How is xavier medical school in bonaire affecting st james students??

How are the schools different.. ?
Anyone been to XUSOM?
What does the school look like?

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both are roughly the same...they are within 5 minutes walk of each other...the only difference being..st james has been around for 3 yrs with more students...while xavier just started last semester....other than that everything is the same..is there anything in particular u want to be addressed...

There are some differences like SJSM has an actual affiliation with the local hospital. During 4th semester you can do PDI at the hospital.

Frankenstone

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What about clinical rotations in the united states? both schools?

xavier currently has only one site which is in atlanta....whereas st james has a hell lot of rotations in various states..check sjsm forum under hospital listings to get an idea of st james sites..

well that one site should be enough cause i dont think more than like 10 people go to st james

Give me a break man. You have no idea what your talking about, you even sound rediculous. Go back to the hole you crawled out under.

Frankenstone

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Okay... lets get something straight… I'm not here to argue. I actually HAVE a life and income as a Chiropractor, and am just here to inform applicants who are interested in St James or Xavier. I’ve certainly become biased, but that’s only after spending my own money traveling to these places and doing my homework. I don’t want to hear from anyone complaining out of sentimental values… get real, present your facts or get the hell out of my face... Just like most of us, I too have too much to loose by making the wrong decision. And yes, I do have a family to take with, and like many, I did take notes on my trip.

I'm interested in a career change and to earn my medical degree. I learned about both facilities by seeing them on search engines online. After speaking with both admissions people (and since both were on one island… how convenient), I actually visited both facilities and spoke with faculties at both places. Xavier was actually having their grand opening ceremonies at the time, which was absolutely amazing (government officials from all over, and GET THIS… their key note speaker was from Morehouse School of Medicine in Georgia!!!!)... I don't mean to burst anyone’s bubble, but lets get serious:

St James is not even close in contest! Xavier is certainly newer, financially seems much more secure, and amazingly universes ahead of St James!

For sake of time and typing (not that good at it) here are the reasons why (remember… this is purely my personal opinion… I recommend that you do your own investigation):

1. Newer facilities - Nearly twice bigger than St James; all rooms air conditioned, and I didn't have to worry about the roof caving in on me (Mike and Kinjal... you know what I'm talking about) or being bitten by sand flies (which I just learned about them during my visit to St James). The ironic thing is that the St James students told me that their building is being rented for 60 Guilders (about $40 US dollars) per month since the place was so run down... its amazing how quickly a medical school replaced an ex-junior high school in a place that was so unfit. I didn’t get a fuzzy feeling as you could imagine.
2. Both American and International faculty – I guess the USMLE teaching method is a big deal in the offshore school scene; I was amazed to learn that Xavier actually had a faculty in charge of faculty USMLE development! Most faculty there were US trained with good credentials. St James was still giving K type and “all are true, except” questions, which I now learned is forbidden in the USMLE.
3. Security - full time, and the campus is well secured since its all gated and locked. I can study in well lit and air conditioned rooms 24 hours a day at Xavier.
4. Library - no books on cooking, fishing, diving or any other non-medically relevant stuff (wink-wink). Hundreds of up to date MEDICAL books and literatures that will actually be useful for medical students. They were also finalizing their online library that is used at schools like John Hopkins and UMDNJ.
5. Computers – Dell computers, with flat screen monitors and high speed wireless internet for their students and faculty all over. DAMN… NUFF SAID!
6. Students in Xavier uniforms – I actually thought that the caliber of students accepted at Xavier were a lot higher… they just looked and acted much more mature and Xavier actually had a selection factor that they stuck with. My friend who applied to Xavier was rejected based on academics (low GPA… she should’ve known better). I also liked the unity that all Xavier students had with their uniforms… they all wore it loud and proud. Also, most had their degrees from some quite respectable schools such as University of Toronto, and University of Kansas. I hope that I’ll be able to keep up with those students.
7. Curriculum – short and to the point: 3 ½ years for MD, or 4 ½ years if pre-med courses are needed.
8. Tuition – much cheaper premed, but more expensive basic sciences and clinicals at Xavier. However, Xavier didn’t demand a $2000, non-refundable sorry excuse seat deposit! Their $500 seat deposit gets deducted from 1st semester’s tuition. What’s the deal with this NON-REFUNDABLE crap??? What are you (medical school administration) scared of?
9. Ability to transfer – didn’t need to pay $4000 and to fill out a dissertation explaining why I wanted to transfer out, if the need arises.
10. Clinicals – At first, I was a bit disappointed about Xavier only having rotations in one state, but then I realized that this is how its done in all U.S. medical schools. I asked them why they don’t expand and they said that its not so much that they can’t, but they simply have much more control and input on their student’s medical education by not sending them to 20 different states. All rotations can be done in one state… that’s cool
11. Government support – during the 2 days while visiting, I saw three government officials just checking up on things to make sure everything is okay and if the administration at Xavier needed anything. The general consensus there is that Xavier has much more political clout than St James. You should’ve seen the grand opening by Xavier… Absolutely amazing!
12. No suing the students at Xavier – I heard (and saw the judgment) against St James, who filed a law suit against its students who decided to transfer out. STUDENTS ACTUALLY WERE SUED BECAUSE THEY EXERCISED THEIR RIGHT TO TRANSFER TO A BETTER PLACE. Thankfully, they lost that fight and the students won!
13. Support – seriously, I felt much more supported at Xavier. They had someone at every step of the way… their students agreed as well.
14. Residency – already have people in residency. Xavier also has residency placement specialists utilizing some famous company… forgot to ask the name, but will find out soon and keep you all posted.
15. Housing – a serious issue, however, I heard that Xavier has much better housing directors, and is also planning to unveil a massive dormitory building project in the months to come. Nothing said by the St James people.

Sorry dudes and dudettes, but my experience at St James was way below that of Xavier. The most important things for me were stability, a good education, great support by both faculty and staff, security, rotations and actually help with getting into residency when needed.

Hope this helps and best wishes.

Doc73

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wow wut a difference a month makes.....word of advise don't get impressed by the outside cover....have a more closer look and let me know how it goes...seeing that u are about to join xavier.....let me know a month after u join how u honestly feel....i also was initially pondering between switching.......the main reason being due to the terri loans and the fancy building in which xavier is in.....but honestly i didn't get some of my questions answered...so i decided to stick with st james...if u ask me both the school are about the same...and the best thing that has happened to each of them is the prescence of the other school on the same island...as long as these two schools are here on the same island...u will see positive improvements from both sides....
and oh yeah u came at the best time to check out both sjsm and xavier...the week u were here was during the biggest festival season in bonaire...u are lucky u didn't come here during august or sept when there are not so many tourists....anyway good timings...u got to enjoy your stay and do your research at the same time.....anyway best of luck with your studies....
to be honest i am getting sick of the defending the same baseless accusations over and over...so i won't even bother comenting about your points here...take care and again wish u all the best on your studies...

Doc73,

I, too, had a life as a manufacturing manager and see nothing wrong with St James. Since I live and go to school here I think I know a little more about what is going on..... We are in three buildings, and making big improvements like getting ready to include a cadaver lab and moving all classes into the old hospital building. More rotations including a full contract with Mercy Hospital in Chicago, I would much rather have choices on where to do my rotations not stuck at one location We also have actual affiliation with the local hospital to do PDI in your 4th semester. We can actually go in to view surgeries. We just got 6 more Dell computers in today. We got a cafeteria. St. James also has a USMLE review committee and USMLE review classes. All classes are well air-conditioned also.

Sand flies! What sand flies? How about mosquitoes? It's mosquitoes. ALL buildings have mosquitoes on this island. Its the national bird here on Bonaire.

The lawsuit was by the students to get transcripts.. please get your facts straight.

So, if a new building is what makes a difference to you, then go to Xavier. I look at the meat of the program not the aesthetics. Also, Xavier students have to wear Xavier shirts madatorily - it's not the school pride.

Better students than St. James....well, could be....not certain at this point.


Lastly, there are big things in the works for the school so stay tuned. Can't mention it now.

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