Many people from Eastern Europe have talked about transferring for US clinicals, and some have mentioned this school, I would like to know how this schools is regarding clinicals!! Can someone please inquire about their prospective experiences with St. Eust. and clinicals?? Thank you.

Sint Eustatius has a 100% Clinical placement rate for the US for all eligible students who wanted US clinicals. I have personally contacted Sint Eustatius many times regarding this matter. They will even provide you with a list of their residents.

I have inquired also and looked carefully into this school. What they call greenbook rotaitons are really small hospitals with not so much going for them. I think we get better hands on in the Czec Republic. I am from Pennsylvania and the licensing administrator said this school is under investigation (her name is Cindy Warner). Also, you cannot do residencies in New york as they failed a site visit by the State Board of Education. I don't know if you are from any of the Polish schools approved by NY. Plus, the tuition is very high. Hope this is helpful.

what to do about rotations then? I am a fourth year medical student in Hungary, and am considering the fifth pathway, do you all have any input on this? Thanks again!!

Yeah, They told me that there are no residencies in NY or in CA and I think in another big state.. not sure which one... but they said they are working on it, which is normal for all new schools to go through this process. Another thing about the Czec Republic and European schools.... alot of those students (and this information I have is from reading other students posts on other sites) want to transfer to either Saba, Sint Eustatius, Ross, AUG or other carribbean schools. So its hard to tell which is better ... all I care about is that the school doesnt go under and that I graduate with a residency spot in the US. As for now, Sint Eustatius has over 50 residents in the US and many other students doing their clinicals. To me, thats good enough for now.

I hope I might be able to provide some useful information for you, and any other student who is thinking about transferring to St. Eustatius. I attended Semmeweis University in Budapest for 4 years. At the end of my fourth year (last summer), I found out about Eustatius and some of the other Carribean schools and considered transferring. For me at the time, Eustatius was a front-runner because of their good track-record when it comes to placing stdents in US clinical rotations (some of the other schools had a limited number of rotations available in the US, and if a student didnt meet certain criteria, they would be forced to do their rotations in the U.K.), and because they were willing to give me a conditional acceptance. This conditional acceptance meant that i was accepted into the university based ONLY on my academic performance while in SOTE, without a step 1 score in hand. Most other schools required me to have already completed step 1. So this was one of the biggest reasons why I transferred to Eustatius. I then took the time off and studied for step 1, which I took in Jan. My score will be coming back any day now, and I will be starting my clinical rotations on March 1. Two of my friends also transferred with me, and they have already started their clinical rotations. They are both in Chicago and they are so far satisfied with the experience they are getting. Although they are not in the best hospital, they say they are learning alot, and the next hospital they will be rotating through next month has a very good reputations amoungst the other students that are there. So I guess overall, eustatius is affiliated with some good hospitals and some bad, just like anwhere else. You just have to go to one and see for yourself. However, current and former students are a big resource for information, and are very helpful. Before I was accepted, I asked for and received the email addresses of several students, and they all were satisfied with their decisions to attend St. Eustatius. Clinicals are available all around the country. I personally know of rotations in Chicago, New Orleans, Spokan, Washington DC, Colorado, and NC. I'm sure there are more, but those are the ones I have heard of. The admissions office is very helpful in organizing things, and Patty and Dr. Poulin go out of their way to answer any questions you have or deal with any problems that may come up. So overall I am extremely happy with my decision to transfer and am really looking forward to starting my clinicals next month.

In regards to another question that was posted, as of last month, the NY apporval had not come through yet. The site visit has occurred and they are waiting for the approval to come through. As far as i know, Eustatius had NOT been rejected for NY approval the last time I spoke to the admissions office, but maybe Junebug has more current information than me. Your best bet to find out if they were aporved or rejected is to contact the admisions office and ask.

I hope this post was of some help. I'm gald to see another Eustatius forum up and running. We need more like it to spread information around and help each other succeed. Good job Imran!

Thanks Avi for the good amount of non-biased information. Its very helpful and to the point. Your input is much appreciated.
Imran.

And this is what she wrote:
Hello and I hope that this e-mail finds you in good keeping! I am in my third semester here. Well a year ago I was pretty much in the same boat that you're in. I'd decided to do some research about the school when I first got accepted also. So I searched the internet in attempt to find info regarding the school. Well the story behind the school is that most of its founders are ex-members of the faculty of Saba School of Medicine. Because of some disagreements that were had between that the two parties had, Saba has tried to scandalize the school's name. I read so many degrading remarks about the school that I decided to sit back and "consider the source" . Once I learned more about the situation between the two schools I 'considered the source'..........to be invalid. So most, if any, of the derogatory comments you will hear are coming from the neighboring island, Saba. Also what I did was I myself, contacted the USMLE, who further transferred me to the ECFMG (Education Commissions on Foreign Medical Graduates), and I asked them was the students of St Eustatius School of Medicine allowed to sit for the USMLE. There answer was "Yes". I know that this does not completely answer your question about the investigation------and that, I know nothing of. But as soon as you find out let me know! I have no knowledge of that situation. But the school does have students in their clinicals and in their residency.

As far as the workload, yes it is a bit much--but of course no more than any other medical school. If you make your decision to come just e-mail me again later and I will brief you on what to bring and things to expect from the island.

Take care and I wish you all the best!

Hi ron ,

Read your post. I would apprecite some more info on what things to bring. I will be coming in May 2002 as a ist year student .
Thanks ,
Jamal.

I applied to SABA and they were rude....I think I know why now...I told them I got accepted to Sint Eustatius...cuz they asked what school(s) I had interviewed with other than SABA...The guy was a jerk. He was really precocious and tried to make me feel stupid...like do you know what it takes to be a phsycian??? only he then was like, no, you need to match and that is difficult...maybe you should think twice...of course I naturally got rejected when I told him exactly waht it takes...jerk jerk jerk.

Anyways, I guess all the bad things about Statia are rumored from SABA..that's messed up. Please, I'd also want to know what I should bring..I am sooo lost about waht's going on..And I'm never been to the island. I just know everything about the webiste...it really is under informative. I don;t know if anyone knows of any informative books/sites on the island other than this web ring and the main site. Its really really frustrating not to know what the heck is going on. I am somewhat informed but I keep calling the admissions office and they make everything seem like a piece of cake. I apprecite the info that this site is somewhat helpful and everyhting about the heavy course load which is expected. I just really want more advise on how to best prepare myself for the first term and arriving on the island...I really don't want to blow it.

Thanks,
Angela