China and Eastern Asia Silliman University in Dumaguete?

[edgeofmyseat]

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Does anybody have any info on Silliman University in Dumaguete?

I am looking for alternatives to medschools in Manila as I think I might prefer living in a less crowded/polluted setting. I have checked out the two Cebu schools but cost of living in Cebu was surprisingly quite high.

What is Dumaguete city like? My husband and two-year-old son will also be relocating with me, so we need to live in a place that has pretty good amenities, and most importantly a good preschool for our son.

Also, I heard that Silliman's med school is new.How new is it?

Thanks for any info.

 

[tantrum]

Does anybody have any info on Silliman University in Dumaguete?
I am looking for alternatives to medschools in Manila as I think I might prefer living in a less crowded/polluted setting. I have checked out the two Cebu schools but cost of living in Cebu was surprisingly quite high.
What is Dumaguete city like? My husband and two-year-old son will also be relocating with me, so we need to live in a place that has pretty good amenities, and most importantly a good preschool for our son.
Also, I heard that Silliman's med school is new.How new is it?
Thanks for any info.

Although Silliman as an institution is solid and established, their med school is very new and just started in 2005. Many states require foreign med schools to be at least 10 years old.

 

[Saipan]

What is Dumaguete city like? My husband and two-year-old son will also be relocating with me, so we need to live in a place that has pretty good amenities, and most importantly a good preschool for our son.

Silliman has the best location of any med school in the Philippines. the campus is located on the edge of Dumaguete, which is a pleasant, vibrant oceanfront town with just enough coffee shops and restaurnats to keep you from going crazy.

The town is a short walk from decent beaches. The cost of living is good and there are decent private schools catering to the well off Filipinos, Chinese, Koreans, and Whites who live there.

Numerous islands are just a short ferry ride away making weekend breaks easy and convenient, and the town is only a short banca ride from a number of good dive sites.

You'll love it.

Silliman University has a great reputation. The only problem is that there is VERY little info here on the forum about the med school itself. Visit the med school, talk with EVERYONE working there, and be sure you understand the four year process that they have put together there.

Siliman is now listed on the IMED, so that clears up a concern from a few years ago. But they list a five-year curriculum, which could be a problem for students who have no intention of completing an internship year in the Philippines. So, question the administration carefully when you visit, and get the important answers in writing (4 or 5 year curriculum, tuition, additional fees....etc).

 

[maia]

Does anybody have any info on Silliman University in Dumaguete?

I am looking for alternatives to medschools in Manila as I think I might prefer living in a less crowded/polluted setting. I have checked out the two Cebu schools but cost of living in Cebu was surprisingly quite high.

What is Dumaguete city like? My husband and two-year-old son will also be relocating with me, so we need to live in a place that has pretty good amenities, and most importantly a good preschool for our son.

Also, I heard that Silliman's med school is new.How new is it?

Thanks for any info.

Hi! the lifestyle in the city is very affordable, and the environment is less polluted, and prob not as crime-ridden as a philippine city can be. many non-locals see dumaguete=silliman university.
having seen other cities and studied in other schools, the dumaguete and silliman cultures are my favorites, and i've never seen a richer, diverse and laid back, warm people.

the university itself also has programs for early childhood or kindergarten and the medical school is in the same campus as those programs. you can just walk several hundred meters between the kid's classrooms, the medical school and the university hospital, the university itself is just a few walks from the downtown, and also their famous boulevard with the cafes.

the university is also strong academically in their undergrad and health sciences, but the medical school is still new and they just graduated their first batch. so we don't know yet how they will perform on the national boards or on the wards. i have a few friends who are currently in their medschool and they seem to like their professors and classes so far.

PM me if you have more specific questions.

 

[maia]

Silliman has the best location of any med school in the Philippines. the campus is located on the edge of Dumaguete, which is a pleasant, vibrant oceanfront town with just enough coffee shops and restaurnats to keep you from going crazy.

The town is a short walk from decent beaches. The cost of living is good and there are decent private schools catering to the well off Filipinos, Chinese, Koreans, and Whites who live there.

Numerous islands are just a short ferry ride away making weekend breaks easy and convenient, and the town is only a short banca ride from a number of good dive sites.

You'll love it.

Silliman University has a great reputation. The only problem is that there is VERY little info here on the forum about the med school itself. Visit the med school, talk with EVERYONE working there, and be sure you understand the four year process that they have put together there.

Siliman is now listed on the IMED, so that clears up a concern from a few years ago. But they list a five-year curriculum, which could be a problem for students who have no intention of completing an internship year in the Philippines. So, question the administration carefully when you visit, and get the important answers in writing (4 or 5 year curriculum, tuition, additional fees....etc).

http://su.edu.ph/Schools & Colleges/SUMS/index.html
you can start here.

 

[Saipan]

http://su.edu.ph/Schools & Colleges/SUMS/index.html
you can start here.

The website is pure fluff. it contains little of consequence. It doesn't mention the tuition, fee schedule, extra fees, under-the-table fees, foreign student fees.....nothing.

A school visit is a must because the website doesn't provide any important information.

 

[azntxn]

can you guys post pictures of anything, anything at all (lecture rooms, study halls, library, ...)

i just wanna get a feel of what med schools in the PI are like

 

[LocutusofBorg]

It's true - Dumaguete is an amazingly clean town, and Negros island is one of the most beautiful in the Philippines. The first thing you notice when you disembark there is the SMELL of fresh air.

However, are you coming to retire or to study medicine? Silliman is a fine institution but as a graduate of their medical school you won't get licensed in several US states. That is unacceptable considering that over 20 filipino medical schools have no issues with licensing in all 50 US states.

As far as Cebu being overpriced, were you looking in the wrong places? Or were you given the foreigner treatment? It's probably both. I'm white, non-filipino, and I stayed 20 mins walk from SWU-MHAM and paid about $60/month for my small two bedroom apt, utils included. Granted, I didn't have a/c but I didn't want it. My tuition at MHAM was under $3000/year depending upon the exchange rate, including foreign donation fee.

For more decent housing, including aircon, the usual rental is $100-$120 per month for a studio apt near campus of any of the 4 cebu based med schools. If you are willing to commute 15 mins, check rentals along jeepney routes, you'll find prices dropping exponentially. For the same price, you'll get a 1 or 2 bedroom apt, same quality. Just stay away from campus areas and landlords who've been corrupted by foreign currencies, if you don't want to overpay or negotiate. Make sure you talk to neighbors and find out what they are paying. Its often good to work through an intermediate... Befriending people at the neighborhood puto-sikwate stand can find you better deals on rentals than looking for those "For Rent" signs and showing up without a clue as to the ballpark rental figure.

 

[maia]

It's true - Dumaguete is an amazingly clean town, and Negros island is one of the most beautiful in the Philippines. The first thing you notice when you disembark there is the SMELL of fresh air.

However, are you coming to retire or to study medicine? Silliman is a fine institution but as a graduate of their medical school you won't get licensed in several US states. That is unacceptable considering that over 20 filipino medical schools have no issues with licensing in all 50 US states.
.

Good point. Aside from licensing issues you should think about, will be how your training from the school will adequately prepare you for practice. Will you get enough cases here? facilities/diagnostics that are almost equal to where you want to practice? do enough procedures to make u confident enough when you do your internship somewhere else?

Silliman and dumaguete are good places for education, to raise a family, and yes, retiring (lots of immigrants and balikbayans go there to retire). But the school is just too new.

 

[edgeofmyseat]

Thanks you guys!
Locutus:I am here in the Philippines to study medicine. Thanks for the tips about housing. The tricky aprt for me is I'm not by myself. If I were, then housing would be easier bec. I really am not too picky. But I relocated with my husband and our 2-year-old son and we need to find a place where he can play outside etc.. So, a subdivision would be ideal, and those places we saw in Cebu were pretty expensive, 20k pesos, 40k and above for rent.
I agree with maia about the newness of Silliman. I think it would not be for me as it is too much of a risk.

 

[Saipan]

The other posters seemed to have missed that little detail about the two-year old in your opening post. Let's state the obvious, your two-year old is the most important thing in your life. Med school, while important, is way down on the list.

The secret to your success in med school will be in arranging things in the beginning so that your family is happy for four years.

If you're balking at 20K-40K rents, then you better rush down to Silliman and see if you think you can make that school work for you.

What's your rental budget?

You either need to get yourself up in the hills overlooking Cebu, and commute, or find a nice house near the beach in Dumaguete.

There are other options, but you need to hit the streets and search hard for that place that can work for you. Living in Manila will just give your two-year old a two-pack a day cigarette habit from the jeepney exhaust.

Advice here will be skimpy, as only you can decide what will suit your family. because as well as the rental, the school has to fit also. So, you're actually looking for a package deal.

Consider Angeles and Baguio.

 

[surething]

Can someone please take the time to explain to me why u would not be able to be licensed in several states after graduating from silliman medical school?

I just visited silliman this past week. The dean was unavailable and i did not take the time to make an appointment before hand so I just showed up unannounced.

The tuition per semester is 46k pesos. That is roughly half of the cost of cebu doctors university.

The building the school is located in is new. There are about 15 students per class. Meaning 15 per batch total.

Dumaguete was very nice and great access to alot of diving and island hopping.

I looked at a brand new condo owned by an austrian which had to be on the very upper upper end of places to rent there and it was 23k monthly. So thats the high end. Surely, you will find many places suitable for half that because this place was luxurious to say the least.

It would be a great place to study med as there is not a lot of nightlife there. I could not imagine retiring there I would be bored to death.

The hospital was nice as well.

Silliman campus was larger than I expected and there were koreans, iranians, fil-ams, and even saw a few white students from who knows where. The town itself had alot more caucasians than i expected which tended to be either retired people living there or tourists there to go diving.

Cost of living was very cheap and the new robinsons mall was nice as well and had a movie theater.

Back to my original question---why would it be difficult to be licensed in several states as a graduate of silliman??????

If u have any more questions get back to me quickly as I may return in a week 50-50 chance.

 

[tantrum]

Can someone please take the time to explain to me why u would not be able to be licensed in several states after graduating from silliman medical school?

I just visited silliman this past week. The dean was unavailable and i did not take the time to make an appointment before hand so I just showed up unannounced.

The tuition per semester is 46k pesos. That is roughly half of the cost of cebu doctors university.

The building the school is located in is new. There are about 15 students per class. Meaning 15 per batch total.

Dumaguete was very nice and great access to alot of diving and island hopping.

I looked at a brand new condo owned by an austrian which had to be on the very upper upper end of places to rent there and it was 23k monthly. So thats the high end. Surely, you will find many places suitable for half that because this place was luxurious to say the least.

It would be a great place to study med as there is not a lot of nightlife there. I could not imagine retiring there I would be bored to death.

The hospital was nice as well.

Silliman campus was larger than I expected and there were koreans, iranians, fil-ams, and even saw a few white students from who knows where. The town itself had alot more caucasians than i expected which tended to be either retired people living there or tourists there to go diving.

Cost of living was very cheap and the new robinsons mall was nice as well and had a movie theater.

Back to my original question---why would it be difficult to be licensed in several states as a graduate of silliman??????

If u have any more questions get back to me quickly as I may return in a week 50-50 chance.

It's just that some states have weird rules. Kansas requires a medical school to be at least 15 years of age. California, one of the toughest state also requires their applicants' school to be older (about 10 years) and many states follow California Board's list (about 10 states). I'm sure eventually it will be in the list but to be the first graduate and applying to be grandfathered in these states is a tough proposition. The youngest Philippine school on California list is St. Luke's. So anything younger than St. Luke's will be very difficult.

 

[beachbum24]

It's just that some states have weird rules. Kansas requires a medical school to be at least 15 years of age. California, one of the toughest state also requires their applicants' school to be older (about 10 years) and many states follow California Board's list (about 10 states). I'm sure eventually it will be in the list but to be the first graduate and applying to be grandfathered in these states is a tough proposition. The youngest Philippine school on California list is St. Luke's. So anything younger than St. Luke's will be very difficult.

this might be off topic, but it relates to your post. i just want to ask where can you find information about the requirements for each state, more specifically texas? this is where i've been planning to come back after med school. any information will help. thanks!

 

[tantrum]

this might be off topic, but it relates to your post. i just want to ask where can you find information about the requirements for each state, more specifically texas? this is where i've been planning to come back after med school. any information will help. thanks!

You can either go to fsmb.org and look at all the different medical boards and their contact numbers. You can also browse at valuemd.com and many caribbean students have already posted summaries on different states.
Texas is one of those states that has a list of equivalency education. This is the part of their website with the equivalency list www.tmb.state.tx.us/professionals/physicians/applicants/education.php
Fortunately for IMG's, Texas has changed it's rules. As long as you are Board Certified in a specialty and has a full license in another state, Texas will give you a license.

 

[pastorphysician]

How much Silliman charges their foreign medical students (non-resident/citizen) for foreign donation fee