Spartan Health Sciences University

[cooldreams]

spartan is a decently good school, where like others, you get out of it what you put in.

some points to take notice are:

consistent students scoring in usmle of 90+, though not even a majority do it, there are consistently students who do, and then who go on to big name positions, im sure if you search you will find them...

usmle class pass rate of 70%+

older school... has a track record of getting its students licensed in over 40 states... also it can get licensed in kansas...

doest not have cali approval... rate all caribbean schools ONLY on how many states they could get licensed in, then you would rate Spartan at #5.

36 month academic course... shortest i could find anywhere that was legit

also the cheapest i could find anywhere... both in tuition and room/board Total cost for tuition and Estimated room/board is $73000... FOR THE ENTIRE PROGRAM.

alumini are saying the school has improved since they were last there...

apparently, they just hired a new faculty and are about to redo the website

i have been in lots of talks with the admin. they are both friendly, and responsive.

small class size of 20-30 students. they have a teacher to student ratio of 7:1. that is both good and bad... bad because that means only about 4 or 5 teachers, but good because you are more likely to get personal attention with the small ratio. at my old school, in the usa, i was in a class of 250 ppl... i think they listed that we had over 15-20 teachers... but man, i think i only saw about 4 or 5 of them... they would also often pay some teacher from a different school to come in and teach. that was tough on us because we knew nothing about the teacher, we never had notes ahead of time to read up on before the lecture and it was almost impossible to contact them with questions after the lecture.

i heard of 15 ppl per cadaver. my old school, we had 18+ per cadaver... and that was a school in the usa... i see no problem here...

very low drop out rate compared to other schools. also you do not have to pass the usmle to graduate, unlike other schools. that is also both good and bad. bad because you get that recognition where not everyone in your class passed the usmle. but good because those who didnt wont get licencesed, and maybe they didnt want to get licensed? just wanted the MD? well you can do that here. there are actually more lucrative positions for ppl with an MD than to work as licensed physician...

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[utorontograd]

there are actually more lucrative positions for ppl with an MD than to work as licensed physician...

I'd love to know what positions you are talking about?

 

[erichaj]

spartan is a decently good school, where like others, you get out of it what you put in.

some points to take notice are:

consistent students scoring in usmle of 90+, though not even a majority do it, there are consistently students who do, and then who go on to big name positions, im sure if you search you will find them...

usmle class pass rate of 70%+

older school... has a track record of getting its students licensed in over 40 states... also it can get licensed in kansas...

doest not have cali approval... rate all caribbean schools ONLY on how many states they could get licensed in, then you would rate Spartan at #5.

36 month academic course... shortest i could find anywhere that was legit

also the cheapest i could find anywhere... both in tuition and room/board Total cost for tuition and Estimated room/board is $73000... FOR THE ENTIRE PROGRAM.

alumini are saying the school has improved since they were last there...

apparently, they just hired a new faculty and are about to redo the website

i have been in lots of talks with the admin. they are both friendly, and responsive.

small class size of 20-30 students. they have a teacher to student ratio of 7:1. that is both good and bad... bad because that means only about 4 or 5 teachers, but good because you are more likely to get personal attention with the small ratio. at my old school, in the usa, i was in a class of 250 ppl... i think they listed that we had over 15-20 teachers... but man, i think i only saw about 4 or 5 of them... they would also often pay some teacher from a different school to come in and teach. that was tough on us because we knew nothing about the teacher, we never had notes ahead of time to read up on before the lecture and it was almost impossible to contact them with questions after the lecture.

i heard of 15 ppl per cadaver. my old school, we had 18+ per cadaver... and that was a school in the usa... i see no problem here...

very low drop out rate compared to other schools. also you do not have to pass the usmle to graduate, unlike other schools. that is also both good and bad. bad because you get that recognition where not everyone in your class passed the usmle. but good because those who didnt wont get licencesed, and maybe they didnt want to get licensed? just wanted the MD? well you can do that here. there are actually more lucrative positions for ppl with an MD than to work as licensed physician...

Listen to what you are saying. Stop talking out of you a ss.
"More lucrative positions for ppl with MD taht to work as licensed physician".

Do you have one of those positions? Can you name 3 places that hire those guys? Can you name 3 people who got hired for those jobs?

Saprtan grads can't license in 10 out of 50 states? That sucks. Why would you go there if you know there are places you can go that allow you to license in all 50 states. YES, ROSS, SGU, YOU CAN GET LICENSE IN ALL 50 STATES.

They re-did the website, it must be a good school.

The administration is friendly and responsive. NO ****. THEY WANT YOU MONEY.

 

[cooldreams]

I'd love to know what positions you are talking about?

med equipment sales, med malprac, business owner...

 

[cooldreams]

Listen to what you are saying. Stop talking out of you a ss.
"More lucrative positions for ppl with MD taht to work as licensed physician".

Do you have one of those positions? Can you name 3 places that hire those guys? Can you name 3 people who got hired for those jobs?

Saprtan grads can't license in 10 out of 50 states? That sucks. Why would you go there if you know there are places you can go that allow you to license in all 50 states. YES, ROSS, SGU, YOU CAN GET LICENSE IN ALL 50 STATES.

They re-did the website, it must be a good school.

The administration is friendly and responsive. NO ****. THEY WANT YOU MONEY.

spartan grads can get licensed in 48/50 states...

maybe youre just not nice to talk to judging by how youre talking to me? the admin has been nice to me.

 

[Bevo]

I can't say I'm too familiar with the school, but I have rotated with a few.

Personally, I'd stay far away from this school. From one student's perspective the pass rate is not 70% or higher. In fact he says the school encourages you to wait until you're done with all your rotations and graduated to even attempt taking step 1. (<--red flag). of all the spartan students I rotated with, maybe 10?, only 2 had passed the exam. One had done extremely well, the other so-so but both passed on 1st attempts. The others were half way through their rotations and had no notion of taking it. Some of the others had failed the exam and just decided to move onto clinicals anyways as the administration wanted.

None spoke highly of the school offices.

For the rest, I cannot speak about.

Just generally when looking at caribbean schools its really buyer beware. You need to look at more than just cost and months in training.

Need to look at board pass rates, licensure abilities in the US, are they recognized by the WHO and their home country, where are there graduates doing residency? (can they provide a list of contact information - esp with spartan since I hear the classes are so small).

Funding issues, which loans?

Just do some research.

My personal list would be
1. SGU
2. Ross
3. AUC
4. Saba
5. St Matthews

I dont see a reason to really look beyond those options.

 

[cooldreams]

I can't say I'm too familiar with the school, but I have rotated with a few.

Personally, I'd stay far away from this school. From one student's perspective the pass rate is not 70% or higher. In fact he says the school encourages you to wait until you're done with all your rotations and graduated to even attempt taking step 1. (<--red flag). of all the spartan students I rotated with, maybe 10?, only 2 had passed the exam. One had done extremely well, the other so-so but both passed on 1st attempts. The others were half way through their rotations and had no notion of taking it. Some of the others had failed the exam and just decided to move onto clinicals anyways as the administration wanted.

None spoke highly of the school offices.

For the rest, I cannot speak about.

I respect your opinion. But i must only elevate it as such because i have many opinions that counter yours. i also have my own personal experience with the school and my own opinions.

Just generally when looking at caribbean schools its really buyer beware. You need to look at more than just cost and months in training.

i suppose so. but, outside of cali or texas, the medical board wont really care.. carib is carib...

Need to look at board pass rates, licensure abilities in the US, are they recognized by the WHO and their home country, where are there graduates doing residency? (can they provide a list of contact information - esp with spartan since I hear the classes are so small).

the "published" board pass rate is 72%. whether that is real or not, i dont know. i think i would seriously call into question the pass rate of all other schools as well. i KNOW there are many grads practicing in fields all the way from surgery to dermatology to path to obgyn to peds to im to fp and back.

yes spartan is recognized in WHO or else they would not be able to get into the usa as a doc. are they allowed to practice in st lucia? no. they have to complete residency and all boards, then, as the st lucian gov said, they would consider them. NOTE: this is the same response you will get with ALL caribbean schools. it is not for a lack of belief in quality, it is to primarily allow their native citizens to return as doctors first and foremost. this is a VERY COMMON theme with basically all countries around the globe. you know the tough med schools to get into? brazil. 80:1 gets a seat. Canada basically allows NO foreign docs to practice. USA is actually quite liberal in this respect, thus the rise in the caribbean schools....

they do have a small list of places where there are residents at on the website actually. or you could do a google search and find even more. i know i did.

Funding issues, which loans?

they can do the Teri loans. as of right now, only sgu, ross, and auc can do stafford loans. not even saba has stafford loans.

[/QUOTE]

Just do some research.

My personal list would be
1. SGU
2. Ross
3. AUC
4. Saba
5. St Matthews

I dont see a reason to really look beyond those options.

i have done quite extensive research. i am confident in my choice this way.

1 - sgu, ross
3 - auc (crime is bad)
4 - saba (they got cali, but they cant get kansas yet)
5 - spartan (they have 48/50 states, can get loans, licenesed grads in almost all of those states - including many in kansas)

in my opinion, if spartan spent the huge fees to get the cali approval or the huge fees to get the stafford loans, then it would make spartan a top 3 school, maybe even better.

the top two schools have students graduating with $300,000 in loans. if i got ONLY loans to do spartan, i would need about $73,000. as it is, i think i will not need any loans at all personally...

 

[Bevo]

opnions are just that, opnions. I've based mine off of my own experiences and interaction with spartan students in the clinical setting.

 

[cooldreams]

opnions are just that, opnions. I've based mine off of my own experiences and interaction with spartan students in the clinical setting.

ditto.

 

[erichaj]

spartan grads can get licensed in 48/50 states...

maybe youre just not nice to talk to judging by how youre talking to me? the admin has been nice to me.

Ok, go to spartan, then become a medical sales rep. I remember spartan when I went to Ross. Not a good place to be. Good luck.

Just don't waiste 73 K to become a medical sales rep. You can do that without an MD.

 

[cooldreams]

Ok, go to spartan, then become a medical sales rep. I remember spartan when I went to Ross. Not a good place to be. Good luck.

Just don't waiste 73 K to become a medical sales rep. You can do that without an MD.

i dont want to be a sales rep. i want to be a board certified, medically licensed physician in my home state of missouri in the usa.

i was asked of other potentially lucrative jobs besides being a doc, thats why i wrote that, OBVIOUSLY.

 

[erichaj]

i dont want to be a sales rep. i want to be a board certified, medically licensed physician in my home state of missouri in the usa.

i was asked of other potentially lucrative jobs besides being a doc, thats why i wrote that, OBVIOUSLY.

Good luck, I guess you have made up you mind OBVIOUSLY.

Go to the school that has the 2nd worst reputation in all of the offshore schools.

But you know best because of your vast experience in medicine and medical schools. OBVIOUSLY.

 

[cooldreams]

Good luck, I guess you have made up you mind OBVIOUSLY.

Go to the school that has the 2nd worst reputation in all of the offshore schools.

But you know best because of your vast experience in medicine and medical schools. OBVIOUSLY.

i find the poor reputation only perpetuated by disgruntled students, and in reality, spartan has one of the best track records for grads getting licensed in the states... meaning spartan has grads in more states than probably almost any caribbean school...

the grads also get prestegious academic postions such as at cornell.

i hardly see this poor repuation you speak of being reflected in ACTUAL medical performance....

 

[erichaj]

i find the poor reputation only perpetuated by disgruntled students, and in reality, spartan has one of the best track records for grads getting licensed in the states... meaning spartan has grads in more states than probably almost any caribbean school...

the grads also get prestegious academic postions such as at cornell.

i hardly see this poor repuation you speak of being reflected in ACTUAL medical performance....

Good luck.

 

[cooldreams]

Good luck.

thanks!

 

[SabaMed]

I respect your opinion. But i must only elevate it as such because i have many opinions that counter yours. i also have my own personal experience with the school and my own opinions.



i suppose so. but, outside of cali or texas, the medical board wont really care.. carib is carib...



the "published" board pass rate is 72%. whether that is real or not, i dont know. i think i would seriously call into question the pass rate of all other schools as well. i KNOW there are many grads practicing in fields all the way from surgery to dermatology to path to obgyn to peds to im to fp and back.

yes spartan is recognized in WHO or else they would not be able to get into the usa as a doc. are they allowed to practice in st lucia? no. they have to complete residency and all boards, then, as the st lucian gov said, they would consider them. NOTE: this is the same response you will get with ALL caribbean schools. it is not for a lack of belief in quality, it is to primarily allow their native citizens to return as doctors first and foremost. this is a VERY COMMON theme with basically all countries around the globe. you know the tough med schools to get into? brazil. 80:1 gets a seat. Canada basically allows NO foreign docs to practice. USA is actually quite liberal in this respect, thus the rise in the caribbean schools....

they do have a small list of places where there are residents at on the website actually. or you could do a google search and find even more. i know i did.



they can do the Teri loans. as of right now, only sgu, ross, and auc can do stafford loans. not even saba has stafford loans.

i have done quite extensive research. i am confident in my choice this way.

1 - sgu, ross
3 - auc (crime is bad)
4 - saba (they got cali, but they cant get kansas yet)
5 - spartan (they have 48/50 states, can get loans, licenesed grads in almost all of those states - including many in kansas)

in my opinion, if spartan spent the huge fees to get the cali approval or the huge fees to get the stafford loans, then it would make spartan a top 3 school, maybe even better.

the top two schools have students graduating with $300,000 in loans. if i got ONLY loans to do spartan, i would need about $73,000. as it is, i think i will not need any loans at all personally...

You put Saba just above Spartan? I'm trying hard not to fall outta my chair as I right this because I'm laughing so hard and now I feel like puking. Let me 1st clear up Kansas, they had a rule that a med school had to exist 15 years before anyone could get approval, we passed the 15 year mark now so thats a non-issue. You have to ask yourself a couple questions in rating schools. Of the graduates, whats the Step scores coming out of that school and what's the match list like per class. I welcome anyone to compare Saba vs Ross vs SGU and Spartan (spit) on these 2 most important factors. We just had a student break the 257 step1 score which is 99% and last year we had another pop 260! I like to see whats the highest the others have done recently. Find out how large the class sizes are at these other schools and what % actually graduate in the end and pass the boards. Now why am I down on Spartan? Well to compare Spartan to Saba is like comparing a Porsche 911 to a Kia Optima. Look at the test scores from Spartan vs Saba. Will Spartan even publish their scores or give them out? I've sent Spartan at least 4 emails requesting Step1 scores over the last 5 years and they haven't sent me anything. All I know is second hand info from Spartan transfers and dropouts. If I had to guess what the pass rate is I'd put it at around 60%. Now if someone has scores to back up a higher pass rate please put me in my place and show me. Anyway my opinon which is biased because I know how good this school is and what kind of doctors come out of here.

 

[Bevo]

honestly, I'm just content to let the man live with his ignorance. He'll realize the choice he's made when he's done.



Waisting time and breath Saba and all others.

 

[cooldreams]

this is funny...

 

[cooldreams]

ladies and gents.


truely, i thank you for entertaining me in my experiment. what is this, you may ask? well, simply put, many do infact think "carib is carib is carib"... now all those who are in the know, realize that while spartan is not the premere carib school, since spartan does have a number of licensed grads in nearly all states, a PD may find distinguishing it from say, ross, somewhat of a chore, which will result in an equal play in consideration on merit of school name... meaning non-us-md grad.

my experiment has been thus, if i can argue for the merit of what is considered to be one of the lessor carib schools and at least appear somewhat justified in such a decision. it appears to me, as far as "facts conveyed", though not sitting as a confident top contender, spartan students do appear to be successful in many (not all) cases of what they had (ideally) intended.

while many of you will hiss and spit (apparently quite literal) at the name spartan, you must confess that it has been producing (this can be interpreted in many ways since most medical education is self study) grads that have been successfully licensed in nearly all states. if you deny that lone fact, then you know you are lieing, so please dont go there.

you must also confess that you dont know what the board passage rate is, and while it is quite evident that spartan does not have a 100% pass rate, it is also not 0%. you must also confess that while other schools, ross for instances, requires students to pass the usmle, or even for that matter, to pass extra tests before even being allowed to take the usmle, it appears spartans approach is to allow the student to do whatever they want to do, meaning that they can wait and study and then take the usmle, or basically never take it, and just continue on to clinical rotations and earn a MD, for which obviously they will never get licensed with. I contend that that skews the all glorious usmle passage rate since passing it is not even a requirement for graduating, whereas at ross, it is.

even so, there are a number of students that are in fact passing it, and perhaps astonishing to many of you, are doing so with scores in the high 80s and 90s, at least 1 case of 99 (you asked about that) have been claimed from a spartan grad that i have personally been in contact with.

so,

on the question of distinguishing a school on top usmle score, spartan remains a player in the 99 crowd.

on the question of distinguishing a school based on graduates that have become licensed, with at least 44/50 states represented, i belive spartan remains a decent contender. this is an extra positive since many states, irregardless of carib school, will chose to evaluate an applicant on a case by case basis, having a previous grad of your school already licensed in that state is a very strong (not complete, obviously) arguement in your favor.

other issues to consider?

cost - spartan is obviously the cheapest

time involved - spartan either wins or ties with any other school

administrative efficiency - this has been called into question. i have been given mixed testimonials from more than 3 people saying its good and more than 3 people saying its bad.

states allowed to be licensed in - many are on a case by case decision. cali is out, as well as texas. indiana is questionable, and perhaps tennesee, however it appears as recent as within the past year, a grad has been licensed in those last two states. washington may have just recently started to become harder, however no concrete statements to that point. no other state is a problem for a spartan grad.

specialties with spartan grads - i have read of or know a spartan grad in nearly every specialty except a few, which i havent really checked into too much... those are neurosurg and urology. everything from gen surg to derm to rads to inter med ive seen a spartan grad fill.

with the conclusion of this post, i ask that any further posting for or against any point, please be made with concrete proof of whatever you say. please follow this. thank you.

 

[erichaj]

ladies and gents.


truely, i thank you for entertaining me in my experiment. what is this, you may ask? well, simply put, many do infact think "carib is carib is carib"... now all those who are in the know, realize that while spartan is not the premere carib school, since spartan does have a number of licensed grads in nearly all states, a PD may find distinguishing it from say, ross, somewhat of a chore, which will result in an equal play in consideration on merit of school name... meaning non-us-md grad.

my experiment has been thus, if i can argue for the merit of what is considered to be one of the lessor carib schools and at least appear somewhat justified in such a decision. it appears to me, as far as "facts conveyed", though not sitting as a confident top contender, spartan students do appear to be successful in many (not all) cases of what they had (ideally) intended.

while many of you will hiss and spit (apparently quite literal) at the name spartan, you must confess that it has been producing (this can be interpreted in many ways since most medical education is self study) grads that have been successfully licensed in nearly all states. if you deny that lone fact, then you know you are lieing, so please dont go there.

you must also confess that you dont know what the board passage rate is, and while it is quite evident that spartan does not have a 100% pass rate, it is also not 0%. you must also confess that while other schools, ross for instances, requires students to pass the usmle, or even for that matter, to pass extra tests before even being allowed to take the usmle, it appears spartans approach is to allow the student to do whatever they want to do, meaning that they can wait and study and then take the usmle, or basically never take it, and just continue on to clinical rotations and earn a MD, for which obviously they will never get licensed with. I contend that that skews the all glorious usmle passage rate since passing it is not even a requirement for graduating, whereas at ross, it is.

even so, there are a number of students that are in fact passing it, and perhaps astonishing to many of you, are doing so with scores in the high 80s and 90s, at least 1 case of 99 (you asked about that) have been claimed from a spartan grad that i have personally been in contact with.

so,

on the question of distinguishing a school on top usmle score, spartan remains a player in the 99 crowd.

on the question of distinguishing a school based on graduates that have become licensed, with at least 44/50 states represented, i belive spartan remains a decent contender. this is an extra positive since many states, irregardless of carib school, will chose to evaluate an applicant on a case by case basis, having a previous grad of your school already licensed in that state is a very strong (not complete, obviously) arguement in your favor.

other issues to consider?

cost - spartan is obviously the cheapest

time involved - spartan either wins or ties with any other school

administrative efficiency - this has been called into question. i have been given mixed testimonials from more than 3 people saying its good and more than 3 people saying its bad.

states allowed to be licensed in - many are on a case by case decision. cali is out, as well as texas. indiana is questionable, and perhaps tennesee, however it appears as recent as within the past year, a grad has been licensed in those last two states. washington may have just recently started to become harder, however no concrete statements to that point. no other state is a problem for a spartan grad.

specialties with spartan grads - i have read of or know a spartan grad in nearly every specialty except a few, which i havent really checked into too much... those are neurosurg and urology. everything from gen surg to derm to rads to inter med ive seen a spartan grad fill.

with the conclusion of this post, i ask that any further posting for or against any point, please be made with concrete proof of whatever you say. please follow this. thank you.

I can't understand why you would waiste your time on here if you are so confident about spartan. Why does it matter what others think? you want to go to spartan, then go.

what do you care if no one likes the place? You get in here an write all this crap and this long BS post. Get a life.

Then, in the other forum you post about salary and how much an FP makes and if its enough.

Do what you want. Why are you trying so hard to convince others that spartan is such a great place? Do you own part of it?

I think you are the experiment.

 

[cooldreams]

I can't understand why you would waiste your time on here if you are so confident about spartan. Why does it matter what others think? you want to go to spartan, then go.

what do you care if no one likes the place? You get in here an write all this crap and this long BS post. Get a life.

Then, in the other forum you post about salary and how much an FP makes and if its enough.

Do what you want. Why are you trying so hard to convince others that spartan is such a great place? Do you own part of it?

I think you are the experiment.

hehe i like your post...

ok lets see here...

>>why does it matter what others think

well, as im sure you know, much of the chances and acceptances and positions we get are not completely based on our own merits, but subjective opinions. so, im some twisted way, what you think does matter.

>>what do you care if no one likes the place? You get in here an write all this crap and this long BS post. Get a life.

well, i have a life, so that satisfies that part already. the rest of it i just wrote of...

>>Then, in the other forum you post about salary and how much an FP makes and if its enough.

i posted asking about if it is enough. i sure did. why did i do it?(im sure you want to know) well, i did it after reading a different post in FP about that exact figure not being enough, and it basically degraded, such as my thread has now. pitty. im not in this for the money, truely, rather for what i can DO with the professional license, here and actually abroad. so why question money? it wasnt as simple as that. in my narrow experiences, 160k is easily enough. however i clarified my question with the term "experienced". it is entirely possible (and frankly quite likely) that i dont know all of the expenses ill encounter. so i was hoping for an enlightend perspective, all the while anticipating a thread that dies fast, which that one did. such is life on SDN... but i tried...

>>Do what you want. Why are you trying so hard to convince others that spartan is such a great place? Do you own part of it?

nope, i have no stake in it, well, other than my future education. i think that is a simple enough reason to defend anything i do, as well im sure you do with whatever youre doing. you have your reasons, however concealed as they may be, i have chosen to open up my thoughts and paths to the attacks of the public such that i may discover problems i had not anticipated for the course of the path.

>>I think you are the experiment.

why what an insightful and creative comment. ill ponder than one for a while. seems like a philisophical last ditch effort comment. or maybe you have been watching matrix recently. either way... its been fun.

ciao...

 

[MDMM]

Friends.I am requesting for your help. I found 4 best universities in Carrebean,Saba,Ross,AUC,SGU but these are very expensive with hard admission requirements.Some one told me to apply for MD admission in either of Spartan Health Sciences University, St. Lucia or Windsor Medical University St. KITTs.
Kindly advise me , should I apply here and are these accepted in USA and Canada for writing Licensing exam , (USMLE,MCCEE) and Residency ??

 

[bedevilled ben]

Friends.I am requesting for your help. I found 4 best universities in Carrebean,Saba,Ross,AUC,SGU but these are very expensive with hard admission requirements.Some one told me to apply for MD admission in either of Spartan Health Sciences University, St. Lucia or Windsor Medical University St. KITTs.
Kindly advise me , should I apply here and are these accepted in USA and Canada for writing Licensing exam , (USMLE,MCCEE) and Residency ??

Pick one of the Big 4: SGU, Ross, Saba, AUC. If you can't do one of those, AUA is the next best. Don't go to the other schools you listed. You will have a significantly reduced chance of matching into a residency.

 

[Skip Intro]

Friends.I am requesting for your help. I found 4 best universities in Carrebean,Saba,Ross,AUC,SGU but these are very expensive with hard admission requirements.Some one told me to apply for MD admission in either of Spartan Health Sciences University, St. Lucia or Windsor Medical University St. KITTs.
Kindly advise me , should I apply here and are these accepted in USA and Canada for writing Licensing exam , (USMLE,MCCEE) and Residency ??

Why... just... why?

Answer: you get what you pay for.

-Skip