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article on st. james "a hissing match on bonaire'
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Moderator - State Licensing Forum Still skeptical after all these years. This is it. There are no hidden meanings.WYSIWYG http://www.internetmedicalschool.homestead.com http://www.chiropractormds.homestead.com/index.html |
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Related materials Article: Sun, Sand, and an M.D./p> Article: Offshore Medical Schools Operate With Minimal Oversight Article: A Pioneering Offshore Medical School Gains Credibility Article: The Egg Man and Other Anti-Fraud Activists friendly article reprints By MIKE CEASER Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles When Raja Dxxxxxxxwent shopping for a Caribbean medical school two years ago, he picked Saint James School of Medicine, on the island of Bonaire. It offered one of the cheapest medical programs in the region. It promised the Florida native sun and scuba diving. And, most important, he figured that it would stay open until he graduated. "This school had been around for about a year, so I'm, like, 'Well, it hasn't shut down yet,'" he recalled while stopping in one evening for Surinamese takeout across the street from the school. Today Mr. Dxxxxxxx might prefer that the medical school would, in fact, go away. He dropped out of Saint James in May and enrolled in the even newer Xavier University School of Medicine, a kilometer away. (Xavier is unconnected with any institution in the United States.) He and several other former Saint James students say high faculty turnover, problems with the infrastructure, and an unresponsive administration forced them to switch schools. Many are now being pursued by a collection agency hired by Saint James to demand a $4,000 fee from each student, based on what they say is an obscure clause in a contract they signed when they enrolled. Former professors and students accuse officials at Saint James, which enrolls about 200 students, of acting unethically and making empty promises. The school's Web site boasts of a campus basketball court, which a reporter could not find during three days on the island. Students and instructors have had to use rooms with holes in the floors, several former and current students say. Most troubling, until recently Saint James claimed on its Web site that several hospitals in the United States accepted its students for clinical rotations, former students say, when there were no such relationships. xxxxxx, another Floridian who transferred from Saint James to Xavier, says the hospitals' names were removed from the Web site only after he complained to school administrators. (Another former Saint James student showed a reporter a printout of the old version of the Web page, with the list of American hospitals.) xxxxxxx, a Boston neurologist who left Saint James for St. Martinus University, on the neighboring island of Curaçao, says that while he was at Saint James the school assigned a professor with a Ph.D. in psychology to teach medical microbiology. The president and chief executive of Saint James, xxxxxxxxxx, "doesn't care who covers what subject," says Dr. Sxxxxxx, who is arranging legal representation to settle his own financial claims against the school. 'It Is Cutthroat' Dr. Gxxxx, who runs the school from an office in Chicago, denies most of the accusations against Saint James, calling some "politically motivated." Responding by e-mail to a reporter's questions, Dr. Gxxxxxsays that students who had transferred out of Saint James did so in "blatant violation of the contractual agreement with the school," and that the school was justified in charging them a fee because it had helped them get temporary residency in Bonaire. Further, Dr. Gxxxxxx says, the accusations that administrators had lied about clinical-rotation arrangements with American hospitals were "the product of a sick mind, and a despicable fiction." xxxxxxxxx, dean of academic affairs at Saint James, says the school was the "victim" of what he describes as fierce competition for students between Saint James and Xavier. "It is cutthroat, but not on the part of Saint James," he says. "They came on our campus and recruited our students." Dr. Sxxxxxx, who became dean in early July, says his goal is to "keep the highest possible academic standards." The condition of the campus is no measure of the school's academic quality, he says. "The buildings don't look fancy, but the academic standard here is good." Caxxxxxxx, a lawyer in Bonaire, says about two dozen former Saint James students and teachers have retained her to pursue claims against the school. Many of her clients just want to be permitted to walk away without complications, she says. "If you weren't unhappy, you wouldn't change," she says. Getting Our Money's Worth But Saint James has plenty of supporters. Many students here say that despite the school's weaknesses it has many good professors. According to statistics on Saint James's Web site, 66 percent of its students who took the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination in 2003 passed. By comparison, 57 percent of all graduates of foreign medical schools, and 90 percent of graduates of schools in the United States or Canada, passed. Many students say they chose Saint James because of the ease of admission (the Medical College Admission Test is not required, for example) the school's short program (only 16 months) and its low tuition, only $4,000 per semester. "For what they're charging us, we're getting our money's worth," says xxxxxxxxx, a second-year student from Connecticut. "We're getting an education." Students say the school has made improvements recently: repairing floors and adding a histology lab and a student lounge. It has also expanded into unused rooms in a neighboring hospital. Tania Ananavati, an Indian citizen who did her undergraduate studies in the United States, says her parents' business troubles made it impossible for them to pay for her to study medicine at an American school. "I knew it would be a steppingstone," she says. "Sixteen months and it would get me where I wanted." Rxxxxxa Dutch-trained doctor in Bonaire who, before his recent retirement, used to fill in at Saint James when scheduled professors — the school's Web site claims a faculty of 25 to 30 — did not show up at the beginning of the academic year. He acknowledges the drawbacks of the high turnover among professors, but says, "You can't compare this with a real university that's been stable for ages. "Most of [Saint James's students] can become competent MD's," he says. Caribbean universities' modest pay, isolation, and limited advancement opportunities, as well as some schools' shaky reputations, make recruiting talented faculty from developed nations a challenge. Saint James, which Dr. Sxxxx, the neurologist, says paid professors about $3,000 per month, employs many professors from India. It has also hired faculty members with histories of serious misconduct. Wxxxx Dxxxxxx, who until July was listed as dean on the school's Web site, had his medical license suspended in 1999 in Illinois due to alcohol dependence and mental illness, according to the State of Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation's Web site. On Bonaire, his mental illness returned, and his family finally had to come take him back to Chicago, several people who knew him, including Mr. Mazur, recalled. The medical license of Dr. xxxxx, now at St. Martinus, was revoked in 2002 by the state board of Massachusetts for "boundary violations with patients, including sexual misconduct with one patient," according to the board's listing of December 2002 disciplinary actions posted on its Web site. Dr. xxxx says the allegations are false and that he is still fighting the decision in court. In his e-mail message, Dr. Gxxxx said the medical school "believes in giving someone a second chance. That is what America is all about." http://chronicle.com Section: International Volume 52, Issue 10, Page A58
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Moderator - State Licensing Forum Still skeptical after all these years. This is it. There are no hidden meanings.WYSIWYG http://www.internetmedicalschool.homestead.com http://www.chiropractormds.homestead.com/index.html |
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annoyed
i mean all u do is look for something bad about any medical school and then start chatting nonsense, when and where on EARTH are you gonna leave medical students in peace!
come on, i'm not at st. james but leave them alone!!! why are u scaring students like that? do u get paid for this(honestly)? |
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information
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__________________
Moderator - State Licensing Forum Still skeptical after all these years. This is it. There are no hidden meanings.WYSIWYG http://www.internetmedicalschool.homestead.com http://www.chiropractormds.homestead.com/index.html |
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thanks
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__________________
Moderator - State Licensing Forum Still skeptical after all these years. This is it. There are no hidden meanings.WYSIWYG http://www.internetmedicalschool.homestead.com http://www.chiropractormds.homestead.com/index.html |
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to azakeptic
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Moderator - St. James Forum |
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| Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
| From St. James to Xavier ( Everyone feel better?) | frankenstone | Xavier University School of Medicine, Bonaire | 40 | 06-06-2006 09:41 PM |
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| Residency Match List 2004 Fifth Pathway NYMC | Thor | Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara (UAG) | 0 | 06-30-2004 04:59 PM |
| recent ECFMG reporter concerning the 2004 match | bevo | Ross University School of Medicine | 2 | 03-31-2004 12:58 PM |