Forum: St. Matthew's Medical School Forum Location: The Cayman Islands, British West Indies Basic Science Tuition: $8,900/semester Clinical Science Tuition: $8,900/semester USA Clinical Rotations: Yes Time required for MD: 10 semesters Year Founded: 1997 Scholarships: Yes E-mail: Email St Matthews Medical School Bookstore: St. Matthew's Bookstore Album: Saint Matthews Album Survey: St Matthews Medical School review

A Brief History of Cayman Islands by The World Factbook 2007

The Cayman Islands were colonized from Jamaica by the British during the 18th and 19th centuries, and were administered by Jamaica after 1863. In 1959, the islands became a territory within the Federation of the West Indies, but when the Federation dissolved in 1962, the Cayman Islands chose to remain a British dependency. Read More

Study medicine from an International perspective! Surrounded by delicate coral reefs and gentle tropical breezes, St. Matthew's Medical School campus is located on Grand Cayman Island in the Caribbean Sea. The Cayman Islands are part of the British West Indies, so English is the national language. The country enjoys stability, a strong tourism trade, a safe community, and highly developed technology and health care resources.

Saint Matthew's University Basic Science Faculty consists of a group of highly skilled and dedicated professors who are focused on teaching the art and science of medicine and remaining readily accessible to students. These professors are highly qualified and hold the MD, PhD or both.

St. Matthew's Medical School state-of-the-art campus offers wireless internet connectivity, excellent anatomy, histology, microbiology and clinical skills labs along with beautiful classrooms, spacious study areas and student lounges. An inviting and newly renovated residence hall with access to beautiful Seven Mile Beach is just minutes from the campus.

With world-wide accreditation and clinical sites in the US and England, St. Matthew’s University Medical School has attracted students from a variety of different nationalities creating a healthy make-up of medical students from Europe, particularly the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. A student body with medical students from a variety of different backgrounds complements the cultural mix of lifestyle on Grand Cayman today.

The Clinical Sciences are taught in teaching hospitals throughout the United States, Canada and England making your educational experience truly international. St. Matthew's students stand shoulder-to-shoulder in clinical rotations with students from medical schools in the US, Canada and England and St. Matthew's graduates have been very successful in obtaining excellent residency positions in some of the finest and most rewarding facilities in the United States.

Medical schools in the U.S. are forced to turn away highly qualified applicants. Today, more than 20% of America's physicians owe their education, and some of their success, to medical education outside the United States. St. Matthew's offers an alternative but not a compromise. We maintain the highest standards to ensure that we prepare the next generation of physicians who are both competent and compassionate.

St. Matthew's Medical School makes rigorous demands on its students. The overall program has been carefully designed to support the greatest career flexibility. Graduates are well prepared for the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE), which will qualify them to enter a U.S. residency program. We offer a joint dual-degree program with St. Joseph's College of Maine that allows students to earn an M.D. and a Master of Science in Health Services Administration degree. St. Matthew's University School of Medicine is a premier physician preparatory training facility. Our students benefit from:

Integrated medical curricula

Spacious, fully equipped and technologically advanced campus facilities A highly qualified and experienced faculty and staff

A low student-to-faculty ratio that ensures personal attention

United States and United Kingdom clerkship training in clinical sites that are accredited teaching hospitals.

Scholarships and financial aid in the form of deferred repayment

TERI Loans for up to the full amount of tuition and living costs.

Each candidate is evaluated on the basis of these factors:

• Academic background
• Overall grade point average Science grade point average
• Science grade point average
• Strength of major/minor
• Letters of reference
• Personal statement
• College activities that demonstrate service to the community.
• Personal Interview

Admissions Committee The committee begins the reviews of applicants for the upcoming semester on the 1st and 15th of every month. The committee selects students who exhibit the strongest potential to flourish in a medical school environment and execute the duties of a medical doctor professionally and ethically. If the student's credentials meet the admissions criteria, the candidate will be interviewed in person or by telephone before a final decision is made. Applicants should submit materials early and make sure files are complete. The admissions committee will not review incomplete documentation.

Basic Sciences

The medical curriculum of Saint Matthews University School of Medicine integrates basic and clinical science to give medical students an understanding of the human body in health and disease. This approach enables medical students to use their knowledge not just to treat patients, but also to prevent disease and promote good health.

Sensitivity is as important to patient care as a mastery of clinical skills. We believe patients are cared for-not "processed"-and therefore SMU Medical Students are taught to incorporate social, cultural and spiritual perspectives in working with patients. A healing partnership with patients grows from mutual respect and understanding. At St. Matthew's University Medical School, we believe that learning to balance analytical skills and people skills is vitally important to a doctor's success.

Throughout the first two years, medical students participate in a series of clinical medicine courses that focus on the art of patient care and preventive medicine.

Patient care in the broadest respect is at the center of every course. Medical students examine the role of medicine in the community and the affect disease has on the family, as well as the individual. Special segments deal with the ethics of the physician-patient relationship and with the ethical dilemmas posed by modern medicine.

Clinical Sciences

At the end of the fourth semester of Basic Sciences, students leave Grand Cayman to start clinical clerkship rotations. At midterm of the fifth semester, students participate in a Clinical Orientation where they receive information on available clerkships. Each student completes a Clinical In-Processing File that includes his or her three preferred training sites. Every effort is made to assign students to the hospital that best suits their qualifications, requirements, and desires.

Core rotations will be taken and completed in a teaching hospital, which is defined as a hospital with a residency-training program accredited by ACGME, or at a St Matthew's University approved site. Each student is prepared to sit for the appropriate licensing examination required by each hospital in order to begin Core clinical rotations in that hospital. The St Matthew's University staff must submit documents to the affiliated hospital for credentialing. This process takes four to six weeks.