Question about St. George

[Jeffy]

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One of my advisors was telling me that St. George is actually a pretty reputable school. Unlike most Caribbean schools, students graduating from St. George get good residencies in the U.S. Has anyone ever heard anything like this about St. George?

 

[isidella]

Yes, actually I have. I work with a doc who went to SGU, did his residency at Yale and a fellowhip at Dartmouth. One of the most brillian/clever docs I know. PM me for more info!

SGUs match list and it doesn't appear toxic. See below.

http://www.sgu.edu/nhome.nsf/webcontent/806CD6E0FD4BCB2985256BA7005CE1F2?OpenDocument

 

[Chronotropic]

I've heard horror stories of grads not being able to get residencies in the US. I'm still trying to get an unbiased source to disprove or verify the stories. Anyone know about this?

 

[X]

I know a couple of docs that went there. They are both working in Cali. You do two years there and two years in the US. It is not hard to get a residency but hard to choose where you will be, although competitive residencies might be harder to get than if you went to a US school (some of their students do get into competitive residencies). You will probably not get where you want to be, that is probably the biggest problem with it. However, that doesn't seem to be that big of an issue. Their board scores are comparable with those of US schools. I think the education they provide is relatively good, since they have the money and are modeled after the US schools. You may not get some conveniences - choice of residency, have to live in Grenada for a while, etc., but you will be a doc.

They are very into recuriting and such, so if you give them a call I am sure they will send you everything and more about the school.

X

 

[Amit1]

St. George is a real sh*tter. You will have trouble getting a good residency and US MD's and DO's will discriminate and poke fun at you. Sorry to put it bluntly but its the cruel truth.

BTW The Family Guy is one of the funniest shows ever. Much funnier than the Simpsons and too clever and witty for any network to air (unfortunately).

Alllllllllllllllllllllrrrrrrrrrright!

 

[MaybeMD]

Originally posted by Amit1
St. George is a real sh*tter. You will have trouble getting a good residency and US MD's and DO's will discriminate and poke fun at you. Sorry to put it bluntly but its the cruel truth.

BTW The Family Guy is one of the funniest shows ever. Much funnier than the Simpsons and too clever and witty for any network to air (unfortunately).

Alllllllllllllllllllllrrrrrrrrrright!

wow!

 

[TexasGuy41]

Who has told you that DO's and MD's will make fun of you if you went to SGU? Why post things that you don't know to be true? Its just going to make other people feel bad. I've spoken with many many SGU grads and not a single one says that they have been made fun of for going there. If you know ANYTHING about residency programs in the US, you know that a) they are way too time consuming, stressful, and busy to give the physicians time to poke fun at each other and b) about 20% of all residents are FMG's, and I don't think that 20% of the industry gets made fun of. Not to mention the fact that "making fun" of people isn't really a commonly practiced thing in ANY professional discipline. Perhaps you also think that people that went to crappy undergrad colleges get made fun of in the business world as well? Well think again pal, it doesn't happen. Think about it, a resident went to SGU, and their colleague went to a US school. Lets say they start talking:

US person: "So where did you go to school?"

SGU person: "Down in the Carib, at St. George's."

US person "HAHAHAHAHA- YOU SUCK, HEY EVERYONE, so and so went to st. george's...hahahahahaha!"

Do you think that kind of stuff really happens?

 

[isidella]

Like I said, the doc I know who went to SGU is super sharp. I knew where he did his post-grad training, but did not know about SGU. When I found out, I was shocked. Then I realized SGU put out one of the most compassionate and bright physicians I know. It has helped me develop a lot of respect for the school and those who choose to pursue it.

Good luck!

 

[hipplayer]

Originally posted by TexasGuy41
Who has told you that DO's and MD's will make fun of you if you went to SGU? Why post things that you don't know to be true? Its just going to make other people feel bad. I've spoken with many many SGU grads and not a single one says that they have been made fun of for going there. If you know ANYTHING about residency programs in the US, you know that a) they are way too time consuming, stressful, and busy to give the physicians time to poke fun at each other and b) about 20% of all residents are FMG's, and I don't think that 20% of the industry gets made fun of. Not to mention the fact that "making fun" of people isn't really a commonly practiced thing in ANY professional discipline. Perhaps you also think that people that went to crappy undergrad colleges get made fun of in the business world as well? Well think again pal, it doesn't happen. Think about it, a resident went to SGU, and their colleague went to a US school. Lets say they start talking:

US person: "So where did you go to school?"

SGU person: "Down in the Carib, at St. George's."

US person "HAHAHAHAHA- YOU SUCK, HEY EVERYONE, so and so went to st. george's...hahahahahaha!"

Do you think that kind of stuff really happens?

Yes.

 

[X]

Another thing you can do is call SGU and get a list of their grads practicing here. They have phone numbers etc and are always happy to talk to people that are thinking of going. They probably can tell you the good and the bad about it since they have been through it.


X

 

[What the pho]

Of course they well make fun of you and look down on you, but the realty is that they wont do it to your face, just behind your back.

 

[TexasGuy41]

Its amazing how much you people actually care what other people will think of you. So what if people talk behind your back. That happens in real life everyday. What about what the Patient will think - which is only "This person treating me is a doctor". It still just says MD, not MD/SGU or MD/Harvard. Sure, pre-meds like us might go into a doctors office and think "hmm - I wonder where this person went to school" and we might even ask the doc. But anyone thats ever shadowed a physician knows that the vast majority (like 99%) of patients don't even ask. Even more so, most people don't even know what medical schools are in the US and what are not. If a patient asks you and you say "I went to St. George's" They'll have NO IDEA if its in the Carib or not. If they ask where, just say its "based out of Bay Shore, New York." Trust me, they won't prod. Just realize that a ton of people on this board - more than you might think - are seriously considering SGU and the huge sacrifices and heartaches that come with it. These people aren't lucky enough (and it is luck) to get into a US medical school, and you should give them props for having the b*lls to go to a third world country to become a doc and follow their dream. SGU stats are posted on the SGU website - this info (if you don't believe it for some reason) can be crossreferenced independently with the info from the committee that accredites foreign med schools. The bottom line is that SGU's Step 1 pass rates are right on par with the US avg, and their match rate is 99% - with the 1% being for those that didn't get their paper work in on time. If you are seriously considering SGU - then call around and ask people that know, not all the haters on this board.

 

[godblessedme]

I just wanted to add some things about SGU. I had a couple of friends who graduated from SGU and one of them actually did residency at Harvard and the other at UCLA. They're both making well close to 150K a year and nobody looks down upon them for graduating from a caribbean school. Look at it this way, if you graduate from SGU and are doing resident work with MDs who graduated from not just US Med schools but top US Med Schools, what does that say about the curriculum at SGU and how does that look for SGU graduates to be able to pull rank just alongside even ivy-leaguers? So don't trash on those who go to Caribbean schools to become doctors because they didn't get into US school because in the end, it's all about how you do on the USMLE, where you obtain residency and fellowship, and most importantly how your patients see you.

P.S. A little tidbit of information, many faculty at USC, Drew/UCLA obtained their degrees from SGU and even the Chief of Cardiology at Duke is an SGU grad.

So to those that are considering going to SGU because US Med Schools couldn't see your potential, don't feel below anyone who got into a US school because there are US Med Schools whose passing rates fall well below SGU (for example, SLU), and for those that are wondering if I'm only saying this because I didn't get into a US School, I have a place held for me at Columbia University.
Power to those who have faith and be proud of your alma mater no matter what school it is because that school will help you become what you've always dreamed of becoming!!!🙂

"It is not the actual obtainment of the goal, but the pursuit of obtaining your dream."

 

[What the pho]

Originally posted by godblessedme
So don't trash on those who go to Caribbean schools to become doctors because they didn't get into US school because in the end, it's all about how you do on the USMLE, where you obtain residency and fellowship, and most importantly how your patients see you.

So to those that are considering going to SGU because US Med Schools couldn't see your potential, don't feel below anyone who got into a US school because there are US Med Schools whose passing rates fall well below SGU (for example, SLU), and for those that are wondering if I'm only saying this because I didn't get into a US School, I have a place held for me at Columbia University.

Okay so pic SGU over SLU.🙄 You might as well pick a DO school over and MD, since they say DO students have scored the highest on step 1 usmle two years in a row. So give up your Columbia seat and go to KCOM, so I can get off the waitlist there.

 

[isidella]

Originally posted by What the pho
Okay so pic SGU over SLU.🙄 You might as well pick a DO school over and MD, since they say DO students have scored the highest on step 1 usmle two years in a row. So give up your Columbia seat and go to KCOM, so I can get off the waitlist there.

Go break yourself.

Hope you get off the waitlist really soon. . .

 

[Mike59]

How quickly people forget that carib schools don't even allow a good portion of their student body to even make it to the USMLE. If you naive enough to buy into that 99%pass rate crud, at least compare apples and apples.

At every US med school:
Lets take the top 33% of all students and send the bottom 66% of the class home at the end of each year. Now look at their pass rate and match lists.

SGU isn't comparable to any onshore school: DO or MD- bottom line.🙄

 

[Ginza]

What do you mean that SGU doesn't allow a large portion of their students to take the USMLE? Isn't passing necessary to practice medicine? Do you just mean to say that students who choose not to pursue careers in the United States do not need to take the USMLE?

 

[wack]

I think mike59 is saying that a lot of students that go to the carib fail out, get home sick, quit for personal reasons etc. The Carib schools are not an easy route. However if you are truly dedicated and work very hard you can probably get the job done. For inspiration look no further than SDN's notorious Dr. Cuts. He is from a carib school, not sure which one, and he matched into radiology this year. A much coveted match which some allopathic american MDs don't get. However he is very motivated and scored high on the boards. Unless you just have terrible GPA that is killing your chances you should probably apply to American schools several times first. Especially if you haven't taken the MCAT more than once. Remember there is rarely an easy way to something worthwhile. It might be easier to get into SGU but when you get there you will work much harder than many of your American counterparts and there is no garuntee.

 

[Thewonderer]

Originally posted by godblessedme
I just wanted to add some things about SGU. I had a couple of friends who graduated from SGU and one of them actually did residency at Harvard and the other at UCLA.....
P.S. A little tidbit of information, many faculty at USC, Drew/UCLA obtained their degrees from SGU and even the Chief of Cardiology at Duke is an SGU grad.

What are you talking about?

http://dukemednews.duke.edu/gallery/detail.php?id=440

Pascal Goldschmidt, M.D., just got promoted from being the chief of cardiology to be the chair of the department of medicine on 3/20/03. Dr. Goldschmidt received his medical degree from the Universite Libre de Bruxelles and completed residency and fellowship training at Erasme Academic Hospital, Brussels, Belgium, the Medical University of South Carolina and Johns Hopkins University.

The interim chief is Thomas Ryan and he went to med school, residency and fellowship all at Indiana.

So please tell me where you got your ideas from???

 

[What the pho]

Originally posted by isidella
Go break yourself.

Hope you get off the waitlist really soon. . .

I already broke myself off last night.
I'd love ta break ya off a little somethin somethin too.😀