I applied to St. James because it provided me an opportunity. I did the research and chose St. James on my own.

I have several comments to make regarding St. James Med.

1. St. James is a new school. Those of you who cannot bear the initial rough waters, for a sturdy ship that's readying its sails to take flight, really need to get out of medicine. Self explanatory: you're not mature and not cut-out for what lies ahead. This is your weeding out process; your departure helps make our school, St. James Med, stronger.

2. Those of you maiden students who are bearing it and not going overboard, you'll be rewarded for your persistence and hard-work. You have learned that when you set a goal, you go for it. You go straight for it until you get it. You've proven that you are strong like an ox and when it comes to the challenges that lay ahead, against other IMGs and U.S. grads, you'll beat them down and sweep them under the rug. You have the right stuff and you know it.

3. Let me tell you why I chose St. James.
a. Opportunity
b. Opportunity
c. Opportunity

4. Agreed, St. James is in its infancy. Understood, when it admitted you, the student, made an implied contract that you were committed to graduate with an MD, in exchange for opportunity and tuition. It's not cheap, but nothing worthy is. Yet, it's tens of thousands cheaper than U.S. private schools. Many of these U.S. or Canadian schools denied you this opportunity, fair or not. Be thankful for St. James.

5. Young students need to understand the opportunity to earn an M.D. to become a licensed physician comes at self-sacrifice, with dedication and tons of work. Be thankful.

6. St. James is accredited. Be thankful. St. James has clinical rotations in many states (Illinois, W. Va, NY, MA, GA, TN, MD, and KY) and Oh Canada! This is opportunity! This is diversity in patient population and presentation.

7. St. James has a short name for an IMG and it's easy to say, with a brevity of alliteration off the tongue. That's prestige, ultimately. Be thankful!

If you cannot make it at St. James, you won't make it anywhere and will have trouble being a doctor. You are the problem, not the school. Take opportunity when it comes and as it comes. Stop comparing. Stop complaining.

Or get off our ship as the rest of us are going to fly high in pursuit of our calling and mission. We will build our school's reputation in the quality of who we are and our strength against what comes before us.

Be thankful; shut-up; get busy; study hard; graduate! Enuff said.

a new school? its 5 years old at least...


what you wrote is also applicable to many of the other newer schools.

[quote=making_success]I applied to St. James because it provided me an opportunity. I did the research and chose St. James on my own.

I have several comments to make regarding St. James Med.

1. St. James is a new school. Those of you who cannot bear the initial rough waters, for a sturdy ship that's readying its sails to take flight, really need to get out of medicine. Self explanatory: you're not mature and not cut-out for what lies ahead. This is your weeding out process; your departure helps make our school, St. James Med, stronger.QUOTE]


Are you insane? Yes it is a new school, but the folks who do not want to take a chance has nothing to do with lack of maturity or even having a set balls. The fact of the matter is people don't want to take a chance with their future. You are at the school for up to two years. It's the years after that is the concern (and reading other posts on this forum, the whole thing should be of concern).

New schools do not have the affiliations that more proven schools have, plain and simple. Yes, it provides an opportunity and it is up to the student to help the school sink or swim (to keep with the ship metaphor). There is no need for these prospective students to give up on medicine because they prefer to know what they are getting into...maybe they are a bit wiser for knowing what they want after med school.

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Mongo

Be good. If you can't be good, be careful. If you can't be careful...Name it after me.

Thank you. Your remarks are simply more of the same. To me its noise because I know what my abilities are. I don't need to be baby sat like others. Indeed, this is a matter of maturity, self-confidence, persistence, and fitness to be a physician.

My suggestion is that if others want to go elsewhere, they should because they will encounter rough waters any where, either in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Carribbean,...any where, at any school. Again, the problem lies in the person, not outside.

St. James provides the road. Students place their own boulders on the road themselves. If people cannot make it through St. James, they will not make it anywhere or will definitely encounter situations later in their career that will be their demise. Medicine demands independent learning and self-pursuit.

Please transfer out if you don't like, can't take it, and want to continue to complain about it, or choose another profession, as this is NOT the one for you! Please move on to another board or suck it up and become a man.

St. James graduates that I know are generally content and proceeding fine.

The right stuff comes from within and not from the outside or the school. Those who think alternatively are hiding their own deficiencies.

Good luck elsewhere. You and others may need it, as it reflects in your mental state, not in the school or any other school.

What are you talking about?

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Mongo

Be good. If you can't be good, be careful. If you can't be careful...Name it after me.

hilarious.

sure, the individual is responsible for learning the material, passing the courses, passing the usmle, etc...

but, the school has responsibilities as well. such as providing a degree that offers opportunity, teaching the material to a high standard, offering solid administrative support and being trustworthy.

the problem is not that those that complain about st james cannot hack it. the problem is that when you pay tuition at a medical school, you are in fact purchasing something of value. and, it has been shown over and over again that the st james experience falls far short of its peers in terms of value.

so, sure. st james can get you the minimum. if all you expect from a med school is the ability to sit the usmle, get ecfmg cert and work in a few states, than maybe st james can work out. but, if you expect a solid education, a trustworthy admin, a reasonable chance are working in all states and a school that will be around in the next few years, you are far better off going to a different school. don't hold others to task for not agreeing with your exceedingly low requirements for a med school.

from what ive seen and read, st james is at the cutting edge of medical schools in the carribean. these students are hard working and industrious. im sure teh school trains these fine individuals well. good luck to you all....

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Please un-ban Preppystud, Woodbridge, Bob2k, and Rajpatel, they were the most elite members of valueMD...sbturner is my hero

Technically, this is all the U.S. schools provide also. These are the milestones to earning the M.D. No individual school has the best teachers in every department. The coursework and clinical rotations in numerous U.S. schools are also suspect. This explains why school is not enough to pass the boards; they don't always teach you what you need to know! Hence, the annual failure rates have been constant and, in the past 5 years, slowly rising at U.S. schools.

You can attend a private U.S. school at $45K per annum or a slightly cheaper state school and have crappy teachers and poor facilities. Wake up to reality, you don't always get what you pay for. Tuition hardly always translates into academic excellence.

In fact, you may not even know about most of the American programs, including residencies, which are on probation currently or in the past, because these state and private schools never let the cat out of the bag. If they did so, complainers like those on this board would have a field day. However, those students in U.S. schools are more mature about it than it appears on these boards.

It boils down to being independent. In the end, nobody is going to be holding your hand in the operating room, when there's an occult bleed and the patient's vitals are deteriorating or she's in DIC. If you cannot manage problem solving and learning on your own, please get out of medicine because you're an extremely dangerous liability.

If you think otherwise, good luck. Perhaps, we'll read about your shortcomings in the papers.


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The best doctors know what they have to do and do it. No complaints. No excuses.

As my user name would imply, I am not a medical student. I am not a doctor. I am, however, a potential patient. As such, I would prefer to find a physician who had sought out the best possible education he or she could acquire, not just a 'seat at the USMLE'. In most other professional areas, the idea of self-taught professionals went out centuries ago, and since then the field of medicine has obviously changed more dramatically than most. Please don't misunderstand--it is always up to the student to get the most out of his or her education, but in this day and age I do not think that future doctors should focus only their ability to pass an exam. They should actually want to learn and retain the information. They should want a positive learning environment. They should want the tools and technology to best understand their field. They should want the best teachers (and while there are and have been some excellent teachers at SJSM, they rarely last long, because even teachers need to make a living , and need a positive environment in which to work). I realize that not everyone who wants to be a doctor can attend a US medical school, or even one of the 'better' Caribbean med schools. And I am not saying that SJSM students may not one day make excellent physicians. However, as in most fields, the better one's education, the better's one's chances at being good (and not just successful) in one's career. My advice--don't settle if you don't have to. And if you do, keep your expectations low...

making_success, you are missing the point.

the fact is, the worst US school on probation is MILES ahead of the education that st james will provide for you.

additionally, even if you are the most brilliant doctor in the world, and could learn medicine inside and out in a dark closet armed with harrisons and a flashlight, your degree from st james would be worthless in many states and certainly not helpful in getting you a residency.

so, you can go to st james. but, no matter how hard you work and how smart you are, you will ALWAYS be at a disadvantage. period. even if you are the best.

the smart person looks for value. value of the degree that you recieve is important. and, yes, the name recognition of the school, the ability to get licensed in states, the track record of the grads all have value. all you get from st james is a seat in the usmle. st james offers nothing more than the worst schools out there, and a LOT less than most of the decent schools.