Hello all. Hopefully I can add some insight to this thread.
Currently there are three veterinary schools in the Caribbean, and they are all different. Lumping them together would be like saying Cornell, Tuskegee, and Western are all the same because they are all in the U.S. So it is important to examine each of the Caribbean schools individually.
As the enrollment counselor for the vet school at St. George's I can tell you about the school I work for.
Many people assume that schools in the Caribbean accept everyone that applies. This is not true for St. George's University. We received just shy of 300 applications for our incoming class that just started in August. Of those applications we accepted a little over 90 students, 80 of which matriculated with us. So our classes are quite competitive as well.
It is true that many of our students were not accepted into U.S. schools. Does this mean they are inferior? Definitely not. In many cases, students that attend SGU are students that had one bad semester that brought their overall GPA down. In many cases this one bad semester can be explained. Maybe it was a death in the family, or a number of other reasons. Whatever the reason, the student bounced back and got strong grades the rest of their education, but that one semester brought their overall GPA down below the standard of the U.S. School they are applying to. The average GPA of our incoming students is a 3.2, which is not all that far off from the U.S. average of a 3.55.
The majority of professors at SGU were professors at U.S. Veterinary schools, and our visiting professors are still professors at schools such as Cornell, NC State, Purdue, Auburn.... etc.
I would never tell anyone that SGU is better than a U.S. school, but there are some advantages to coming to us.
1) More hands on experience. We have a very busy teaching hospital on campus that students rotate through. Out students generally get 10-20 spays and neuters under their belt in their first three years.
2) Dual degree programs. Since we have the medical school and veterinary school on the same campus, it was easy for us to set up a dual DVM/MPH program which is only offered at a handful of U.S. Schools. We also have dual degree programs where you can get a MSc in Wildlife Medicine and Marine Medicine. How many U.S. schools can you take a boat out and go Dolphin Watching? You can at SGU.
3) Clinical rotations at any one of our affiliated schools. This advantage is often overlooked. We are affiliated with 22 of the 28 vet schools in the U.S. 2 out of 5 in Canada, 2 in the U.K., one in Australia, and 1 in Ireland. This gives our students the opportunity to choose which school they want to go to for their clinical rotations. Although all the schools offer the same core rotations, each school has their own speciality. For example, if one of our students wants to go into Equine Medicine, they can choose to go to the University of Pennsylvania where they have the New Bolton Center, and they can get that added equine experience. Some of the schools we are affiliated with have agreements with local zoos where students can do their electives to get extra exotic experience. Chosing your 4th year school is a big advantage.
4) Weather. It is a whole lot nicer working on the farm in January in 85 degree weather than 25 degree weather.
To paint a clear picture, there are some drawbacks as well. First you are a long way away from home, and that in itself can be stressful for some people.
The Island of Grenada is small. There are less than 100,000 people on the entire island. So obvioulsy you will not find the huge shopping malls and movie theatres that you would find in the U.S. That doesn't mean that they don't have stores and movie theatres, because they do. Everything is just on a much smaller scale.
And of course, as mentioned the additional exam. Currently our students do need to take the ECFVG .... O R .... the PAVE depending on where they want to practice. Although it is an extra hurdle, our students have been very well prepared for them and successful with passing them.
SGU has been in the accreditation process and is working very hard towards this goal. We are determined to achieve full accreditation which would eliminate the need for our students to sit either of this additional exams.
COST. This is often a big misconception. Our tuition averages to be roughly $25,000 per year. So in most cases our tuition is cheaper than for U.S. students attending a school outside of their own state, or a state in which their state has a contract with. Of course you have to factor in living and travel expenses which we estimate to be roughtly $16,000 per year. That includes room/board/flights...everything.
Now here is something I tell everyone to think about. I see many students get rejected from U.S. schools, and in order to get in, it is suggested to them to either re-take classes, or get a master's degree. Others just reapply year after year. In many cases they get in on their 2nd, 3rd or 4th attempt, but what did that just cost you? Not only did you spend money to take/retake whatever classes, but you just lost 1,2,3 years off of the amount of time you will be practicing as a DVM. If you calculate 2 years of DVM salary that you just lost, you can see it is a lot cheaper NOT to wait and to go to a Caribbean School.
Student Loans. I read a post about the Stafford Loans. Our Medical School has had the Stafford Loans for many many years. However our Veterinary school does not currently have it (but has been trying to obtain). Nothing Shady about it...
SGU can however help students get loans that mirror the Stafford Loans. SGU also has several scholarship opportunities that can greatly reduce your cost of attendance.
Again I just want to say I am not here to say SGU is a better option than the U.S. schools. I just wanted to clear up some misconceptions, and let you know it is a very viable option for students not getting into U.S. schools solely due to the lack of seats available.
Please don't take my word for any of this. Feel free to contact me and I will put you in touch with any of my grads now happily working in a town near you.
If you have any questions, please please please, don't hesitate to ask me, or attend one of our open house presentations.
Sincerely,
