Thread: True POSITIVES and True NEGATIVES of the Spartans

True positives and True negatives.

Positives:

1- One of the oldest Carib. med schools

2- One of the most affordable schools

3- Good student to faculty ratio

4- Hundreds of extremely successful grads. licensed in 44 states

5- New and improved campus

6- St. Lucia is a decent island. Has ClubMed, Sandals, etc..

7- Students can qualify for Yale Aff. Rotations (the only other carib. schools that are affiliated are Ross and AUC. Sgu has a “limited” affiliation (according to their website) with Yale-Norwalk.


Negatives:

1- Foreign administration.

2- Very little money spent on PR

3- You will not be spoonfed

4- Forget about California

5- A very “do it yourself” attitude. Students need to plan their own white-coat ceremony. Some groups do it in the Hilton or Hyatt in St. Lucia. Still I believe it is the schools responsibility.

6- The SGA (Student Gov. Association) should not be running the store, computers, etc. They should only act as the voice of the student body and set up a school party here or there, etc…

7- No alumni club (the school needs to track down and unite everyone.) There has been talk about it, but until it is done, it will remain a negative.

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Unfortunately, in this forum, very few people ever mention the positives. Therefore, we hear gross exaggerations about the negatives and a severe underestimation of the positives. Generally speaking, people enjoy complaining...

I have tried to balance the negativity with the positive but the chronic negative posters are way to powerful for the shock.. If you want membership, you gotta be negative.. However, I think that the students like and prefer to have smaller classes and thus to some degree, they would rather less people apply. That is how I felt as a student. 8)

The culture has been like this since the beginning. After only 300 Spartans of Sparta had killed over 10,000 Persian troops, in the famous Greek-Persian war, one Spartan betrayed them by showing the Persians a secret way around the mountains to trap and get to the Spartans. His name translated from Greek to English was and still is the Greek word meaning "nightmare". Maybe by showing so many of you the positives, I am betraying the Spartans of St. Lucia? For like the great Greek Spartans, they too prefer to stay small... -s&a

nice list...basically totallly useless information, for the most part...

here is what is important:

USMLE results? not mentioned

residency placement? not mentioned

licensability? california, no way, docs in 44 states...

well, those above are pretty much the only thing that matters. nobody should care about what the SGA plans or who organizes the white coat ceremony. if you care about student to faculty ratio more than usmle results, you are not thinking too clearly. and who cares if a school has been around for 20 years and still cannot remidiate the above issues.

so, spartan still doesn't make the grade, despite your spam.

neilc,

1- USMLE results are bogus for off-shore med. schools. Although, very naive and innocent people fall prey to them all the time, their results are not regulated and they can make up any score they want.

2- Residency placement is based on three most important factors: 1-USMLE scores, 2- Letter of recommendations (this is why it is important to do your rotations at the best possible USA hospitals and that you do the best job possible.) 3- And finally, how you carry yourself thru the interview process. When you are an IMG, you are an IMG no matter where you come from... Sorry to burst your bubble.

3- Licensure: Spartan is almost 25 years old, with licensed physicians in 44 states. Live with it.

-s&a

[quote="neilc"]

who cares if a school has been around for 20 years and still cannot remidiate the above issues.

I think MANY people should care about this simple fact, particularly Sparty's administration, student body, prospective students, and state medical boards.

Their HERE!!!!! I don't think that the chronic negative posters appreciate the depth of my posts much... I wonder how do they let a chronic negative poster like neilc, become a moderator?? That must have been some kind of mistake... -s&a

ps By the way, Spartan blows the czech republic away..

Originally Posted by shockandawe

ps By the way, Spartan blows the czech republic away..

Uh...how do you know? Have you eveer been there? I personally have not, but know enough that the Czech republic is home to one of the oldest medical universities on the face of this earth (fourteenth century), and certainly know better than to make asinine, unqualified statements such as yours. Do you think that this is the most productive and effective way to recruit individuals to your school?

Aloha,

Anencephalic,

How do you know where I have been and where I have not been? Unless, maybe you think that you are God?

Its another subject but I don't think that the Czech republic is the best place to go if you want to be a doctor in the USA. Why?

First, the Czech language is almost completely useless in the USA. Spanish, on the other hand, is a completely different story.

Second, you need USA rotations. Ask Neilc to explain to you at which USA hospital he did his surgery rotation. I believe he did it in Africa according to his posts.

If you don't believe me, go and ask around but you will need to do at least 1 year in USA rotations in order to qualify for many residency programs. In my opinion, just to be on the safe side, you should do all of them in the USA, especially cores such as surgery.

I don't know why anybody would go there. Its cold there too. Just thinking about it is making me depressed.

Finally, anencephalic, if I wanted to recruit people the last thing I would do is say the things that I say in this forum. The truth is that I do not give a crap about recruiting anybody from anywhere.... Whenever you guys get wounded, you call people recruiters, in order to discredit them. Besides my original message was for Spartan students and alumni, not for chronic negative pessimists like you, neilc, RajPatel and the rest of your crew. Of course, I have been expecting you though.... -s&a

Originally Posted by shockandawe

Anencephalic,

How do you know where I have been and where I have not been?

I don't...that's why I asked. So...have you been to the Czech Republic?

Unless, maybe you think that you are God?

No. Just a curious medical student wondering if you can validate the statements you make.

Its another subject but I don't think that the Czech republic is the best place to go if you want to be a doctor in the USA. Why?

First, the Czech language is almost completely useless in the USA. Spanish, on the other hand, is a completely different story.

Second, you need USA rotations. Ask Neilc to explain to you at which USA hospital he did his surgery rotation. I believe he did it in Africa according to his posts.

If you don't believe me, go and ask around but you will need to do at least 1 year in USA rotations in order to qualify for many residency programs. In my opinion, just to be on the safe side, you should do all of them in the USA, especially cores such as surgery.

I don't know why anybody would go there. Its cold there too. Just thinking about it is making me depressed.

That is your opinion, which you are most certainly entitled to.

Finally, anencephalic, if I wanted to recruit people the last thing I would do is say the things that I say in this forum. The truth is that I do not give a crap about recruiting anybody from anywhere.... Whenever you guys get wounded, you call people recruiters, in order to discredit them. Besides my original message was for Spartan students and alumni, not for chronic negative pessimists like you, neilc, RajPatel and the rest of your crew. Of course, I have been expecting you though.... -s&a

Glad I didn't let you down. Actually, I am not a pessimist, but rather, a realist. I am sorry to see that if an opinion doesn't parallel your own, then it construes "negative pessimism". I am not trying to discredit anyone on this forum, especially you, as you seem to be perfectly capable of accomplishing that on your own.

Aloha,

The answer to your question anence, is yes, I have been to Czech. Its a very nice place, for three or four days, too many prostitutes though. No harm to the medical school nor any of their students but I do not think that it is the best place to study if you want to practice in the US.

As I had already said, it doesn't really matter which foreign med. school you come from, you will still be an IMG. A person from Czech is equal to a person from sgu which is equal to a person from Spartan, etc, etc... What really matters most is how well you do on your boards and where you do your rotations. There are residency programs that will not even look at your application if you do not have at least an 80 on step 1. Others require an 88...

More, you need to do USA rotations and get USA recommendations. Now if you do your rotations in Africa, such as neilc, you will be at a huge disadvantage. This is basic stuff... -s&a

I really find it amazing how people come into this forum from the middle of nowhere and although they are doing rotations nowhere near the USA, they have the nerve to preach to us about residency placement... I'm not just talking about any rotations, I am talking about core rotations!!!! And we wonder why a small school like Spartan makes you guys so impotent and desperate... What I recommend for you guys is, first go and get a residency placement and then come back and talk to me. -s&a