Ross vs. St. George

[Hellothere2]

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Hey guys I'm trying to decide between these two. I'm wondering if any of you have been to the islands. I went to both schools open houses.

St. George painted such happy picture of life on Grenada nice beach, hiking, nice warm whether, friendly natives, very safe, everything accessable...😍

But at Ross open house some were saying the whether is always rainy, full of mosqitos, not so safe to live there, natives are very poor so you have to really watch out for your stuff, no cell phones, they have no cows, so no red meat, lettus doesn't grow there, no good salad, mailing system very slow. YOu can get your luggage shipped there (takes about 1 month to get your stuff all crushed and messed up) somewhat like a bootcamp...
😱
I'm very scared. Please tell me how do the islands compare, I think people at Ross were just more honest than people at st. George. I just want some hard facts. I think I could handle bootcamp for becoming a physician, but I want to know what I'm getting myself into...
Please comment
Thanks

 

[McGillGrad]

Do not be scared. Expect island life to be a mirror of a very inconvenient but otherwise healthy experience. Some people have not had experience outside of the US or Canada and thus cannot fathom what it is like to live without electricity, indoor plumbing or easy access to food but as much as it is a pain in the neck, it is nothing to worry too much about.

Most people are capable enough to survive most anything and you will do fine. If you are really worried about living conditions then do not go to Ross or Saba. If you absolutely require a semblance North American amenities then consider AUC.

Go visit the schools if you really want to know. If you cannot afford to visit them then you are not snobby enough to suffer much to begin with.

Maybe people who are in the schools can give you their opinion, but unless they have been to more than one school, their experience is limited, too.

 

[utorontograd]

If you cannot afford to visit them then you are not snobby enough to suffer much to begin with.

Hahahaha. Makes sense to me.

 

[lktm831]

i too have gone to both open houses and St. George paints a picture of paradise and how wonderful and beautiful the place is, while Ross paints a picture of how the island is not a tourist island. It was intentional that they put the school in the middle of no where so you have nothing to do but to study and they hope that the seclusion will allow you to focus and not be distracted and do well.

with that said, as awful as Dominica may seem from the open house due to it being a 3rd world isolated rainforest island, i have chosen to go to Ross. Its only 16 months on one island, opposed to St. George where its 2 entire years and you have to move islands towards the end.

I'm starting Jan '07 i'll let u know how Ross is!

btw if you want another mental image of the island Ross is located on... think Pirates of the Carib 2 it was filmed on Dominica. http://www.piratesdominica.com/

 

[soshah]

Im a student at SGU. The program here only requires you to be in the caribbean for a little less than 2 years. for the first year and about a half, your in grenada. For the last five months your in a different island, St Vincent.

If i had to choose between Ross and SGU, it would definitely be SGU. Ross's campus is definitely subpar compared to SGU's. Also, Dominica is a horrible island. Dont get me wrong, Grenada is pretty bad. But Dominica is much worse. There is a lot more to do in Grenada. The SGU campus is much much nicer. The faculty here is very helpful, and i feel like i have a good grasp on my understanding for the boards.

And if you enjoy the occasional drink after an exam, like we do here, SGU students have a few places to party here. Dominica has none......

Also, and im not sure about this, but Ross has been having difficulty placing their students into rotations their 3rd year, because they bring in students 3x a year. So a lot of students, apparently, had to wait a few months before they could start their rotations. But again, im not sure if this is correct. I only heard it from the grapevine....

 

[utorontograd]

Im a student at SGU. The program here only requires you to be in the caribbean for a little less than 2 years. for the first year and about a half, your in grenada. For the last five months your in a different island, St Vincent.

If i had to choose between Ross and SGU, it would definitely be SGU. Ross's campus is definitely subpar compared to SGU's. Also, Dominica is a horrible island. Dont get me wrong, Grenada is pretty bad. But Dominica is much worse. There is a lot more to do in Grenada. The SGU campus is much much nicer. The faculty here is very helpful, and i feel like i have a good grasp on my understanding for the boards.

And if you enjoy the occasional drink after an exam, like we do here, SGU students have a few places to party here. Dominica has none......

Also, and im not sure about this, but Ross has been having difficulty placing their students into rotations their 3rd year, because they bring in students 3x a year. So a lot of students, apparently, had to wait a few months before they could start their rotations. But again, im not sure if this is correct. I only heard it from the grapevine....

The comforts of the island are largely inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, particularly how nice one's campus looks in pictures. From what I understand though there are a shortage of pediatrics core rotations at ACGME sites at Ross. That's something worth considering.

An additional $40,000.00 USD and an additional 8 months of time it takes to educate students at SGU are also points to consider.

 

[soshah]

The comforts of the island are largely inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, particularly how nice one's campus looks in pictures. From what I understand though there are a shortage of pediatrics core rotations at ACGME sites at Ross. That's something worth considering.

An additional $40,000.00 USD and an additional 8 months of time it takes to educate students at SGU are also points to consider.

Actually, the 8 months additional time to teach at SGU is a complete fallacy. Our winter break lasts 4 weeks, while Ross lasts only 2 weeks. Our summer breaks lasts 6 weeks, Ross lasts only 2 weeks. So you leave the caribbean sooner, but when your in Miami, your basically studying non-science based classes such as clinical skills....so your not really saving any time.

More importantly, the money is inconsequential especially since Ross students are unable to always get acmge greenbook hospitals for clinicals.

Moreover, the island makes a HUGE difference. If your morale is not their and your dreading each day, you wont study effectively. Bottom Line.

 

[utorontograd]

As Ross students past and present have indicated there seems to be a shortage of ACGME pediatrics sites. What students who aren't able to get those rotations do is simply take them at ACGME equivalent peds sites. Or find their own ACGME rotations out of the Ross network. This doesn't affect future licensing.

$40,000.00 is $40,000.00 and for Canadians who don't get any significant government assistance it makes a big difference. I'm willing to be flexible for one rotation to save that much. For those who aren't you know where else you can go.

In terms of morale... thousands of students have received their M.Ds from Ross. The Ross campus is very technologically advanced. Classes are spacious and comfortable. The island is not what one from Canada or the U.S. would be used to but it is suitable for productive study.

Unless whomever it was that asked the initial question has a choice between the two schools these comparisons aren't really useful to anyone because people tend to get emotional and blur, skew or overlook real facts.

 

[awdc]

You get what you pay for. I did enjoy my time on Dominica but I know I'm not in the majority when it comes to that sentiment.

 

[Bevo]

As my SGU interviewer once told me

If you get into SGU or Ross, just got to one of them. No sense in nit picking the situation.

Statement assumes that you get into both. But if you got into Ross and not SGU, then just go to Ross. Why delay.

I would go to SGU over Ross, if the choice is there.

This SGU vs Ross debate is endless, its been done a thousand times over. THere will never be a clear cut answer.

 

[Shah_Patel_PT]

Im a student at SGU. The program here only requires you to be in the caribbean for a little less than 2 years. for the first year and about a half, your in grenada. For the last five months your in a different island, St Vincent.

If i had to choose between Ross and SGU, it would definitely be SGU. Ross's campus is definitely subpar compared to SGU's. Also, Dominica is a horrible island. Dont get me wrong, Grenada is pretty bad. But Dominica is much worse. There is a lot more to do in Grenada. The SGU campus is much much nicer. The faculty here is very helpful, and i feel like i have a good grasp on my understanding for the boards.

And if you enjoy the occasional drink after an exam, like we do here, SGU students have a few places to party here. Dominica has none......

Also, and im not sure about this, but Ross has been having difficulty placing their students into rotations their 3rd year, because they bring in students 3x a year. So a lot of students, apparently, had to wait a few months before they could start their rotations. But again, im not sure if this is correct. I only heard it from the grapevine....

I totally disagree. I went to a big ten school in the USA. When I went to Ross, the classrooms were way better and "high tech." They even have a new cadaver lab that video tapes every single cadever..and projects it on multiple flat screens to be viewed by the students. (only the U of Michigan medical school has this, in the midwest)

 

[Shah_Patel_PT]

You get what you pay for. I did enjoy my time on Dominica but I know I'm not in the majority when it comes to that sentiment.

I enjoyed my time in Dominica too....and by the way....had we gone to SGU during the time we (awdc and me) did....our campus would have been blown away by the hurricane (chance event).

 

[frenchie]

I enjoyed my time in Dominica too....and by the way....had we gone to SGU during the time we (awdc and me) did....our campus would have been blown away by the hurricane (chance event).

uhhh...this didn't quite happen...

 

[Mom2three]

I'm also considering attending one of these schools. However my situation is a little more complex as I will be bringing a husband and three young kids along with me. Can any of you who attended these schools give me some insight into some of the aspects of life on the island, ie. will my husband be restricted as to where he can get a job, are there schools there for my kids, is crime really a problem, and is transportation a problem?

I'm totally up for the challenge of island life, I just want to make sure I'm doing what's best for my kids. I look at this at a great learning opportunity for them, they can come away from this experience with a lot of empathy for other people and their situations, things that they won't necessarily learn here in the states.

 

[utorontograd]

I'm also considering attending one of these schools. However my situation is a little more complex as I will be bringing a husband and three young kids along with me. Can any of you who attended these schools give me some insight into some of the aspects of life on the island, ie. will my husband be restricted as to where he can get a job, are there schools there for my kids, is crime really a problem, and is transportation a problem?

I'm totally up for the challenge of island life, I just want to make sure I'm doing what's best for my kids. I look at this at a great learning opportunity for them, they can come away from this experience with a lot of empathy for other people and their situations, things that they won't necessarily learn here in the states.

Ross University has a preparatory school for children of students. I believe it is right on campus.

From what I have read on other forums, your husband will not have many employment options in Dominica.