University of Medicine and Health Sciences-St.Kitts

[Mike MD]

Hello All,
I'm new to the forums but was wondering if we had any alumnus from the University of Medicine and Health Sciences in St.Kitts who would be interested in sharing their experiences with the program. I'm very unfamiliar with the Caribbean route but realize I may need a Plan B in the event I don't make it into an American MD/DO program. I've been speaking with their representatives but can't give a good feel for them. They claim to have a 97% residency placement but I know that figure must come with a number of artificial filters (e.g. not accounting for the total incoming class, not allowing certain students to take the USMLE, etc.). Would anyone be able to offer an objective critique to help alleviate my concerns/suspicions?

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[edgerock24]

Don't know much about this school, but I advise to pick SGU, Ross, Saba, AUC over any other Carib. school.

 

[Mike MD]

Don't know much about this school, but I advise to pick SGU, Ross, Saba, AUC over any other Carib. school.

I've heard as much but they carry their own degree of stigma as well. I must admit that this process is far more daunting than I ever imagined.

 

[laricb]

I've heard as much but they carry their own degree of stigma as well. I must admit that this process is far more daunting than I ever imagined.

The only 2 I would consider are SGU then ROSS in that order

 

[Top Gun]

If you end up having to go to the Caribbean for med school, I would pick only from the big four and possibly SMU, AUA, or MUA-Nevis.

 

[Medstart108]

Hello All,
I'm new to the forums but was wondering if we had any alumnus from the University of Medicine and Health Sciences in St.Kitts who would be interested in sharing their experiences with the program. I'm very unfamiliar with the Caribbean route but realize I may need a Plan B in the event I don't make it into an American MD/DO program. I've been speaking with their representatives but can't give a good feel for them. They claim to have a 97% residency placement but I know that figure must come with a number of artificial filters (e.g. not accounting for the total incoming class, not allowing certain students to take the USMLE, etc.). Would anyone be able to offer an objective critique to help alleviate my concerns/suspicions?

Well it was founded by the same guy who founded Ross so i would guess this person knows how to lead a school at least, but otherwise, why would you take a new school over a school that has more experience. It has to be the big 4.

 

[Sportfreund]

I've heard good things about this school and it appears to be one of the best schools outside the top-4.

HOWEVER, the problem is that the cost is not significantly less than the other 4 schools (Windsor is on the same island as this and has lower tuition and a similar amount of residencies from what I can tell).

The school is located on St. Kitts which is supposed to be one of the best islands, I know that Nevis (the country is called St. Kitts & Nevis) is one of the two or three best islands on the Caribbean. Maybe you should apply to AUC (Ross I've heard too many bad stories about and St. George is the most expensive one) as well as this school + Windsor, see which ones give you admission along with the costs, continue to do research and then go from there.

 

[stethan]

I've heard good things about this school and it appears to be one of the best schools outside the top-4.

HOWEVER, the problem is that the cost is not significantly less than the other 4 schools (Windsor is on the same island as this and has lower tuition and a similar amount of residencies from what I can tell).

The school is located on St. Kitts which is supposed to be one of the best islands, I know that Nevis (the country is called St. Kitts & Nevis) is one of the two or three best islands on the Caribbean. Maybe you should apply to AUC (Ross I've heard too many bad stories about and St. George is the most expensive one) as well as this school + Windsor, see which ones give you admission along with the costs, continue to do research and then go from there.

I would not compare this school to Windsor. I've heard a few horror stories from that school from friends who have transferred from Windsor. I also have friends who have graduated from UMHS and report good news. They have since gone on to residency.

 

[Medstart108]

Windsor is a joke have you seen their facilities. They had chairs half the size of the people sitting on them in an un airconditioned room with nothing more than a white board on wheels to teach.

 

[stethan]

Windsor is a joke have you seen their facilities. They had chairs half the size of the people sitting on them in an un airconditioned room with nothing more than a white board on wheels to teach.

I'm surprised to hear that. Don't they have around 1,000 students?

 

[Medstart108]

I'm surprised to hear that. Don't they have around 1,000 students?

Having a lot of students has nothing to do with how good you are. Yale accepts 100 students a year. Windsor might be accept somewhere close to 400. They had this picture on their website which showed how horrible the conditions were but they took it down. Even looking on the website now the pictures they put up are better but still not what anyone would call decent facilities.

Look at the first picture on this link

http://www.windsor.edu/md-program.html

Its a school i just would not go to. Ever. I would sooner switch careers than even consider it.

 

[Mike MD]

Having a lot of students has nothing to do with how good you are. Yale accepts 100 students a year. Windsor might be accept somewhere close to 400. They had this picture on their website which showed how horrible the conditions were but they took it down. Even looking on the website now the pictures they put up are better but still not what anyone would call decent facilities.

Look at the first picture on this link

http://www.windsor.edu/md-program.html

Its a school i just would not go to. Ever. I would sooner switch careers than even consider it.

That looks especially awful. It also looks grossly overcrowded. Although, I at least appreciate their honesty in letting applicants know what to expect.

 

[Mike MD]

Well it was founded by the same guy who founded Ross so i would guess this person knows how to lead a school at least, but otherwise, why would you take a new school over a school that has more experience. It has to be the big 4.

That's a reasonable question to ask. I suppose that I'm willing to keep all of my options open at this point, since "when" I can start any medical program supersedes the importance of "where". This isn't to say that I would go to any old program but I'd prefer to make this transition as soon as possible.

 

[Mike MD]

I would not compare this school to Windsor. I've heard a few horror stories from that school from friends who have transferred from Windsor. I also have friends who have graduated from UMHS and report good news. They have since gone on to residency.

May I ask what residencies in particular? If not, can I at least have the states where that they were in?

 

[Mike MD]

I've heard good things about this school and it appears to be one of the best schools outside the top-4.

HOWEVER, the problem is that the cost is not significantly less than the other 4 schools (Windsor is on the same island as this and has lower tuition and a similar amount of residencies from what I can tell).

The school is located on St. Kitts which is supposed to be one of the best islands, I know that Nevis (the country is called St. Kitts & Nevis) is one of the two or three best islands on the Caribbean. Maybe you should apply to AUC (Ross I've heard too many bad stories about and St. George is the most expensive one) as well as this school + Windsor, see which ones give you admission along with the costs, continue to do research and then go from there.

The island is amazing and the cost of living seems excellent, which has helped to carry my interest in the school. I am, however, having a difficult time finding much information about the school beyond what they themselves have published. This sends up multiple red flags for me given the time and money that would be involved with the process.

 

[Skip Intro]

The only 2 I would consider are SGU then ROSS in that order

Ditto. Except, in my mind its a toss-up. And, AUC as well.

-Skip

 

[stethan]

May I ask what residencies in particular? If not, can I at least have the states where that they were in?

Sure, the most recent state was Michigan with the field being Primary Care. I'm cannot remember the whereabouts specifically though.

 

[django7]

there are 2 windsor alumni doing anesthesia at cook county. so cant be that bad

 

[Skip Intro]

there are 2 windsor alumni doing anesthesia at cook county. so cant be that bad

Windsor? Or Cook County?

-Skip

 

[ERMD2B]

Well it was founded by the same guy who founded Ross so i would guess this person knows how to lead a school at least, but otherwise, why would you take a new school over a school that has more experience. It has to be the big 4.

If I could do it all over again, there is no way I would enroll at UMHS. There are many things that you will not learn until you get here. The admin is not student friendly. The relationship between admin (NY office) seems to be very adversarial at best. There are several foreign faculty that have about 500 errors on every ppt.. Everything from spelling, grammar, syntax, to sentences that do not even make sense. You will also find questions on exams that are difficult and sometimes impossible to determine what the prof is actually asking. I have complained about this from day one and there has been zero change, in fact I believe it has gotten worse....Another example: Pharm is so disorganized that the professor can't find his own ppts. If he can't find them or figure out what week they were posted in, how can the student find the ppt???
There is not any single place on campus that quiet study is enforced. The library is supposed to be quiet, but the entrance to the library and the LRC is a common entrance and you hear both doors open and slam about 30-45 times per min (not every min of the day, but most). Tuition continues to go up every year, even though it is not reflected on the UMHS website.
All block exams are given on the same day. This means you could have 4 major exams on one day for each block.
The bookstore has everything priced very high....example: One monster drink cost over $5.00 US.
Customs here charges 95% for any electronic device sent to the island.
Again, I would have gone to law school if I had know how unfriendly this school is to the students.
The above are my opinions and I promise I am not alone.