet with the graduating 5th semester class, during which time every person in that class has an appointment with her to start determining where they're going to go. Let me rephrase that, that is the FIRST time that any of us have a meeting with her about our rotations. She does visit each of the other semester's classrooms & takes questions, but does not have the time to meet 1 on 1 with every single student, let alone every potential student.

I really don't mean to be making this so harsh, I'm just telling you the way it is, and that's something we all know, and we've all accepted in deciding to come here in our hopes of becoming a physician. Essentially everyone who comes here knows good & well that some parts of this education just aren't going to be for certain. Will the education on Saba prepare you for Step 1 and your rotations.... yes. Will the Saba clinical coordinators office get you into all your core rotations.....yes. Will they do it exactly to your timetable & in the location you want..... no. They will try their best, but that's just not a promise made, and I'm sure if you were to visit with them personally they'd say the same thing. Their duty is to make sure you get the core rotations, period. You set up your own elective rotations (typically not a problem & done through contacts made during your core rotations), and if you want to go to one certain location for the entire time, you probably need to set up your core rotations by yourself as well. Most students who come here will end up doing at least a little moving around in order to complete their rotations, that's just part of this loophole that is Caribbean Medical School (I don't think it's a Saba only thing, but can't be 100% certain.)

There are currently 3 locations affiliated with Saba where you can do pretty much all of your core rotations, Baltimore, Kansas City, and Homa (sp??) Louisiana (not New York Metro like you mentioned, I think you can do a fair amount there, but don't think as many as those 3 locations.) Obviously as you're hoping for, so are many other students hoping to be able to set up shop in one location & not have to move around a lot. But there are only so many rotations available at each of those locations, & the simple fact is that they fill up. And when faced with who to send to those rotations, several issues are going to come into play, is that location your hometown, do you have a family which makes it much harder than other students to move around, & even what were your grades & performance at Saba & on the USMLE like compaired to the other students wanting the same rotation as you. Not questions that can be answered this early in the game for you, and thus again, too early for them to even be able to give you an educated straight answer even if you were able to meet face to face.

All in all, think really hard about is this really the right path you're wanting to take in your life. Coming to Saba to become a physician is all about compromises made because your desire to be an MD outweighs any other reasonable sacrifices you'll have to make in order to get there. I've always been very happy with the opportunity that Saba has given me in my goal of becoming a physician, and very happy to suggest this route to anyone else who's interested, but I think you really need to reconsider if this direction is the way you want to go about it, not just Saba, but a Caribbean medical school in general. If you want certainties like you mentioned, I think maybe you should really consider taking the MCAT, getting a good score, and trying to get into a New York area medical school, which is possible too, not easy, I sure wouldn't want to try, but maybe that's just me!

I know this has been kind of a "tough love" reply, but I really am trying to give you information as honestly, accurately, & plainly as I can. I've been at Saba for awhile now, have had a lot of friends here, who are now in their rotations and feel I have some insight into what comes after Saba, and I think I've been as accurate as I can be. I hope this all has been helpful in some way, that's really the only reason I'm here writing this. Best of luck in whatever path you decide to follow!!
Patrik

Thanks for the advice Patrik!

May I also be as strong in the force one day, oh Jedi Master.

__________________
Saba Forum Moderator
Saba University School of Medicine, MSIV
Interests: Pediatrics, Psychiatry

It is not surprising that they would not meet with you. When I applied I actually made a trip to Gardner, MA and met with all the different departments. If you make an appointment they are pretty cordial. It is only 2-3 hours from NYC as well. You can do alot of rotations in NYC including IM, OB/GYN, Surgery, and Peds. I don't think that they have psych yet, but that is something that you could do in NC. The hospitals are Lincoln in the Bronx and Brookdale in Brooklyn.
I have a separate question, are you going to medical school to be a doctor or are you going to continue being a lawyer when all is said and done? Just wondering.

Holy cr***p Wolf, you just made my day, I love that animated SW gif, I'm a huge fan!! I'm making that my icon for my instant messenger!! Thanks!!

Hello all,
Thanks for the feedback. Taking a trip to Gardner never occurred to me. I just assumed that the clinicals coordinator would be in Saba; but of course, it makes absolute sense that they're based in the states. I'm absolutely going to do that. I understand now that the clinicals office is bombarded by students. I'm less offended that I didn't receive a reply.

To answer the question directed at me. I'd love to practice medicine, but having the MD would make me pretty attractive as a patent lawyer in the pharm/med-equipment world, or as in-house counsel to a big hospital corporation. I'm not really sure. If I can finish residency by 46 or so, that leaves a good 20-25 (or more) years to do a lot of things. I'm not so much money motivated; I just want a job where my eyes don't glaze over from boredom. One of the things that attracts me to medicine, is that it's a job you can do, and be respected for, until you drop dead of old age. I know a lot of 78 year old doctors. I can't say the same about any other field.

One more question for those of you doing your rotations now. Let's say you're in your IM rotation at a hospital, is it unreasonable to think that you might be able have close enough contact with other departments to be able to wangle another rotation out of them. Or is that just crazy talk? Is it possible to have rapport with directors, or are clinical students just pesky fleas?

Thanks again,
Bigguy
Ps. Thursday, I'll be the dork walking around the school looking confused and wearing a tie. Feel free to say hello, or throw fruit.

Bigguy,

Patrick was absolutely right. You will likely get very little or no info about rotations on the island. All of that is handled in Gardner.
They are as busy as advertised.

Finishing in just over 3 years is realistic. 20 months on the island and 72 weeks of clinicals. You do the math but,

Starting in September however, you will not be able to make the match until 4 years later.

So if you start in Sept 2005 you will be able to participate in the 2009 match, meaning that you will start residency in July 2009. If you hustle and take rotations back to back to back without vacations you will finish in about December of 2008 or Jan 2009. That means you will be waiting 6 months to start residency.

The down side is that you will not have much time to study for boards on this time schedule. I am not sure what your motivation is regarding medicine is but if you want to practice medicine you will want to have good board scores to get a good residency and that will require time to study. If you are disciplined and do not have many distractions you can study sufficiently to do well without taking time off.

There are many rotations that you can do in NYC and if you network there you can do more. There are a few rotations that you will likely have to go elsewhere to do but you can probably do most of them in NYC.

Saba has a limited # of clinical spots, so if you want to finish early you have to be flexible, meaning you may have to go to other locations to finish without any interruptions.

Ross has more rotations in the NYC area and I think St. Georges does as well. I am guessing you did not take the MCAT and that is why you did not mentioin those schools.

Currently, if I am not mistaken, you do not need the MCAT yet but that may be changing soon. If you have not taken the MCAT then Saba, by far is the best choice.

By the way,
Leave the tie at home. If you have any more questions, PM me.
Good luck.




I am speaking from experience as I was able to finish in about 3.5 years.

Hey BigGuy,
I'll be the tall dark haired woman walking out of Classroom 4 looking very very sleepy. And I'm the only Shauna on campus, so if you have any questions I should be easy to find.
Patrik is not easy to find - he hides in his little office like a hermit and only comes out when he thinks he won't be spotted. He should just use the force to be invisible...

__________________
Saba U Class of 2007
Penn State University Anesthesiology Class of 2011
Thereafter, Professional Gas Passer

Oh man, gasdr's right, I hope you're kidding about the tie, otherwise we're going to know you as the sweaty guy in the tie!! It's the Caribbean, bring your flip flops & a T-shirt, you'll fit right in. Good points about the timing of rotations. It is possible to do everything in less than 4 years, but that takes other sacrifies like no time off, little time for studying, & probably moving around a lot to start one rotation as soon as another has ended. Maybe see you Thursday then, how long are you staying anyway?