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St Matthews or Saba?
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Global Disrobal
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I can't comment on Saba as I attend St. Matthews (in my last rotation as we speak).
St. Matthew's is a relatively new school in the Caribbean scene. It had a lot of problems when I first started at the school, namely due to bad management in addition to the newly formed school kinks that you'll see around.
Since then, they have changed administrations and moved to Cayman Islands. Since the move things have improved dramatically. We have on-line access to all our records (registrar, fin aid, etc) in addition to access to many journals. Other improvements have been more efficient service from the office regarding fin aid, rotation scheduling, and registration. I am now in clinicals so I don't directly know about the teaching but the word from others is that it is solid now compared to the early years.
My advice to you would be to try the US school, DO schools, SGU, Ross, or AUC. If those options (for whatever reason) do not pan out then St. Matthew's is a great option. I mention the other schools ahead of SMU because they have California & NY approval whereas SMU is in the approval process as we speak.
Best of Luck!
St. Matthew's is a relatively new school in the Caribbean scene. It had a lot of problems when I first started at the school, namely due to bad management in addition to the newly formed school kinks that you'll see around.
Since then, they have changed administrations and moved to Cayman Islands. Since the move things have improved dramatically. We have on-line access to all our records (registrar, fin aid, etc) in addition to access to many journals. Other improvements have been more efficient service from the office regarding fin aid, rotation scheduling, and registration. I am now in clinicals so I don't directly know about the teaching but the word from others is that it is solid now compared to the early years.
My advice to you would be to try the US school, DO schools, SGU, Ross, or AUC. If those options (for whatever reason) do not pan out then St. Matthew's is a great option. I mention the other schools ahead of SMU because they have California & NY approval whereas SMU is in the approval process as we speak.
Best of Luck!
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I am also at SMU...have very mixed feelings about it as some things were fine and others were less than ideal. I wouldn't hesitate to look into SGU/AUC/Ross either. Although I've never been to Cayman (I did my time in Belize), things seem nice there. I do worry, however, about the quality of profs down there can be variable. Also, the Maine campus is a good thing to go to; I felt the education quality was much higher, but it depends if you want to purse the other degree.
Global Disrobal
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DJ Smooth,
Which are you in? I was in the 2nd class that went to Maine.
Which are you in? I was in the 2nd class that went to Maine.
I am thinking about applying to St Matthews but I have a couple questions for yall. I am Not rich at all so do you think I can get enough loans to cover the tuition? How are you all gonna pay for it?
Global Disrobal
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Trust me, I was in the same boat...they give you enough to cover everything and more.
You just have to be careful how you manage it. Studentsin my class range in loan debt from 120-250K.
You just have to be careful how you manage it. Studentsin my class range in loan debt from 120-250K.
Global Disrobal
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Hehe...I don't know if I liked the cars getting buried, but I sure as hell enjoyed leaving after Nishiyama's Path class and go to Shawnee Peak for some boarding!
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I'm a Saba grad. I was there Jan '98-Aug '99.
I'm a second year internal medicine resident now. I'm planning on doing an anesthesiology residency once I'm done with medicine (its a long story.....I applied for radiology initially and didn't get in). I think that having an internal medicine background is helpful as I got more interviews than I could attend and am confident I will match in a top program.
I think Saba served me well. Without taking any sort of review course and only studying by myself for 6 wks I got a 213 on step one. I was probably in the 75th percentile of my class on Saba, so I am sure many of my classmates did much better. Like any caribbean med school, instructors were hit and miss. I tend to daydream in class anyways regardless of how good the instructors are, so I didn't care how good or bad the instructors were.
As far as residency is concerned. I only got 3 interviews for radiology (with a 236 on step 2) out of the 70+ radiology programs I applied to. From what I have heard from many of my US graduate colleagues, this is common for many US grads who apply to radiology. Late in the game, I applied to 5 internal medicine programs, got 4 interviews and matched at my top choice, as far as internal medicine is concerned.
Overall, I'd say that Saba is a good choice. I have absolutely no idea what St.Matthews is like though.
Bottom line is this..............if you are intelliegent, dedicated and work hard...............you will have no problems getting into a good residency, becoming a good doctor and getting a good job once its all done.
I'm a second year internal medicine resident now. I'm planning on doing an anesthesiology residency once I'm done with medicine (its a long story.....I applied for radiology initially and didn't get in). I think that having an internal medicine background is helpful as I got more interviews than I could attend and am confident I will match in a top program.
I think Saba served me well. Without taking any sort of review course and only studying by myself for 6 wks I got a 213 on step one. I was probably in the 75th percentile of my class on Saba, so I am sure many of my classmates did much better. Like any caribbean med school, instructors were hit and miss. I tend to daydream in class anyways regardless of how good the instructors are, so I didn't care how good or bad the instructors were.
As far as residency is concerned. I only got 3 interviews for radiology (with a 236 on step 2) out of the 70+ radiology programs I applied to. From what I have heard from many of my US graduate colleagues, this is common for many US grads who apply to radiology. Late in the game, I applied to 5 internal medicine programs, got 4 interviews and matched at my top choice, as far as internal medicine is concerned.
Overall, I'd say that Saba is a good choice. I have absolutely no idea what St.Matthews is like though.
Bottom line is this..............if you are intelliegent, dedicated and work hard...............you will have no problems getting into a good residency, becoming a good doctor and getting a good job once its all done.
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Thanks Dbiddy. That was helpful.
