breezing through carib schools

[MSc44]

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ok so i have heard a few conflicting stories
are there actually students that go to schools like st george and ross and jerk around and still get through. I know these schools are either sink or swim, however i know of 2 people who went down there, were not really bright students and were deffinetly not the most motivated and they are now in 3rd and 4th year....................i thought studets like that would deff fail out but i guess u just have to go through the motions and just PASS

anyone have any comments

 

[bulletproof]

ok so i have heard a few conflicting stories
are there actually students that go to schools like st george and ross and jerk around and still get through. I know these schools are either sink or swim, however i know of 2 people who went down there, were not really bright students and were deffinetly not the most motivated and they are now in 3rd and 4th year....................i thought studets like that would deff fail out but i guess u just have to go through the motions and just PASS

anyone have any comments

there are students who go to these schools and jerk around and pass. Many however outwardly display the 'too cool for school' attitude while around other students, and then go home and study their b*lls off. In order to make it to 3rd year they have to pass their step, and in order to make it to 4th they have to pass both steps. You don't get that far by absorbing info. by osmosis, so yeah..they're putting in the work somewhere along the line, although they probably don't like to have that known.

 

[McGillGrad]

As bulletprrof mentioned, some people are book-smart or have quirky memories and do not show it in everyday interactions.

If you do not study, you do not pass because no matter how you slice it, you need to pass step 1 and both step 2's before entering the match so you must know something.

BUT getting a decent residency is a WHOLE other issue.

 

[DD214_DOC]

Maybe they're just super smart. I've known a lot of super smart people who had mediocre GPAs just because they were lazy and I've met people with 4.0s who spent 30 minutes looking a new ruler because the one they had started at 50 instead of 0.

My GPA in college wasn't that great, but it seemed I was one of the few people who understood the concepts of what was going on, which allowed me to figure stuff out. Other people wouldn't be able to find their ass if they didn't see it in an anatomy book. That's why the reliance of medical schools on GPA is somewhat scary. Med schools seem to recruit potentially-good students, not potentially-good doctors.

 

[FutureDocDO]

Many however outwardly display the 'too cool for school' attitude while around other students, and then go home and study their b*lls off.

This is so true! I've had experiences with people in undergrad who acted like they've never had to study but I've have caught them going to the library 🙂. Maybe they were trying to trick me not to study so I'll fail out or something. Or they're just attention ****** wanting others to think of them as natural geniuses but in actuality they studied their arse off.

It doesn't matter if you attend a US medical school or an off-shore one, you will have to work hard to make it.

 

[bulletproof]

Maybe they're just super smart. I've known a lot of super smart people who had mediocre GPAs just because they were lazy and I've met people with 4.0s who spent 30 minutes looking a new ruler because the one they had started at 50 instead of 0.

My GPA in college wasn't that great, but it seemed I was one of the few people who understood the concepts of what was going on, which allowed me to figure stuff out. Other people wouldn't be able to find their ass if they didn't see it in an anatomy book. That's why the reliance of medical schools on GPA is somewhat scary. Med schools seem to recruit potentially-good students, not potentially-good doctors.

and i don't necessarily disagree....but I think most people will agree that 'smarts' really only carry you so far in med. school. Examples...o.k so you understand the big concepts of immunology but the question asks for the CD involved in class switching. Or the question asks for the second messenger involved with the receptor used by a B1 agonist? This kind of material is not "intuitive" and cannot be reasoned out. Either you memorized that CD40 is involved in class switching or you didn't. They might give you CD3 as an answer choice ( pan T cell marker), CD 19,20 ( pan b-cell markers ), etc. You see what I am getting at? The USMLE tests this material..so you have to know it. Yes, some individuals can retain stuff easier, and are more efficient at studying, but everyone has to have at least read, and retain the info. And there is an infinite amount of info. That is why people who tell you they don't study in med. school are Full of Fecal matter. ADCOMs like high GPAs as they interpret that as an ability to retain info. Given the above, they see that as a positive predictor of success in med. school. It is not necessarily that thes indiviuals are smarter, per se, but they have displayed via a high GPA( in most cases) a "willingness" to memorize data. And in med. school that unfortunately is what its all about.I agree with you that the system is not optimized for selecting "good" doctors. I guess they believe good doctors are coined in residency. Now back to memorizing more fascinating details of the NMDA receptor.

 

[lvspro]

and i don't necessarily disagree....but I think most people will agree that 'smarts' really only carry you so far in med. school. Examples...o.k so you understand the big concepts of immunology but the question asks for the CD involved in class switching. Or the question asks for the second messenger involved with the receptor used by a B1 agonist? This kind of material is not "intuitive" and cannot be reasoned out. Either you memorized that CD40 is involved in class switching or you didn't. They might give you CD3 as an answer choice ( pan T cell marker), CD 19,20 ( pan b-cell markers ), etc. You see what I am getting at? The USMLE tests this material..so you have to know it. Yes, some individuals can retain stuff easier, and are more efficient at studying, but everyone has to have at least read, and retain the info. And there is an infinite amount of info. That is why people who tell you they don't study in med. school are Full of Fecal matter. ADCOMs like high GPAs as they interpret that as an ability to retain info. Given the above, they see that as a positive predictor of success in med. school. It is not necessarily that thes indiviuals are smarter, per se, but they have displayed via a high GPA( in most cases) a "willingness" to memorize data. And in med. school that unfortunately is what its all about.I agree with you that the system is not optimized for selecting "good" doctors. I guess they believe good doctors are coined in residency. Now back to memorizing more fascinating details of the NMDA receptor.

No matter how smart you are, if you don't study in med school you will fail. There is way too much info, presented way too quickly to presume otherwise. Most of the "too cool for school" types ended up getting thrown out, failing step 1, or living somewhere without such strict standards to practice medicine...ie in the carib. I have yet to meet someone who can truly say they didn't study very much, and landed a decent residency, US or IMG.

 

[logical44]

No matter how smart you are, if you don't study in med school you will fail. There is way too much info, presented way too quickly to presume otherwise. Most of the "too cool for school" types ended up getting thrown out, failing step 1, or living somewhere without such strict standards to practice medicine...ie in the carib. I have yet to meet someone who can truly say they didn't study very much, and landed a decent residency, US or IMG.

That's the truth!
You can be as smart as your shadow, but if you don't want to fail, the books must be held constantly.

 

[NRAI2001]

I thought ur question was asking if carrib. schools are easier to graduate from than US schools.

I dont' know the answer to this, but i ll tell u what i have noticed. I have a few friends who barely graduated from Cal (other schools also), and were usually almost always in the bottom of their classes here and had trouble learning stuff that most people thought was relatively easy. They were always hard working, but they just didn't seem to get stuff at times. But many of them are at carrib. schools (SGU, Ross, and St. Mathews) and most are in the top 1/3 of their class and a few are even in the uppermost top of their class. If they ve changed in some way personally or if the schooling structure/ competition is different, i don't know that either, but i think its a good question.

 

[NRAI2001]

I also know of a few people who don't study nearly as much as their classmates do, mostly bc they are aiming for less competitive residencies and they are less competitive in their own nature. To them a pass is a pass.

 

[MD Dreams]

I'm an SGU student in my third year (clinical rotations). Since I've gone to medical school my perception of medical students has changed. Medical students are not necessarily smart, nor determined, they are just extremely good at cramming in a lot of information into their brain in a short period of time (usually a couple of days before the exam). And this is how they pass. Even when it comes to the USMLE, in order for one to fail, they have to really not know anything taught in the first two years.

Now there are some that are very smart and others that are very determined. I believe the latter make the best physicians, their hardwork shows during the clinical years and their passion and dedication sets them apart from others.

SGU, like many other medical schools, is what you make of it. Even if you are not the smartest person in the world, even if you can't cram, you can still work like there is no tomorrow and be successful. The price is that you may not have as much free time and fun as others on the island, but trust me, if you love medicine, it will pay off.

 

[alphahelix]

I envy those of you of whom are already in medical schools. Im trying real hard now to put together my application and prepare for the April Mcat and then apply. I guess after reading many different opinions, it sure gives me hope and stir my interests in attending SGU. I woud like to ask those who are attending SGU or other Carib schools, do you feel lonely or detached once your there? Hows the student body at SGU? Does SGU provide clinical training in the US? What determines whether a residency program is a good or a bad one? A
All your replies are much appreciated.

Thanx 😕