School Name: MUA
Location: St. Kitts & Nevis
Basic Science Tuition:
$4,450.00/semester
Clinical Science Tuition:
$5,400.00/semester
USA Clinical Rotations: Yes
Time required for MD: 72 weeks
Special: MUA Nevis has a pre-med program
Website: Click here Phone: 978-632-1599
Ok can someone please tell me, again, what kind of computer I need. Plus, the stuff I should try and include on my computer. Is a Zip Drive all I truely need .... what about software stuff ... will Corel PowerPoint Work? Any suggestions or recommendations will help .... I am buying it on Thursday .. Thanks!!!
And while I am posting ....
Thanks to everyone who took the Time to talk and answer questions I did not even know I had!!! See you all in January!!!
Posted on Aug 14, 2001, 7:47 PM from IP address 209.128.34.1
COMPARISON OF THE MAJOR CARIBBEAN MEDICAL SCHOOL FROM THE INSIDE --- from a student who was enrolled at two schools but accepted by all in the Caribbean.
1) The FACULTY at all the med schools are good but, different might be better for different people. ie MUA has a dean who also started med school after being a respected PhD professor. The AUC & Ross profs are good if you're comfortable ebing in a class of 150.
2) The FACILITIES meaning the classrooms, labs, etc. are probably the best at AUC or Saba, but MUA (Nevis) has very good facilities all in new buildings built FOR the university right on the water!
3) CLINICALS are the worst at AUC, as 95% of students are forced to do rotations in the UK. vs. MUA, Saba, and St Eustatius all “guarantee” clinicals in the states vs. Ross that is a strong, older program but clinicals not “guaranteed” in the states, based on "space available."
4) DORMS are an interesting barometer of what the university places an emphasis on. Saba and Nevis have regular Dorms for first semester students and St Eustatius has university “sponsored housing” for first semester students.
They are all good ideas as living in proximity to your colleagues is a good start but the cost at St Eustatius is ridiculous (as a 2/1 bath apart for $4200 per semester to an old hotel-room with no kitchen for $2200/semster!) Nevis has the best prices as double occupancy for $1100 per semester and single occupancy for $1700 in brand new dorms. (No dorms for AUC yet.)
At MUA on Nevis they also allow students with families to live in apartments that are adjacent to the dorms (where most 2nd semester students live.) All of these structures at MUA are NEW!
5) COST the cost of tuition and fees + books is the best at MUA then Saba, then St Eustatius, then Ross, then AUC. (See web sites)
6) LIVING CONDITIONS/ENVIRONMENT are ALL better than on St Eustatius that may be the friendliest island but also the dirtiest and most despirate. (Statia has beggars at the grocery stores and half the Statia population is on lifetime welfare.)
Nevis (MUA) has a chlorinated water system from an aquifer vs. water here and on Saba is from rainfall to underground cisterns with mosquitos rather than clean water.
St Maarten is beautiful but, the most expensive with a water system of de-salinization. (I have visited all islands campuses except Ross in the Dominican Republic and, that might be a good place if you are fluent in Spanish.)
7) HOUSING close to the schools are all tight and pricey on all islands but, the larger island size helps/counts a lot. Saba is 6 square miles, St. Eustatius is 10 square miles, Nevis is 38 square miles and St Maarten 56 square miles. The best is probably Nevis or St Maarten based on nice amenities like AC, cable, and clean & new apartments.
8) GROCERIES are best on the islands that have tourism as their prime economy as they need to have western goods for the tourists and property owners from the USA and UK. So St Maatern and Nevis have by far much better groceries (even a SAMs branch on St Maarten.) Plus Nevis is just 4 miles from St Kitts which is like St Maarten and you can go by ferry 3 times a day for about $12 round trip.
9) COMMUNICATION St Eustatius has computer rooms for net and phone use vs. St Maarten has the computers only for programs, Word processing without internet, and Saba & Nevis have computers for net but don’t allow internet phone use. All islands have phone services that include Internet communication for a fee. I have heard that Ross has a large computer lab for internet.
10) RECREATION all islands are pretty, but the tourist islands have the best activities with St Maarten being the best but, Nevis is just a $5 dollar ferry ride to St Kitts that is similar to St Maarten.
11) CARS are needed at all schools (except first semester shuttle service on Nevis.) You can buy used Caribbean cars anywhere but, the best idea is to rent a car until you can buy one from a graduating student.
12) FINANCIAL AID the best/easiest is with the regular Stafford student loans that you can only get at St Maarten & Ross. However, all other programs have available deferred loans with pluses and minuses on each.
The AMEX loan that St Eustatius has is the best if you have perfect credit and own property (no more than a 30 days late in the last 7 years) PLUS a cosigner with perfect credit and over $100,000 annual income. Only 20% of thoise who applied for this were accepted. The Saba & Nevis have good TERI loans but they have fees for initiation, etc.
13) TRANSITION programs. If you lack the prerequisites you can join a transition program at MUA and St Eustatius like they have for medical school in Europe. Be cautious though the average age of student in the first class of transition students at St Eustatius is 20 and, they are ALL from Europe or Africa. (Nice, smart kids but, not piers for me.)
14) TESTING is a topic of discussion. St Eustatius has all of their testing on computer on one day for all exams which mimics the way the USMLE tests are given, so that may help. Most other schools do the standard scantron testing and, also tests for all subjects are given on just one day each month, (except for finals that are only one test each day in the last week.)
15) COMMUNITY Does the community want the medical school and how will they treat you? MUA was invited by Nevis and even given land for the campus! The St Eustatius program was initiated by a prof that abandoned the Saba program and he was recruited by the Statia travel agent. Ross is a spanish community so ggod if you are fluent in Spanish. The school & students on Grenada are hated (I am told.)
** I started on St Eustatius but left after the first semester and found a haven for much better learning on NEVIS at MUA!!!
Here are the web sites for all the schools I have mentioned:
Medical University Americas (Nevis): www.medicaluniversity.org
Saba Medical School (Saba): www.saba.org
Ross Medical University (Dominican Republic): http://www.rossmed.edu/
American University of Caribbean (St Maarten): http://aucmed.edu/
University of St Eustatius School of Medicine (St Eustatius): http://www.eustatiusmed.org/
Posted on Aug 13, 2001, 3:33 PM from IP address 205.214.204.50
Dude, where were you when I was trying to make decisions on a school? I think you just wrote the most succinct and complete comparison of Caribbean schools, that I have seen in the past 6months of going over information out there. It was still good to read why we made such a good choice with MUA.
Posted on Aug 14, 2001, 6:08 PM from IP address 162.96.144.63
Hi Everyone!
I just sent in my application and I want to get the student perspective of MUA. How many of you are studying there and what is the average age? Also, if you had to make one complaint about the school, what would it be? I'm very interested in the school and I've only heard good things so far. Give me any info you can. Thanks!
Melissa
Posted on Aug 13, 2001, 4:39 PM from IP address 152.163.207.49
To answer your question, I think the total student population now is about 120. When are you planning on starting? If not next semester I'd suggest you come see the school yourself. I just put up a long description of most of the medical schools in the Caribbean that I did for my cousin. See if it helps you too.
The age range in my class (finishing 2nd semster) is from 22 to 45. We have a large number of us who have graduate degrees in related fields (from RN to AT to DC) and, we also have students who have just recently finished their undergraduate work.
The only complaint about the school would be the limited library hours but they are completing construction of a new, large library that will have more PC's and more study space with longer hours. They seem to listen to our needs as well as any other university that I've attended.
The school and the island community are great here and, I am VERY happy that I transfered from anotehr caribbean med school last semester! Send me a direct email if you have more questions and, I'll enjoy helping answer those questions . . . as friends here helped me when I was investigating MUA too!
Cheerio!
Buck
Buckswt@yahoo.com
Posted on Aug 14, 2001, 11:28 AM from IP address 205.214.204.37
Hey everybody-is it too early to start application for fall 2002? just curious-also, any news regarding the clinical rotations on Nevis as far as what is available?
thanks alot-alex
Posted on Aug 13, 2001, 7:25 PM from IP address 24.240.84.222
Yes, you can apply for a spot in September 2002. Even if you haven't fulfilled all your admission(course) requirements, you can atleast hand in the application form/Letters of Reference etc and hand in the other stuff as it comes along. They may even give you conditional acceptance based on already completed courses and grades.
I'm starting MUA Pre-med this september, so I'm not officially a student yet, but you can call the admissions office. They've been very helpful.
Ali.
Posted on Aug 13, 2001, 8:17 PM from IP address 204.50.249.132
Hi! I just got accepted to the Pre-meds II program and I had a few questions for people who are in their 3rd or 4th year...
1. Was it easy to get your clinical rotations in the U.S.?
2. Are you happy with MUA?
3. Do you have any advice or survival hints?
4. What is the lifestyle like on Nevis? Is there crime, etc.?
5. What is the best/cheapest airline to travel when going to Nevis (I'm coming from Nashville, TN).
6. What items would you recommend that I bring with me besides bug spray?
Thanks so much!!
Posted on Aug 13, 2001, 12:29 PM from IP address 12.77.94.81
I have not yet got the assignment sheet from Sharon, i would like to know what kind of rooms are there, and what are the hours of quietness in dorms. I have been told that its a co-ed dorm, does it means roomates can be male female or just male and male. how are the apartments, and where i can get the list, I would also wanna know if any senior student is selling his/her books or do i have to carry from US.
thanks
eli
Posted on Aug 13, 2001, 11:39 AM from IP address 158.252.20.100
I believe that the number of first semester students and pre-med students is at max for the dorm, based on double occupancy. Therefore, I don't think there are any single rooms available. If the dorm is full, you might be able to secure an apartment off campus.
See you on the 3rd.
Posted on Aug 12, 2001, 3:55 PM from IP address 151.203.3.189
The dorm has 24 rooms, capable of holding 48 students. We are anticipating approximately 50 students, but since a few are married and living off campus, we don't anticipaate any problem getting a dorm room.
Posted on Aug 13, 2001, 5:51 AM from IP address 151.203.3.189
If space is available, students may request a single room. If no single rooms are available, then room mates will be determined by Sharon, the housing coordinator on campus, based on the dorm questionnaire. We will try to match people with compatible likes & dislikes. If the dorm is full and a room is unavailable, a student may be given permission to live off-campus.
Posted on Aug 13, 2001, 6:31 AM from IP address 151.203.3.189
I was wondering if anyone has any
first semester books for sale. Please E-Mail me ASAP
if you do. Any suggestions on the dissecting kit to
bring would be most appreciated also.
Mohammed
Posted on Aug 13, 2001, 4:39 AM from IP address 212.67.102.190
It seems to me that there are a lot of indian students arriving next semester. That really scares the hell out of me. Please tell me that "other" students will be coming too. Is MUA an offshore indian school??
Thanks!
Posted on Aug 9, 2001, 1:12 PM from IP address 205.214.204.162
To Future Applicant:
What is frightening is your attitude toward Indian students. As an individual that is aspires to attend medical school I would hope that you would have the realization that as a physician you will meet many people of varied ethnicity, lifestyles and opinions that may differ from yours. You might also have some of these scary people as your future patients. What is so frightening about a fellow human being?
P.S. I am a second semester student soon to be third and the people that scare me are people with attitudes such as yours.
Posted on Aug 9, 2001, 4:28 PM from IP address 64.12.103.158
Whatever, give me a break! Of course, there are a lot of Indian people there at MUA. In fact, I've been there in January and there are a lot of Indian people. I even commented on how many Indians there were when I was there. To be honest, I felt, numbered out. But, as with anything in life, deal with it and attack it. Your there for a reason and just get through what you need to get through and everything will workout. I'm so sick of all of the rascist bull****. You know there are a lot of Indian people there, relax.
Posted on Aug 12, 2001, 7:59 PM from IP address 65.13.130.193
I am an Indian student from Canada who will be attending MUA this September. Reading your message actually scared ME! Isn't that ironic? I just hope that you remain a "future applicant" of MUA as you may not want to be around so many Indian people...you know, we being all scary and all.
To all other students attending MUA this fall, I look forward to meeting all of you. One of you might just end up being my roommate:)
Posted on Aug 9, 2001, 7:19 PM from IP address 204.50.249.132
You are kidding right? And if I do have a problem will you solve it for me? Why don't you give me your name so that I can look you up so that we can settle our differences. Watch out for us African-Americans!
Balle Balle jacka%s!
Posted on Aug 10, 2001, 3:02 PM from IP address 205.214.204.248
Are you male or female? I look forward to meeting you jatt. I really do. I want to show you a special place. By the way, I'll use your retarded balle balle whenever I want CHUMP!
Posted on Aug 12, 2001, 9:54 AM from IP address 205.214.204.200
Hi, I was considering applying for Jan 02 PreMed at MUA. I was wondering if anyone could tell me if it's too late? Has anyone already went through the PreMed classes? How are they? I've just finished a degree in Applied Math but was wanting an MD. Do you think they'd consider me?
Thanks for reading!
Posted on Aug 12, 2001, 12:49 PM from IP address 65.35.29.146
I applied during the last week of July for a spot in the September 2001 Pre-med class. I had my interview a week later and I was accepted. I finished an undergraduate degree in Economics before I applied, so they will definately consider you.
You should go ahead and apply. The faster you apply the better. That way you have enought time to prepare. I applied a bit late and now I'm running around to get all my finances/loans in order and other stuff(immigration/residence/health certification/police reports etc etc).
Good luck!
Ali.
Posted on Aug 12, 2001, 1:52 PM from IP address 204.50.249.132
Thanks for responding to my original questions but now I've got more! (You're going to be sick of me before long)
I was wondering how long it took from the time you turned in your application to find out whether or not you'd been accepted. How long before you were called for the interview? What kind of questions did they ask? ARE you required an interview?
Thanks, Dorothy
Posted on Aug 12, 2001, 2:39 PM from IP address 65.35.29.146
I called the admissions office in Massachusetts on a Friday to see if they had received my application and they said that they had. They said that I should hear from them the next week. Important: The admissions committee only conducts interviews on Wednesdays. I called the admissions office on Tuesday and made an appointment for an interview for Wednesday(Normally they will call you, but I just got a bit nervous because i was expecting a call on Monday) So, all in all I had my interview 3 business days after the receipt of my application package. Since I had my interview on August 1st, they didn't want me to wait for an official letter of acceptance, so they told me at the end of the interview that I had been accepted. For you it might me different since you still have 4 months till the start of the Jan2002 Semester.
Yes, you are required an interview. For what kind of questions they ask, look at post titled "Pre-medical interview questions" (or something like that). It should still be on the first page of the forum.
Good luck!
Ali.
Posted on Aug 12, 2001, 3:36 PM from IP address 204.50.249.132
1. Are there any Canadians here
1.5 How are the lecture hall facilities
2. Can I do all my rotation in the US
3. I can go to either Ireland or Car. (St. George, SABA) ; where should I go
and 4. Latisha, I'm single and need to get married for US residency spot; lol
Thanks for any input
Michael
Posted on Aug 10, 2001, 12:05 PM from IP address 216.223.104.12
Yes, there are a lot of Canadians at MUA. I just had my interview with admin about 2 weeks ago and they said that about 25% of the incoming class is Canadian(It is the 2nd largest group after Americans)
As far as I know MUA still doesn't have any students who have started Clinical Training yet. I asked them about there clinical placement rates for SABA instead and they said that 100% of students were placed (most of them in the U.S) I don't know if the people who went out of the US did it by choice or they couldn't get a sopt in the US.
I'll be starting pre-med in September at MUA (That's if the finances come through for me). I can't really answer your other questions since I'm not a student there yet.
Hope this helped and Good luck!
Ali
Toronto.
Posted on Aug 10, 2001, 6:51 PM from IP address 204.50.249.132
First of all congratulations and second what kind of questions did they ask you for the pre-med program? Did anything throw you off guard, or was it pretty straight forward?
-Steve
Posted on Aug 10, 2001, 7:47 PM from IP address 209.255.54.8
The interview was really nothing to sweat about. Some of the questions that they asked were: Why do you want to pursue medicine? (Since I just finished an undergraduate degree in Economics, they asked why the change).Other questions were: How did you hear about MUA? Will you be able to adjust to life in the Caribbean? They asked questions about my extra-curricular activities. They wanted to know if I would have a problem in moving from city to city during clinicals if I don't get all of them in one city. They spent a lot time talking to me about the school and what it offers. They talked about the pre-med program and how it's great preparation for the MD and about their new building projects that are on the way(a new library and labs, I think)
Nothing to worry about. Really straightforward. I made a few notes before the interview. I listed my strenghts/weaknesses, reasons why I want to pursue medicine and I made a list of questions that I had. I also read through their website thoroughly and did some research on MUA on the internet...just wanted to see what other information was out there.
There were 2 people who interviewed me. One male one female. The interview lasted about 30 minutes after that i asked them some questions and at the end of it they said that I should make preparations to leave.
Don't worry about it at all. Good luck!
Ali.
Posted on Aug 10, 2001, 10:09 PM from IP address 204.50.249.132
First, are the TERI loans really enough to cover all your expenses?? I know there are credit based, however, have you guys found they meet all your needs?
Second, what type of health care coverage are you guys carrying?? Is there some type of international health care coverage that everyone is using?
Looking forward to seeing everyone in one week!
Chris
Posted on Aug 5, 2001, 7:44 PM from IP address 209.142.152.6
I get the loan. It's enough if you have some sense. If you are used to living a lavish liestyle forget it! I have a car and I will soon be living in a 2 br. and I will have plenty left over.
Posted on Aug 9, 2001, 11:31 AM from IP address 205.214.203.79
Hey Raj, how is everything? Just wanted to ask you a couple of questions, I hope you don't mind answering them. Anyone else can also feel free to do so. Every little bit counts.
How good are the professors at MUA?
How good are the labs?
Are you guys tested fairly on the material taught?
Would you recommend this school to any of your friends?
Please reply
Thank you
Posted on Aug 4, 2001, 12:34 PM from IP address 62.253.128.5
Personally, I really like the professor's here. I mean, my only real means of comparison are from my experience in UNIBE in the Dominican Republic. And I think the teachers and there lectures are light years ahead of UNIBE prof's. I feel like the teachers at MUA take there time to prepare and make available there lectures which for the most part are all on power point.
As for labs, the only ones I've had so far are Anatomy and Histology and those were both very good. In anatomy there is about 7 - 8 people per cadaver. And in histo everyone gets there own set of slides and microscope.
I think that we are tested fairly here on the material and most of the teachers are open to disscussion. If there is a severe discrepency with how the class did, like for example the class average was 30 something, then depending on the teacher they may curve the grades in the class, but you can't always count on that. But still I think testing is fair.
I think I've been alittle to repetitive.
So I'll end it here by saying I would recomend MUA to my friends.
Anyways, good luck with whatever path you decide to take.
Laters
~Raj
Posted on Aug 9, 2001, 4:26 PM from IP address 205.214.203.79
when we first got here last yr in sept and there were sooo many bugs... the next two semesters there have been nowhere close to as many... big black beetles and these little flies that come out right before it rains.... but u get used to em so its cool
Posted on Aug 9, 2001, 4:19 PM from IP address 205.214.203.200
MUA's AMSA Chapter
