Hi to all of you,

I have been trying to ask questions to current or graduates of spartan but i have got no response, does this mean that all people on this forum are from different schools?
because if that is the case then why do you guys have this thread?
or is it that current students are not willing to help incoming students?
i have heard that this is a very good site to get some advice from students about the school, but it seems to me that there are no students in this forum from the school.

again i would like any person who had some experience with this school to give me an advice...

any advice from you guys will be greatly appreciated.

thank you very much for taking the time and responding, not just reading and moving along.

i'm a recent grad. i'll tell you the same things you have already read. spartan is one of the cheapest schools you can attend. you have to work very very very hard to get to where you want to be. and i mean very hard. u need to start studying review material for the usmle from the first day of class.
i recently matched into my first choice (obgyn) at a great facility in florida. i had to study my balls off for the step exams. every carib student/grad that was interviewing was on the same level. no one ever said "why did you go to spartan over ross." your end goal needs to be--score extreemly high on the usmle. that's the only thing that set me apart from the other students.
on the island you need to show up to class (all classes! this isn't undergrad where you can pick up someone's notes and do well). get used to island life and don't get caught up in the drinking crowd. there will be students that want to party every weekend, but you'll have to stay focused and goal directed. getting into school is easy. making it through will be the hardest thing you've ever done in your life. but, if this is what you really want, you'll make it just fine.
some classes are great, some classes really suck, some professors are outstanding, some professors are very poor. but you'll still have to show up and put in the effort.
hope this helps. send me a message if you need any more info.

Thank you ery much for taking the time and writing back, i have decided to go to spartan on MUA, and will be attending in may. hope to have a good exprience and be as successful as you are. wish you all the luck in your residency.

RN2DR- I really appreciate your response. I also am considering Spartan but wasselm is correct, there are not a lot of Spartan students who are on this site compared to other schools....so its a little scary.
So many questions..ha ha

You have done so well...that is great ! Your future looks bright.
I hope I have similar success !

Thanks again !

Personal thoughts and experiences shared.

Discussion:

Just a message to share my past 27 years experiences in Medicine.In 1980 I was in my home country med school but forced to leave to avoid political prosecution and discrimination,I came to America and learned about schools like AUC and Univ Dominica but decided on [Univ Dominica] but at that time I simply could not adjust to Island living and the facilities as well as no financial option were available,my money started to ran out fast,I decided to go to cheaper school,and have nothing but unusual success since.During my long term career I took exciting jobs including overseas position in helping gov upgrading its healthcare system by reviewing standards,preparing for Joint commission inspections[JCIA],grading grads levels and reviewing schools standards in mid east and Eastern Europe for the purpose who to hire,participate in discussing affiliations with Harvard and Johns Hopkins international,etc
& If I have to review your school[I never claim I am expert but someone with little background] I will start with review the curriculum,basic sciences facilities,faculty,accreditations,clinical affiliation,and most importantly to me:where are the grads,and how are they doing?
many info I can get from the school website then Catalogue as a start,then search the web to identify grads,look at state boards for actions against them,look at state reviews,and form initial conclusion.
the catalogue gave me great deal of info:
http://www.spartanmed.org/pdffiles/S...g2005-2008.pdf
on page 13 the arial view of the campus gives me good idea and the campus seems adquate for basic sciences,16 faculty including dupty of min of health on board and 4 library staff.admin,etc and the photos of the labs all seems little small but reflecting the small classes and students total # and that is acceptable.
clinicals in Chicago,MD,GA,and few other places seem to be used by most carribean schools and the standards of such hospitals exceeds most third world counties hospitals standards[many major teaching hospitals I reviewed overseas do not have MRI,private rooms,new books,etc],so I am satisfied with the basic sciences and clinicals,looking at grads I am also happy to see grads in exceptionally hard to get places and in large numbers and many have 20 years practice solid history.looking at approvals and reviews I can only find one review in 1985 by California that disapproved the school and at that time the school was in a different facilities and hardly any history or grads
also with some experience in this area we know any accreditation process is useless if given for life because standards change with time!!.Another review by the supreme court of OK stated the grads education and after USA residency is considered LCME comparable despite a state board disagreement,also on this issue the Dept of education did list St Lucia as a country as comparable standards to LCME and another review results will be available by end of May ,2007.

my conclusion:
the schools have all basic elements that is require to produce successful competent physicians and for students who are serious and hard working they can do exceptionally well and in my opinion and experience visiting many 3rd world countries school,it exceeds them,yes I looked at 100 years old buildings and ancient libraries but as the lady on Wendy's commercial said "where is the beef"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!huge bun bit coin size humberger,and that explain many of such schools grad have hard time passing USMLE and the most items on the agendas of state boards is why x applicant took >7 yrs to pass and waiver requests?

hope above can be helpful to officials and students.

My opinion and experiences shared.

and of course its my personal opinion[above not to recommend or attack the school but just expressing opinion and personal experiences over 2 decades].

You made some excellent points ASIANDOC !

Thanks !

Thanks to you guys for taking some time and giving some information about the school. I will be going to the school in 18 days and hope to find what I am looking for over there. I will post more often to this site about my findings about the school.

Again thanks for the information from all of you.

i got off the island two years ago, and yes it's hard not to get distracted during basic sciences. i wish i stayed focused and didn't skip out on classes, but i managed to kick myself back in shape for the clinicals and honored all of my rotations but two. i just took my step 2 CS and will be starting obgyn in chicago off cycle this winter if my work visa pulls through on time.

some people like rn2dr give it all right from the start and get through on time with flying colors. some people like myself fall off track here and there, but pull it off in the end. and of course some people just don't get through period...

really it's all upto you. the caribbean stigma, the spartan rumors, they're just and only that, and won't hinder you from becoming and working as a doctor.

its only numbers, the other schools take in a lot more students than spartan so they haver a higher percentage of us wasting our time on here. spartan is what it is, a cheap alternative vs an expensive one. they charge less tuition so expect no golden facilities not many US/UK faculty but in the end you gotta pass they exam. contact about half a dozen states you want to do residency and consider working in and make sure it is ok there (this goes for any school actually) other than that follow the same advice at any school--don't party overload, study, and make it through

good luck

__________________
OBGYN PGY II
I see light at the end of the tunnel!!!...wait a minute its just another freakin tunnel!

Based on my reseach,the big 4 among others catered for US medical schools who failed admission[sorry about this expression but its the reality] to fullfil their dreams and by far the student body and faculty are from US ,in contrast to Spartan and based again on available info they caterted to all international applicants,you see the pakistani and Saudi who graduated and returned home,you see the Nigerian and St Lucian faculty,you see grads practicing law and judges,you see CEO's and teachers,so from my observation Spartan crowd including faculty and students mainly international group and the big 3 are US group and that is very important observation I noticed in my reviews,rarley you see grads from St George for example practicing in Liberia or Dubai,but its common with Spartan and per my search spartan has licensed physicians in 48 states,and much more licensed grads all over the world like Tiawan,Liberia,Dubai,Saudi Arabia,Nigeria,UK,Scokholms,to name few based on just internet search.



just my personal opinion & observation