The Absolute Truth about St. George’s University MD program

[ChemEng]

I would like to know the absolute truth about the St. George's MD program and its reputation. I was just recently accepted to the program (their scholars UK program as well) and I am very hesitant to accept because of all the rumors I hear about non US schools. I.e. only family practice, no competitive residency placement, etc.

When I interviewed, I brought this topic up as a question and wanted to know what they had to say about it. The interviewer essentially said that there has been a shift in recent years and more and more graduates are getting competitive residencies, dismissing previous notions of the past. Even the St. George's website shows the residencies landed by their graduates and some of them seem impressive. Despite all of this I am still a little skeptical.

I am not certain of what kind of physician I want to become, but currently I am thinking about trauma surgery, in which case a residency in general surgery is required. In any case, I want to keep my options open as much as possible when applying for residencies. I know that grades and USMLE scores are going to be paramount to landing these residencies. Let’s say I am a student as SGU and there is a US med student. The US med student gets an "x" on their boards. Does this mean I will have to get a "x + 20 more points" to get the same residency?

For all current SGU med students and physicians who are SGU graduate and those who work with SGU graduates, can you enlighten me on THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH about this school and the professional world there after? These questions are intended for current med students and professional doctors, so please pre meds, don't you dare think about bashing a med school you absolutely have no clue about!

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[bruceleehiiiyaa]

I would like to know the absolute truth about the St. George's MD program and its reputation. I was just recently accepted to the program (their scholars UK program as well) and I am very hesitant to accept because of all the rumors I hear about non US schools. I.e. only family practice, no competitive residency placement, etc.

When I interviewed, I brought this topic up as a question and wanted to know what they had to say about it. The interviewer essentially said that there has been a shift in recent years and more and more graduates are getting competitive residencies, dismissing previous notions of the past. Even the St. George's website shows the residencies landed by their graduates and some of them seem impressive. Despite all of this I am still a little skeptical.

I am not certain of what kind of physician I want to become, but currently I am thinking about trauma surgery, in which case a residency in general surgery is required. In any case, I want to keep my options open as much as possible when applying for residencies. I know that grades and USMLE scores are going to be paramount to landing these residencies. Let’s say I am a student as SGU and there is a US med student. The US med student gets an "x" on their boards. Does this mean I will have to get a "x + 20 more points" to get the same residency?

For all current SGU med students and physicians who are SGU graduate and those who work with SGU graduates, can you enlighten me on THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH about this school and the professional world there after? These questions are intended for current med students and professional doctors, so please pre meds, don't you dare think about bashing a med school you absolutely have no clue about!

lol think about it. its MUCH harder to get into US meds than SGU/Carrib. what does that tell you?

 

[muhali3]

So basically, what you're asking is "Will I have to perform better than an American med school student to be as competitive for the same residency spot?"

I believe the answer is yes.

 

[Phosphorus Ylide]

https://baysgu35.sgu.edu/ERD/2009/ResidPost.nsf/BYPGY?OpenView&RestrictToCategory=PGY1&Count=-1

I know a physician who went to SGU. I asked him about his opinion and he said it is harder to get a residency spot as a foreign medical graduate in general.

From the above match list, it does look like quite a few SGU grads do obtain surgical residencies, but I'm not sure what their scores were or what other factors were involved.

I do know that he currently works in a department amongst Stanford grads and others and does the same exact thing that they do. Although this is EM and not surgery.

 

[DRIN]

So basically, what you're asking is "Will I have to perform better than an American med school student to be as competitive for the same residency spot?"

I believe the answer is yes.

If the USMLE is truly standardized, then why does it matter where one gains the knowledge in order to achieve a high score on the exam?

 

[bruceleehiiiyaa]

If the USMLE is truly standardized, then why does it matter where one gains the knowledge in order to achieve a high score on the exam?

because US MED SCHOOLS >>> other schools (atleast in the usa). usmle is not the only factor residencies take into consideration.

 

[thesauce]

https://baysgu35.sgu.edu/ERD/2009/ResidPost.nsf/BYPGY?OpenView&RestrictToCategory=PGY1&Count=-1

I know a physician who went to SGU. I asked him about his opinion and he said it is harder to get a residency spot as a foreign medical graduate in general.

From the above match list, it does look like quite a few SGU grads do obtain surgical residencies, but I'm not sure what their scores were or what other factors were involved.

I do know that he currently works in a department amongst Stanford grads and others and does the same exact thing that they do. Although this is EM and not surgery.

They made have been at the bottom of their class at Stanford and may have scored much lower on the boards than him.

 

[thesauce]

because US MED SCHOOLS >>> other schools (atleast in the usa). usmle is not the only factor residencies take into consideration.

Also, there is a belief amongst some residency program directors that FMG spend much longer studying for the steps. I'm not sure how true it is.

 

[Phosphorus Ylide]

They made have been at the bottom of their class at Stanford and may have scored much lower on the boards than him.

Oh, I meant they're all attendings in the same ED. So while they may have had different experiences with getting into a residency program, they all ended up in the same place.

But I agree, if it were a residency issue and there were two applicants with similar stats, the Stanford one would undoubtedly be chosen.

 

[thesauce]

Oh, I meant they're all attendings in the same ED. So while they may have had different experiences with getting into a residency program, they all ended up in the same place.

But I agree, if it was a residency issue and there were two applicants with similar stats, the Stanford one would undoubtedly be chosen.

It's the sad truth. I'm always happy to see FMGs come out the other end successfully because they have a much tougher road.

 

[Phosphorus Ylide]

Unrelated post and total transient thread hijack, but what year are you sauce?

 

[BennieBlanco]

You could do a D.O.

I think everyone is right to say that it will be MUCH harder yet not impossible. I wouldn't believe them shrugging it off. Of course they shrugged it off.

Honestly if you are young (recent college graduate), I would work on the application for a year and go DO / MD but not Caribbean.

 

[thesauce]

Unrelated post and total transient thread hijack, but what year are you sauce?

4th (well technically 5th since I did a year of research). I send out residency applications September 1st.

 

[Law2Doc]

If the USMLE is truly standardized, then why does it matter where one gains the knowledge in order to achieve a high score on the exam?

The USMLE is only one factor places look at. It is also not a litmus for how good your medical education was, it's a minimal proficiency test. People who study over a longer period of time tend to do better. People who aren't allowed to take it until they pass certain internal exams (as is done in many offshore schools) also will tend to enhance their scores a bit. Programs that "teach to the boards" rather than a broader more generalized medical education tend to enhance scores. Programs know the offshore schools do a variety of manipulations to try to improve their stats, and so, plain and simple, they don't look at their applicants equally. The US person with a 210 still has a much better shot at the same residency as the offshore applicant with a 225. This simply isn't the most important measure unless you are talking about people who are starting in the same pile (ie US grads vs offshore grads). And some places simply won't even look at the offshore applicants until the scramble.

Offshore programs are a great "second chance" if you fail to get into a US program. But getting into a US program should be your priority if you plan to practice in the US, because your odds of getting the residency you desire will be much much better. The other huge issue for offshore schools is attrition. If you get into a US med school, you WILL become a doctor. If you get into an offshore school, you still have a fairly good chance of not making it through. Some places ditch as many as 30-40% of their class over the course of the 4 years. Some people quit, others fail out, others never pass the internal hurdles that would allow them to take the boards, graduate, etc. This is a big reason some of these places are able to show decent match lists and decent board scores -- they throw out everyone who wouldn't add to their total. So don't buy into the hype, there is no equal substitute for attending a US school if you want to practice in the US. There are only second chance fall back positions.

 

[pingouin]

This is a duplicate thread, and is being closed. If you would like to respond to the OP, please do so here: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=652620