Saint George University ???

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Medicineman20

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Ok I am in the process of the AMCAS application, I am incline to apply to Saint George University, anyone know the cost of living in Purto Rico?? :confused:

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Last time I checked sgu was in grenada...is that in puerto rico? Regardless I know a few people who go to sgu and recommend it among other caribbean schools. From what I know their tuition and cost of living is ridiculously high (like $60K/year or close to it). That being said they have good affiliated hospitals and have a great rep in US and a decent USMLE pass rate and matchlist.
 
Isn't Ponce the med school in Puerto Rico?

Better check which school, exactly, you're applying to!
 
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The last few posts are right, SGU is in Grenada, not Puerto Rico. If any one is in fact thinking of applying to Puerto Rico, I suggest you check out what's going on there now, like, um, I don't know, THE GOVERNMENT COLLAPSING. I don't know how it will affect the medical school specifically, but I guess it would be bad.

sscooterguy
 
I don't have a lot of time to keep up on the news, but is the government of Puerto Rico really "collapsing"? Wouldn't it be better to say that they are out of money in the government and have shut down until some sort of funding can be put in place? I think this has even happened to the US Federal Government when they haven't passed a budget by December 1 and they have to shut down until the budget is passed.
 
candbgirl said:
I don't have a lot of time to keep up on the news, but is the government of Puerto Rico really "collapsing"? Wouldn't it be better to say that they are out of money in the government and have shut down until some sort of funding can be put in place? I think this has even happened to the US Federal Government when they haven't passed a budget by December 1 and they have to shut down until the budget is passed.

Ok, I concede that I maybe overblew that one. However, I have a friend with a family member in Puerto Rico and they tell me its really bad now. Schools have shut down left and right, so has most governmental offices and such. They say money has dried up and the future is unsure. I don't know how close they are to getting a budget to open stuff up, and again, I'm only guessing that this will be bad for the medical school.

sscooterguy
 
I go to school in PR. The problems with the government have no bearing on the medical schools. Puerto Rico has always been a mess so this whole govt thing doesnt seem like a big deal, only difference I've noted is more kids walking around the streets during the day.

sscooterguy said:
Ok, I concede that I maybe overblew that one. However, I have a friend with a family member in Puerto Rico and they tell me its really bad now. Schools have shut down left and right, so has most governmental offices and such. They say money has dried up and the future is unsure. I don't know how close they are to getting a budget to open stuff up, and again, I'm only guessing that this will be bad for the medical school.

sscooterguy
 
is sgu the best of the carebian schools?
 
maple_us said:
is sgu the best of the carebian schools?

It is considered to be the "Harvard" of Caribbean schools. However, there are the big three Caribbean schools that everyone mentions-- Ross, SGU, and one more. From what I hear, a degree from any of these three is pretty credible, unlike some of the other Carribeans out there.
 
maple_us said:
is sgu the best of the carebian schools?

Although this should be apparent, I was amazed that people cannot tell the difference between Caribbean schools and Puerto Rican schools. Well, there is a HUGE difference.

-Puerto Rican schools are US schools and US Accredited. You will be a US MD when you graduate.

-Caribbean schools (St. George, Ross, et. al) are foreign schools, totally independent business ventures, and not related to the USA what so ever. You will be a FMG when you graduate.

So when people ask, "what is the best school in the Caribbean?" The answer is:

-Puerto Rican schools, which are US accredited.

But, when they ask, "what is the best OFF-SHORE Caribbean (Carib) Foreign school?" The answer is:

-St. George.

Please remember that the Official Caribbean Foreign School is the University of the West Indies (a highly respected "UK-affiliated" school). But that school has very strict admission policies, and does not admit many US citizens (most of the student body is from the Caribbean).
 
Just so you guys know the school that were closed for 2 weeks were the public grade schools. It had no effect on the medical schools here. I think the whole thing was a bit overblown in the media as well. If you have some basic conversational Spanish I would definitely come here before going "Caribbean". It will make your life easier later on.
 
candbgirl said:
I don't have a lot of time to keep up on the news, but is the government of Puerto Rico really "collapsing"? Wouldn't it be better to say that they are out of money in the government and have shut down until some sort of funding can be put in place? I think this has even happened to the US Federal Government when they haven't passed a budget by December 1 and they have to shut down until the budget is passed.

This is 100% correct.
 
LOL, I live in PR and its funny to read how news blow up the problem going on in PR!! The government hasnt collapsed, there's still a governor running the island. The senators are still working. Less than half the government agencies closed. the police, public hospitals, fire department all were running and working. The public schools close for 2 weeks but they were like two weeks from finishing this semester. Private schools werent affected. The universities, private or publics, where open all the time. Med schools, 2 privates and 1 public, werent affected. Water and electricity where never a problem.

This is not a military run government!!! LOL. This is a democratic capitalism country!!

PR is a territory of the US, so Med school there are LCME schools. Graduates are AMG.
 
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SGU is by far the best off-shore school for the USIMG.
USMLE pass rates were better for SGU 1st time takers than for US 1st time takers for the class of 2000. 1st time pass rate is still over 90%.
Cost is 5yrs academic in 4 years calendar. So you get to pay an extra year tuition and expenses over US schools. Education is on par with anything in the US.
 
Blade28 said:
Isn't Ponce the med school in Puerto Rico?

Better check which school, exactly, you're applying to!

Man you post in a bunch of forums! I was just fly by surfing this one and recognized you and leukocyte from general med/surg forums haah.

But yeah I think Ponce is in Puerto Rico, and SGU is in Grenada (but not sure exactly where all those places REALLY are.
 
hey guys, i have a friend who like myself is a pre-med which is of course the reason i'm on this forum. we both graduated at the same time with a BS degree in biology. i'll be attending a masters in biomed science this fall in hopes of eventually getting into med school since my gpa was nowhere near stellar and my first time mcat scores were horrendous (still awaiting the april '06 scores). my friend took the mcat in aug of '05 and scored just slightly better than i did and like myslef, is awaiting the april '06 results. he is interested in going to st. matthews but i don't think he'll be able to get in. his mcat was in the low low 20's and his overall gpa was below a 3.0 (his bcpm was about 2.5). he really thinks that he'll be accepted into a caribbean school but i really dont think his chances are anywhere near being accepted. unfortunately i dont have the heart to tell him otherwise and crush his hopes and dreams. what do you guys think about my boy's situation. you think he can get into any caribbean school (i.e. st. george, ross, st. matthew, or saba)?
 
JackBauERfan said:
Man you post in a bunch of forums! I was just fly by surfing this one and recognized you and leukocyte from general med/surg forums haah.

But yeah I think Ponce is in Puerto Rico, and SGU is in Grenada (but not sure exactly where all those places REALLY are.

PR has at least two, UPR , owned by the Coomonwealth (their website is in Spanish) and Ponce, which has an English site (private). Does anybody know the name of the third?
 
celestialchoral said:
PR has at least two, UPR , owned by the Coomonwealth (their website is in Spanish) and Ponce, which has an English site (private). Does anybody know the name of the third?

Puerto Rico has 4 medical schools: 3 LCME schools and 1 non-LCME school

The three LCME schools are:
-University of Puerto Rico (they only take Puertorricans)
-Universidad Central del Caribe in Bayamon
-Ponce School of Medicine

the non-LCME school and therefore not advisable for continental US students is San Juan Bautista School of Medicine. You can ONLY practice in PR after graduating from that school and getting into an ACGME residency is almost impossible.
 
lobelsteve said:
SGU is by far the best off-shore school for the USIMG.

I think Sackler, BG, and Technion for starters might disagree justly with your pronouncement.

Jack
 
Leukocyte said:
-Puerto Rican schools are US schools and US Accredited. You will be a US MD when you graduate.

-
-Puerto Rican schools, which are US accredited.

But, ).

Also, though, you will need to know spanish. 51 of the 69 sucessful applicants were Puerto Rican at Ponce. And instruction is given in either spanish or english, so yeah must know spanish. But if you do then by all means apply. 5% acceptance rate at Ponce for OOS, and 3% acceptance at universidad Central del Caribe and the other som-- no acceptance for OOS.
 
Hey guys,
I was wondering if the MD that you get from caribbean schools is pretty much the SAME thing as the kind from the US. For example, once youve graduated and you start WORKING in which ever field you choose, will you have a tag on you if your from sgu or ross. The reason why I ask is because someone told me that in Texas a while back they stopped letting caribbean med graduates practice for one year. Pretty much, how stable is the MD obtained from the caribbean as opposed to one obtained from the US? Thanks
 
For Caribbean Medical Schools, there is the "Big Four" (not the Big "Three"). The four best schools, in any order, are:
Saba, AUC, SGU, Ross

Any graduate from these schools can be licensed anywhere in the USA.

The reason why other Caribb schools are not as good are for many reasons, such as low USMLE pass rate, inability to practice in all 50 states (only the "Big Four" can do this), etc.

Also, I have interned at 3 hospitals over the past 6 years, and there is no "stigma" for a foreign graduate. No one cares "what school you want to," they care if you can do your job. Also, if anything, where you go during Residency is more important.

Can't wait to hear the oh so typical responses to this post.
 
medschool22 said:
Any graduate from these schools can be licensed anywhere in the USA.

Can't wait to hear the oh so typical responses to this post.

I hate to nitpick, but I will anyway. Certain states have laws that claim that medical schools must exist for a certain time period before licensure is granted. That means Saba grads will need to wait a few more years to work in those states.

**Now I am not sure if it goes by the first graduating class or by the year the charter was granted but I believe the 15-year waiting period is almost over.
 
lobelsteve said:
SGU is by far the best off-shore school for the USIMG.
USMLE pass rates were better for SGU 1st time takers than for US 1st time takers for the class of 2000. 1st time pass rate is still over 90%.
Cost is 5yrs academic in 4 years calendar. So you get to pay an extra year tuition and expenses over US schools. Education is on par with anything in the US.

Seriously? How is that possible?! Seems like a stretch to me.
 
Sure, I graduated. :cool:

Sorry for not posting in a while. After graduating SGU in 2000- UVA IM prelim then EVMS PMR, then Emory Pain Medicine fellowship.
Now I am assistant PD for the Emory program. I'm beat out by the PD or Chair at Yales CT program- he is an SGU grad as well.
 
Ok I am in the process of the AMCAS application, I am incline to apply to Saint George University, anyone know the cost of living in Purto Rico?? :confused:

First off, before applying anywhere make sure you know where it is... SGU is in Grenada and Ponce is a U.S. school in Puerto Rico...
 
Also, though, you will need to know spanish. 51 of the 69 sucessful applicants were Puerto Rican at Ponce. And instruction is given in either spanish or english, so yeah must know spanish. But if you do then by all means apply. 5% acceptance rate at Ponce for OOS, and 3% acceptance at universidad Central del Caribe and the other som-- no acceptance for OOS.

WHAT? I want to try and understand this statement, however, the grammar is so pathetic I unfortunately cannot. I have an interview at Ponce in one week and am trying to comprehend what these percentages mean as far as accpetance rates (?) This seems very low where I have talked to ther people and they say that Ponce accepts many US mainland students...over half of their class last year.
 
First off, before applying anywhere make sure you know where it is... SGU is in Grenada and Ponce is a U.S. school in Puerto Rico...
Is it? :rolleyes:

I think instruction is in Papiamento too so if you cannot speak it your done for!:laugh: :smuggrin:
 
Is there any reason there seems to be a downward trend in their scores since 2000?


Scores are going down across the board, even in US medical schools.
 
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