Life @ Carribean Med School?

[FuturaDocta]

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Hi,
I looked at some of the Big 4 medical schools. And while they all look beautiful, I am turned off by the statistics of crime. I know, it is the Caribbean's. But, I was wondering if a medical student from one of the Big 4 can give me a personal view of the area.

Here some questions:
1.) How is the crime for you?
2.) What are some fun activities to do on the island?
3.) How long does it take for you get the "island effect"?

Thanks

 

[phospho]

there's a carib forum...

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=90

 

[FuturaDocta]

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Oh! Sorry, I wasn't looking hard enough.

Thanks. 👍

Someone can relocate this, but I am just gonna make a new thread in the Caribbean thread anyway.

 

[Conjuctiva]

i'll answer for you.. i go to SGU, 2nd term

the crime is like any other city in the US... dont be stupid and u wont get hurt (ie dont walk home from bar drunk alone, dont hitch rides from locals u dont know, etc). Actually it's fairly safer here than it is in some cities... there are no shootings, mostly just occasional stabbing and robbery/mugging, but thats only if ur stupid like aforementioned, or you live far far away from campus. the school as been around for 30 years, the locals know how to interact with the students. I'm not afraid walking home from the bar with friends, i'm not afraid at the beach, etc. however, i dont leave my door unlocked (and my apt has window bars) and we havent heard of crime happening in the near vicinity of school. the occasional stabbings are mostly b/w locals (and the # of stabbings is still < big US city) and the robberies are at houses far off the main roads, stuff that's left in the open stupidly, etc.

what's there to do? there are a couple of night clubs, a few bars, usually everyone goes to the club from 10-2 then bar from 2-4/5 for the afterparty... we study hard and play hard 😀 there are plenty of resorts to do scuba diving, kayaking, water sports, tours of the island to take, fish fridays in the fishing town, lots of restaraunts, but no casinos or stripclubs or brothels. Best thing: BEACHES!!!! there are VERY VERY few beaches in the world that'll let you swim out 100 feet and its only 16 feet deep, warm water, crystal clear (seeing starfish on the bottom when ur on top), such as the beach here. just amazing.

it takes quite some time to adjust to the island life... which is warm-hot, humid, SLOW! slow service, slow workers, slow everything. but, its great and you'll get used to it in 2 months, it wont affect any of your studies... i mean everyone gets used to it.

so... when i look outside the library to study, i see the beautiful turquoise waters of the caribbean.... better than being in cold ass colorado and lookin' out the library and seeing a mountain of snow.

 

[FuturaDocta]

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i'll answer for you.. i go to SGU, 2nd term

the crime is like any other city in the US... dont be stupid and u wont get hurt (ie dont walk home from bar drunk alone, dont hitch rides from locals u dont know, etc). Actually it's fairly safer here than it is in some cities... there are no shootings, mostly just occasional stabbing and robbery/mugging, but thats only if ur stupid like aforementioned, or you live far far away from campus. the school as been around for 30 years, the locals know how to interact with the students. I'm not afraid walking home from the bar with friends, i'm not afraid at the beach, etc. however, i dont leave my door unlocked (and my apt has window bars) and we havent heard of crime happening in the near vicinity of school. the occasional stabbings are mostly b/w locals (and the # of stabbings is still < big US city) and the robberies are at houses far off the main roads, stuff that's left in the open stupidly, etc.

what's there to do? there are a couple of night clubs, a few bars, usually everyone goes to the club from 10-2 then bar from 2-4/5 for the afterparty... we study hard and play hard 😀 there are plenty of resorts to do scuba diving, kayaking, water sports, tours of the island to take, fish fridays in the fishing town, lots of restaraunts, but no casinos or stripclubs or brothels. Best thing: BEACHES!!!! there are VERY VERY few beaches in the world that'll let you swim out 100 feet and its only 16 feet deep, warm water, crystal clear (seeing starfish on the bottom when ur on top), such as the beach here. just amazing.

it takes quite some time to adjust to the island life... which is warm-hot, humid, SLOW! slow service, slow workers, slow everything. but, its great and you'll get used to it in 2 months, it wont affect any of your studies... i mean everyone gets used to it.

so... when i look outside the library to study, i see the beautiful turquoise waters of the caribbean.... better than being in cold ass colorado and lookin' out the library and seeing a mountain of snow.

Great post! Think I wanna go there now. I'll definitely consider it!😎

 

[ER-ER-Oh]

I went to SGU, graduated 2005, now an ER attending physician at a large level 1 trauma center. I LOVED the island. BUT...some of the younger students from suburban cities had a difficult time there because they were used to the suburban life; easy access to movies, McDonald's, malls, etc. And they were used to going to restaurants with good service. This made some students ill at ease, usually because they misunderstood the slower, relaxed mentality of the islanders.

The people of Granada were extremely cool and nice in my opinion, but I'd been to many parts of the world prior to this. People go to a small town in Italy, sit and sip Pellagrino, wine, eat salads, etc. and don't mind that they're sitting there for 30 minutes before someone comes by again to ask if they'd like another drink. In Granada that's the norm, and it's not because they don't care, it's just the culture, i.e. laid way, way back. The result was often some spoiled rich kid from a New York suburb acting like the locals were lazy and purposely ignoring them, a total bunch of nonsense.

Given that, there's a beautiful grocery store near campus where you can get almost anything you can get in the U.S. including Hagen Daz ice cream and smuckers jellies to name a couple. The weather is incredible, the beaches amazing, and the rain forest unbelievable. There are wonderful restaurants, some great bars, and many out of the way spots to find.

I lived in Lans Aux Epines, a really nice area near the school and never had any remotely scary events as far as crime. I felt it was the best 2 years of my life. I had great friends that I still keep in touch with, all of whom are now successful doctors, some in great fellowships, including one in critical care at John's Hopkins. We studied very, very hard, but played a lot, and I mean a lot. We had fun doing both.

 

[FuturaDocta]

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I went to SGU, graduated 2005, now an ER attending physician at a large level 1 trauma center. I LOVED the island. BUT...some of the younger students from suburban cities had a difficult time there because they were used to the suburban life; easy access to movies, McDonald's, malls, etc. And they were used to going to restaurants with good service. This made some students ill at ease, usually because they misunderstood the slower, relaxed mentality of the islanders.

The people of Granada were extremely cool and nice in my opinion, but I'd been to many parts of the world prior to this. People go to a small town in Italy, sit and sip Pellagrino, wine, eat salads, etc. and don't mind that they're sitting there for 30 minutes before someone comes by again to ask if they'd like another drink. In Granada that's the norm, and it's not because they don't care, it's just the culture, i.e. laid way, way back. The result was often some spoiled rich kid from a New York suburb acting like the locals were lazy and purposely ignoring them, a total bunch of nonsense.

Given that, there's a beautiful grocery store near campus where you can get almost anything you can get in the U.S. including Hagen Daz ice cream and smuckers jellies to name a couple. The weather is incredible, the beaches amazing, and the rain forest unbelievable. There are wonderful restaurants, some great bars, and many out of the way spots to find.

I lived in Lans Aux Epines, a really nice area near the school and never had any remotely scary events as far as crime. I felt it was the best 2 years of my life. I had great friends that I still keep in touch with, all of whom are now successful doctors, some in great fellowships, including one in critical care at John's Hopkins. We studied very, very hard, but played a lot, and I mean a lot. We had fun doing both.

Great! I think I like the slow pace. I am definitely going to apply. I would like to get a taste of the beach. 😎

 

[Ludacris]

I went to SGU, graduated 2005, now an ER attending physician at a large level 1 trauma center. I LOVED the island. BUT...some of the younger students from suburban cities had a difficult time there because they were used to the suburban life; easy access to movies, McDonald's, malls, etc. And they were used to going to restaurants with good service. This made some students ill at ease, usually because they misunderstood the slower, relaxed mentality of the islanders.

The people of Granada were extremely cool and nice in my opinion, but I'd been to many parts of the world prior to this. People go to a small town in Italy, sit and sip Pellagrino, wine, eat salads, etc. and don't mind that they're sitting there for 30 minutes before someone comes by again to ask if they'd like another drink. In Granada that's the norm, and it's not because they don't care, it's just the culture, i.e. laid way, way back. The result was often some spoiled rich kid from a New York suburb acting like the locals were lazy and purposely ignoring them, a total bunch of nonsense.

Given that, there's a beautiful grocery store near campus where you can get almost anything you can get in the U.S. including Hagen Daz ice cream and smuckers jellies to name a couple. The weather is incredible, the beaches amazing, and the rain forest unbelievable. There are wonderful restaurants, some great bars, and many out of the way spots to find.

I lived in Lans Aux Epines, a really nice area near the school and never had any remotely scary events as far as crime. I felt it was the best 2 years of my life. I had great friends that I still keep in touch with, all of whom are now successful doctors, some in great fellowships, including one in critical care at John's Hopkins. We studied very, very hard, but played a lot, and I mean a lot. We had fun doing both.

I agree. It's not as "third world" as people make it out to be at all. It is good here... mind you I just started this January in Basic Sciences.

You can get pretty much any food at the grocery store near campus (bus (paid for by tuition) to and from there). There's also a bus to surrounding areas as well. The locals have been friendly too. I've only experienced one rude local lady at the grocery store but that can happen anywhere!

Most (if not all) of the professors and TAs have been been very friendly, approachable, and knowledgeable.

I don't think it's TOO slow here. I mean it can be very slow at the bank but restaurants haven't been too bad up till now... I have had to wait just as long or longer at certain restaurants in Toronto as well.