I have been looking to attend several offshore veterinary schools. I was seriously thinking about attending Ross, but I am not to thrilled to live on a island where I constantly have to be concerned about my safety. I was wondering if anyone who is currently in the program at SMU could give me their honest opinion on the level of education at the school. Also how is the financial aid at the school. Are you able to get a loan to cover all expenses? I would appreciate any comments. Thank you for your advice.

As a former rossie who transferred to SMU I can tell you that your concerns about ross are absolutely valid. The program here at SMU is excellent; a few kinks as yet to be worked-out, but still top-notch. They're trying hard to bring everything up to the level of the other off-shore schools, and for the most part, they've succeeded in a very short period of time. Financial aid is available through private lenders (Teri and HealthMedExpress), and yes, it covers basically all of it, tuition, living expenses, etc. Of course, the fact that tuition here is about $3K less per semester than ross doesn't hurt one bit

If you come to Cayman to study veterinary medicine, crime will be the least of your worries. My first semester at SMU is almost over, and I have learned alot. As mentioned above, there are a few kinks to be worked out, but it hasn't had a negative effect on my education at all. In anatomy we take trips to the department of agriculture for gross dissections. On our last trip we spent over 6 hours down there. With the animal not being embalmed, you get a much greater feel for what it's like. And you will also begin learning some basic suture techniques your first semester as well.

Many people get confused and make the wrong connection between the level of education and amount of material. Most likely you will be studying more material at an AVMA accredited university. The question however is how useful that information is. Those institutions are already well established with research funds starting in the millions, so student success is no longer at the forefront like it should be. They can throw as much material as they want at you. They will still be around whether you do well or not.

With that being said, you will still study massive amounts of material at SMU and you should study every day if you expect to do well (A's and B's). However, the curriculum appears to remove alot of the unnecessary material and instead focus on critically important material. It isn't a coincidence that many state schools say that Ross and SGU students do better in their clinical year than the other students. Their curriculum is more focused also.

While you will encounter some students who have nothing but negative things to say, I am personally extremely impressed with how quickly this school has strengthened since its inception in 2005. Each semester gets better and better. If you choose St. Matthew's and work hard, becoming a highly competent veterinarian is well within your grasp. Best of luck with your decision.