School Name: Saba
Location: Netherlands Antilles
Basic Science Tuition:
$4,950.00/semester
Clinical Science Tuition:
$5,450.00/semester
USA Clinical Rotations: Yes
Time required for MD: 40 months
Hey Selina. I think you have a chance, but you should send in your application soon b/c I heard seats fill up fast. I heard that the September class is more popular so maybe applying for May gives you more of a chance, but you can say on your application which semester is your 1st, 2nd, or 3rd preference. It's up to you, but apply early. It takes a while for a file to get completed and submitted to the admissions...sometimes, a bit longer than what you expect.
Good luck!
Posted on Nov 13, 2002, 8:59 AM from IP address 146.163.215.69
Hi to all CSA aspirants. I have passed my CSA exam yesterday. I want to say few words about the materials to pass CSA. I advice usmleworld.com material, please dont buy NMS, bates. You may try OSCE/CSA but usmleworld is all u need. If u have any qts about CSA Iam ready to answer.
Mark
Posted on Nov 7, 2002, 8:55 PM from IP address 172.163.2.218
I am curious why everybody is worried about the CSA. When I took it in the fall of 2000, I thought it was an absolute joke, obviously more of a language test for foreign FMG's. Anyone who had done an FP, or ER rotation would have had no problem with the exam without any studying. I am wondering if in the past two years the difficulty has increased?
Posted on Nov 11, 2002, 2:10 PM from IP address 208.188.113.20
I'll be starting at Saba in the January 2003 class.
Lookin' forward to it but would be cool if I knew some people before heading down. If you're starting in Jan too, drop me a line: baxterboys@dccnet.com
Just want to say hi and thank you to all current students who have been cool enough to take the time to give me advice. Thanx guys.
Aaron
Posted on Oct 14, 2002, 10:01 PM from IP address 24.207.61.150
First off congrats on being admitted! I am applying to SABA would you possibly mind sharing your stats and backgroun?. If you are very private you can contact me by email. I would really appreciate the help. Thanx
Posted on Oct 17, 2002, 2:40 PM from IP address 199.44.190.11
I will be attending Saba and would very much appreciate knowing how much help and guidance Saba provides to the students in the preparation to take part I of the USMLE.
Posted on Nov 9, 2002, 7:26 AM from IP address 63.156.84.22
The entire Kaplan review course is built into the 5th semester curriculum. This includes the Kaplan diagnostic exams, review material and video tape lectures. Students have the entire semester to review prior to taking the USMLE step I.
Posted on Nov 10, 2002, 6:08 AM from IP address 24.142.125.34
Would someone with accurate info please post a response. In the application it says the MCAT is optional. If I don't take it is the strength of my application compromised or does admissions really not care whether or not the applicant has taken the exam?
Posted on Nov 9, 2002, 7:49 AM from IP address 63.156.84.95
if there are somebody that have been accepted in med school with grades based on a 4.3 scale,could you please tell me how did the med schools evaluate your grades? thank you
Posted on Nov 9, 2002, 12:27 PM from IP address 132.211.83.223
Hi,
I will be attending Saba in Jan '03. Is there any incoming student who has any copies of any old exams or are there any current Saba students who have old exams to look at? I am a little anxious about my first semester and some help with old exams/notes would greatly be appreciated. Or does anyone sell practice exams for review?
Thanks so much!
Posted on Nov 8, 2002, 4:13 PM from IP address 198.81.26.208
Hi, I plan to apply to Saba and I was wondering what kind of stats you had to get in? Did you write the MCAT, did you have volunteer experience? Did you interview? If so, how was the interview? Where was it held? And did they talk about your personal essay? What in your opinion helped you get in most? What were some general qualities do you think the school wants? I really want to get in and any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
Posted on Nov 8, 2002, 12:28 PM from IP address 65.96.169.193
Allright guys here goes. I post all the time I have sent in my deposit for my seat in the Sept 2003 SABA class. Heres my question mainly to SABA students or recent graduates. Im not having second thoughts but since this is a huge life decision I want to make sure I am making the best possible choice. I have done more research then I care to admit on the Carib med education route. I have recently been in contact via the phone with SGU grads. They are all in very respectable practices in the US. But I am concerned because some of the SGU grads have told me that if I want to be 100% on getting a residency in the US that I should go there and not take the SABA route. They tell me that there is a small # of SABA grads that actually graduate $100,000 in debt but never go on to practice!! SGU has a great track record and they do get a little respect by the US medical system which is a leap for a carib school. The SGU grads say I shouldnt bet on the breif track record of SABA and to stick to the big gun even if I am only aiming for internal medicine! I need help ans some honest advice.
Kevin
Posted on Nov 4, 2002, 5:07 PM from IP address 129.79.37.187
Dig out all your notes from the months of research you've already done to arrive at your decision to attend SABA. I don't go to SABA, or any of the Cariib. schools at the moment, but I too have done a good amount of research and plan to attend MUA in May of '03. My decision was partly based on the reputation (and research, not just here-say) of the sister school, SABA.
It's great that you've met some SGU students that are so proud of their school. I don't doubt that some students from SABA ...or any medical school for that matter... graduate with huge debt and ultimately don't go into medicine. However, I hightly doubt it's only for the reason that SABA can't guarantee certain things....
If you were ultimately not to become a doctor yet attended SGU, you would likely be more than $100,000 in debt. You've done the research...you know how much more SGU is compared to SABA. But, it's not just about the money. It's about an opportunity to do something you really want and then studying your butt off and earning your degree (a very abbreviated process I've just described! I think you know what I mean).
There may not be as many SABA grads. compared to SGU at this point in history, but SABA is making a good name for itself.
Speak with some SABA grads if you need a bit of a pep talk.... Recall the pros and cons of EACH school. No school will be perfect. But, there will be one that you decide is the best for YOU.
The jitters are normal.
Best of luck,
Carey
Posted on Nov 4, 2002, 8:54 PM from IP address 141.152.252.47
How many SGU grads did they know that graduated and never got a job/
The difference is that they are 240,000 in debt instead of 100,000 in debt.
There is one truth to graduating from ANY foreign medical school with a track record ( Saba, SGU, Ross, AUC )
Study hard when you are there. Take it seriously. Enjoy it and do the work. Give it 110%
Pass your USMLE.
Go to interviews with a smile. Leave the feathered nose ring at home.
YOU WILL GET A JOB!!!!!!!!!!!
Period.
Take care of your obligations ( grades, books, USMLE) and there is absolutely NOTHING anybody can do to stand in your way of becoming a licensed physician.
Don't take care of business and there is ABSOLUTELY nothing anybody can do to help you, no matter where you go to school.
Besides, you are doing IM. Look at their match list. if ANY of those people can do it, you can do it ( for a hundred thousand dollars less too )
Posted on Nov 5, 2002, 3:56 PM from IP address 12.148.43.6
I am a Saba grad from 1999. I went on to do internal medicine at the University of Connecticut and now I am in a cardiology fellowship at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Most of my class, the ones that studied and did well, are ALL in residencies, fellowships, or practice.
-Vijay
Posted on Nov 7, 2002, 8:40 AM from IP address 64.213.182.10
I am An AUC graduate, residency trained and doing well. I thought about SGU as well but AUC was just as good (for me and my friends) cheaper and a little shorter.
SABA seems to be a good school and most of its graduates have gotten residencies. Of course with any school even U.S. med. schools some people dont get residencies for a variety of reasons. There is no guarentee, however, if you work hard and if you present yourself well and dont have a criminal record you should be able to get a residency in one of the primary care fields ( IM,FP, Peds) or psych. or physical med. or path. or possibly anesthesia. St. Georges does have a good reputation but its still a caribbean school and there are same issues as anyother school. If you are ready to commit and work hard then go to SABA, it will get you where you want to go.
Posted on Nov 7, 2002, 2:36 PM from IP address 132.177.221.30
A student who has been very helpful and informative since I got here in August is Haz Toma (he is in 3rd Semester). He seems to know everybody and everything about school and life on Saba!
I think his email is iraqihaz@hotmail.com
Good Luck!!
Posted on Oct 27, 2002, 5:29 AM from IP address 216.152.164.81
Hopefully this post will be able to answer some questions that appear to constantly come up on the message board. I am a Saba University School of Medicine (SUSOM) graduate who was able to secure the residency of my choosing. I am extremely thankful for the opportunity that SUSOM gave me to pursue my lifelong dream of being a physician. However, before anyone partakes on an adventure and invests a tremendous amount of time and money, I feel that they need to have as much information (positive and negative) to make an educated decision. This information is just based solely on my experiences and my thoughts and I am sure that there will be people that have had similar experiences as will there be others that disagree with some of the things I will say. However, here goes.
First off, there have been a lot of posts asking about the comparison of one school versus another. I will say that I cannot possibly compare SUSOM to any other school as I did not attend any other school. However, I will tell you this. There are certain schools that are much more respected than others in the realm of foreign medical schools. There is undoubtedly advantages to certain names. You must decide what type of medicine you want to pursue in terms of a residency. If you want to do primary care, chances are you will not have a problem securing a residency in one of these areas if you are not a horrible student and if you can effectively communicate with others. However, I will tell you that if you have a desire to do some of the more difficult specialties in which to match (for example: ortho, optho, emergency medicine), there is no doubt that there are other schools whose name recognition will make your time easier. Let’s face it, schools like Ross and St. Georges (just to name some) have been around longer than SUSOM, graduate more students each year than SUSOM, and have more students that have matched into these residencies. Therefore, they are better known, and programs have had residents that have graduated from these institutions and are familiar with their education levels. I will tell you that I really believe that had I gone to a school with a little better name recognition, I would have gotten some more interviews; however, the bottom line is I had more interviews than I needed as I was able to match in the residency of my choice and actually matched at my top spot. Bottom line, as unfortunate as it may be, there are some schools who, by virtue of name recognition, their students may get more interview opportunities.
Next issue that I will address deals with living on the island. I was single, so I cannot really comment on schooling, cost of living for families, etc. I will say that people on Saba are extremely friendly. For the most part, the people are thrilled to interact with the medical students. There is not a lot to do in terms of distractions, so Saba is a perfect place to study. Realize that you are going to Saba for 20 months to pursue your dream of becoming a physician. Keep that goal in your mind, and have a primary objective to study and you will do fine. The other piece of advice that I was told before I went to Saba and I recommend for everyone is do not try to compare Saba to the United States. It is very different. Things are adequate on the island; however, be prepared to live without some of the luxuries. Remember, you are down there for one reason….to become a physician.
Next issue deals with the professors on Saba as well as the physical plant. I will start off by stating that they have apparently built a beautiful new campus since I have departed the island, so I cannot really comment on the physical structures on Saba. I was very fortunate to have excellent professors when I was on Saba; however, I also had some not so good professors. The one thing that SUSOM does is they use a lot of PhDs as professors. These PhDs sign on for a three year tour on Saba. During those 9 semesters, they take courses in basic sciences and also teach the area of their specialty. This can have positive and negative implications. For example, if they are poor professors, they are only there for about 9 semesters; however, if they are excellent professors, they are also only there for three years. As a result, a lot of people that are asking questions about professors will really have no idea as to the crop that they will get when they actually show up to the island. I was very fortunate in that I had full time professors for Histology, Psych, Micro, Neuro, Path I, and Path II. These professors were excellent. However, many of these professors left for other ventures and in my estimation, this was a huge loss for SUSOM. These professors, in my estimation, really cared not only about you learning the material, but also cared for you as an individual. Unless SUSOM recruits, and maintains full-time professors, the quality of instruction on the island will constantly be changing. In addition, since most of the professors are PhDs and have never taken the USMLE or practiced medicine, they are unable to guide you to what you may need to know for the USMLE or more importantly, what you may need to know to deal with patients in the future based on their experiences. Now, I know someone is going to say that many US schools have the same situation and that is fine; however, most US schools also have a very large support network to draw from, and they have advisors that can answer your questions.
Next issue deals with clinical rotations. The more flexible you are, the better off you will be. There are some geographic areas where you can do most of your rotations; however, my understanding is that these are typically geared towards families or the top students in the class. The more flexible you are, the better off the chances are that you can do your rotations how you want, and in the order that you want. For instance, I had the opportunity to do many of my rotations at one particular site; however, there was no guarantee as to when I could get my surgery rotation. I would have had to possibly do some electives before doing all of my cores. I knew that I wanted to match in emergency medicine and realized that I needed to have my cores done before I could do electives in EM. I needed to get my EM electives done early so that could get good letters of rec for my application. SUSOM was very helpful with assisting me with both my core and elective rotations with one exception….which brings me to my next point……..
…..Administration and the Gardner Offices. They have their moments. My problem with my rotation stemmed from my surgery rotation. I was able to set up an OB-Gyn core at a hospital in the midwest. I had asked SUSOM if they could set up a surgery rotation for me immediately following my Ob-Gyn as they had students that had done surgery at a nearby hospital. I was informed that they had set it up for me. When I arrived out to the Midwest (about 1000 miles from my “home”, and after signing on for a short-term apt lease, I was informed that there was a problem with the rotation and there was a misunderstanding. They instructed me to contact someone at the hospital where I thought I was going to be doing my surgery. I contacted this person who was very helpful in terms of providing me names of physicians that might be able to precept me. I informed this to SUSOM as I thought that it was their job to set up my cores and I thought that it would be much better to have the physicians hear from the medical school promoting a student rather than having a student “beg” for a rotation. I was then told by SUSOM that they sent out letters to these attendings informing the attending that I would be contacting them. In the meantime, I had met a surgeon that had precepted students from another Caribbean school and was faculty at a US med school with a surgery residency program. He was interested in having me do a rotation with him and he called Dr. Fredrick immediately. He was asked to sent out a CV which he did and he kindly asked that he be informed of the University’s decision to have him precept me. With a couple days left before I was hoping to start the rotation, I asked this surgeon what the story was and he told me that he never heard back from SUSOM. When I contacted SUSOM, I was told that the CV was still on the desk of the President who did not realize that he was supposed to call this surgeon back. In the end, everything worked out well. My other interactions with the President of SUSOM have been less than fulfilling. I was on the island one day in my fifth semester and was talking to Dr. Fredrick (who I must commend is very approachable and is very willing to talk with students). He informed me that the administration in Gardner typically knows who the best (and the trouble) students are. He then pretty much asked me what semester I was and he had no idea of who I was (despite being at that time the top in my class). Anyway, I was talking with him in the Saba offices and he was building up to make a huge point when the phone rang. Next thing I know, he was basically rushing me out of the office and he never made his big point. Another thing, and once again, this is based on my observations from when I was on Saba as well as speaking with someone very close to one of the former Deans….there is very little communication between the Gardner offices and the offices on Saba, and I believe that there is very little respect at times from some of the Deans to the administration in Gardner and vise-versa.
Another thing that is probably most disheartening is what I will term “unprofessionalism” by some of those in the US offices. First off, when I applied and had my interview, I was told that they wanted to hurry up and get me in because they were really impressed with my application and the class was filling up. However, upon talking with my classmates when I got to the island, they all applied much later than I did. The next thing was when I applied, I was told that they had internet access in the library readily available to the students and this did not happen until maybe my 4th semester on the island. The next thing that disturbed me was the fact that since I had applied, I had been told that the application for California was right around the corner. This has been a long time coming, and my understanding is that it is in process right now. Next, I was very upset with the way that graduation was handled at the end of my training. It was held in a very nice facility and was an OK ceremony; however, what was very troubling is that we were all gathered to take pictures in a separate room and then we were handed evaluations to fill out for our 2 years of clinical rotations and were told that we could not leave until they were filled out (now, how am I supposed to remember and give a good, accurate evaluation in June of a rotation that I did almost 2 years prior). Next, we were told that in about 6 weeks we should be getting copies of our grade reports/transcrpits….still have yet to receive these and we are well over 1 year out. Next, the graduation program left out people that were in attendance in terms of graduates. Now, these people invested a lot of years of study, and many of them had invested great expenses to have family come out; however, they were left out of the program. How could this happen? Lack of professionalism in my estimation. Now, I will say that I understand that they did reprint some programs to send out to those whose names were left out; however, I have programs that are missing the names of my friends and classmates. Next in terms of lack of professionalism deals with SUSOM’s use of websites. First off, the old SUSOM website was unupdated for a long time. Next, I am dead set against using an “unofficial forum” such as this one to post residency matches and board scores of students. The matches should be on their own official website, and board scores should not be mentioned at all. Also, take a look at the residency match list(s) up on the official website and notice all of the duplications as well as misspellings. This is totally unacceptable and to me indicates that SUSOM does not care about its image.
The next issue deals with image. SUSOM has been a successful school; however, it cannot rest on its laurels. With the opening of two new schools, perhaps the owners of SUSOM have been spreading themselves too thin. True, there is a new campus that is apparently very nice; however, physical structures and reputation does not make a school what it is…..A school flourishes based on its professors and students. Let me make an analogy that may make some things clearer. The Dallas Cowboys are one of the storybook professional sports franchises. When Jerry Jones bought the team, the team was horrible (Jimmy Johnson was the coach and at first they went I believe 1-15….they were rebuilding). They eventually became successful and won some championships. Next, Jimmy Johnson left and Barry Switzer took over and they were still successful and won a championship almost immediately; however, then they started to fall off. They have gone through coaching changes since and at the present time, they have not done too well in recent years. So, how does this compare to medical school? Saba started off and did build a good reputation; however, despite the owners staying the same, they lost a lot of their professors “coaches”. The players come and go (much like the students do). A new stadium will not mean that the team will play any better (nor does a new campus mean that there will be huge improvements in the school). So, what will make them succeed? A stable framework, and good team interaction. In the age of free-agency, players will come and go, students come and go from medical schools and can pick and choose which ones they want to apply to. What I think Saba really needs to do is focus on where it is and where it wants to go. It, in my estimation, should focus on finding good, committed, full-time professors. Being a player and a coach is virtually unheard of in present times, and I think that being a professor and a student is very hard as well. The Dallas Cowboys are not going to win a championship just by saying that they are the Dallas Cowboys, and SUSOM is not going to stay a good medical school just because it has been a good medical school.
In summary, there are plenty of people that have succeeded attending SUSOM. There will probably be many more people in the future to succeed from SUSOM. There are some excellent, positive experiences from Saba; however, there are also negative issues which need to be addressed and students need to have a full understanding of what they will get into. The best advice I can give is talk with current students as well as former students and pick their brains as to what their opinions and experiences are (both good and bad). Anyone who tells you just the good did not have their eyes open, and anyone who only slams the school is probably very disgruntled. Once again, I am thrilled to have attended SUSOM as it has helped shape to who I am today. SUSOM provided me with a door to get my degree, they provided me with an opportunity to get an education; however, they did not give me my ethics, work habits, study habits, personal relation skills, etc. They are part of the puzzle; however, you need to bring the other pieces to the table to complete the picture.
For those that want to succeed and get some of the more sought after residencies, grades are important, board scores are more important, and good, personalized, letters of recommendation are also a key.
Best of luck to those seeking this path
Posted on Oct 27, 2002, 1:33 PM from IP address 207.74.112.67
Have you ever considered a less stressful career as a psychologist or analyst rather than an ER doc?? he,he,he.
Thanks a ton for the insightful information.
Lastly... what order of clinical rotations do you recommend? I have no interest in OBGYN, so I was thinking that I should get that out of the way first and then apply the knowledge and experience gained towards surgery at the end. What do you think??
Posted on Oct 27, 2002, 3:29 PM from IP address 65.93.187.80
For me, I knew that I wanted to do emergency medicine and I therefore knew that I had to get my core rotations over with quickly so that I could set up electives (to do Emergency Med elective, you really should have completed all of your cores...especially surgery, peds, and medcine). For this reason, I moved about for my clinicals.
My orders was: Internal Med (9 weeks). Cardiology (part of IM 4 weeks), Psych (6 weeks), Surgery (12 weeks), Peds (6 weeks), EM (4 weeks), EM (4 weeks) Surgery elective (nothing else available (4 weeks), Anesthesia (5 weeks), GI (4 weeks), Pulmonary (4 weeks), Medicine Sub-I (4 weeks). And, I think that thta was it.
I had good clinical experiences, and some rotations I set up on my own. Now, to the best of my knowledge, Saba never attempted to capitalize on the rotations I set up (In other words, you would think that they would have sent a letter out to my preceptor stating, "Thank you for allowing X to rotate with you. I hope that you found him to be well educated. Please inform us if you would be willing to have other Saba students rotate with you." Then, they could have sent out a self-addressed postcard that had them check off (1. Sorry, this was a one time situation only. 2. Yes, I am interested in future Saba students, but not at this time. Please contact me in X months. 3. Yes, I am interested in more students, please contact me at once).
Just my thoughts.
Any other questions, please ask. As I stated, I am already in the residency of my choice. I was very fortunate to have had contacted people at Saba prior to me enrolling there that gave me an honest, unbiased, open opinion, and I am just trying to do the same.
Posted on Oct 28, 2002, 3:53 PM from IP address 155.139.50.14
thank you so much for that post. i'm headed to saba in january and i'm trying to keep an open mind. i am really looking forward to the education, and hopefully they will have the little details worked out by the time i get there. you certainly seem to have prospered from your time there and seem to be doing well in your clinicals. hopefully that is something that saba can take some credit for and hopefully i will be able to attain good clinical rotations as well.
we really appreciate you advice and the time you spend here on the forum. best of luck, and if you and i wind up in the same area for clinicals, residency, etc, i owe you dinner and a beer!!! you can count on that!
thanks again for your post.
judd anders
Posted on Oct 27, 2002, 9:46 PM from IP address 67.234.138.56
My thought about doing rotations abroad is that it makes things difficult. Now, I am not debating the quality of education one may get overseas; however, the bottom line is that for every rotation you do overseas, you lose the potential to make a US contact. For instance, if you do IM overseas, you lose a valuable contact person who may know somoene that can help you with a residency.
I can tell you that I have seen many well-trained physicians from overseas that did all of their rotations there, but I think they were hindered with applications to US programs because they did not have many US contacts.
Just my thoughts.
Posted on Oct 30, 2002, 1:35 PM from IP address 155.139.68.10
Once again, I am sure that there are excellent educational opportunities abroad; however, I do not recommend it.
I had strong USMLE scores and did my rotations in US hospitals, and I still had a very hard time obtaining interviews. There is a stigma against Foreign Medical Graduates (especially against those going to medical school in the Caribbean). I would say that the only way one should do rotations in Europe is if they actually attend school there. US residents who go to med school in the Caribbean and then do rotations in Europe I just think are at a disadvantage.
Just my two cents.
Posted on Nov 1, 2002, 4:43 AM from IP address 207.74.110.53
If there is any doubt about the fact that US rotations are better go to USMLE.NET and read the postings. You will clearly see that there is a trend. Even with scores above the 90's, many solid University Programs are granting interviews preferentially to those IMG's with US clinical experience and rejecting those IMG's without US experiences outright. Now I do realize that there are other factors involved and each applicant is different but if the Administration of any foreign school tries to sell you on the fact that abroad rotations are better because they are all green book they are seriously misleading you and I would seriously consider applying to a different school. Foreign rotations will for the most part, without any US clinical experience will take you out of the running for strong University programs even with Extrememly high board scores. Trust me its hard enough as an IMG to get interviewed at strong University programs. Now the good news is just because you go to a community based program does not mean you cant get a fellowship. I am friendly with 3 people here at Union Memorial who all got fellowships. (one in cardiology, one in infectious disease, and one in pulomonology). They are all third year residents and are moving on to bigger and better things and all went to foreign schools. One thing that just happened down here in Maryland however which is kind of a bummer is that the University of Maryland now requires in all of their residency programs that the IMG graduate is to be ECFMG certified prior to applying and getting an interview. What this means is that you cannot even get an interview unless you are ECFMG certified. Wait all of you are probably thinking I know I have to get ECFMG certified. BUT,, the problem is you have to first have your MD degree to actually be ECFMG certified. So in my case I graduate in like 6/2004 so University of Maryland essentially just exluded me as I would be interviewing about 6 months prior to that match. Many if not all University Based Programs in California already do this as does Johns Hopkins here in Baltimore. (not that johns hopkins would take an IMG anyway unless they were a road scholar from Oxford)
Hopefully this University trend does not spread like a metastatic cancer. What this would essentially mean is that all the IMG's who graduate in the spring ( which many of us do). would either miss the match if we really wanted a good University Program or would be forced into doing a year of Prelim of some sort and then reapply to a University Program where we may or may not get credit for that first postgraduate year. I was very disappointed as virtually every foreign grad that I know just got rejected almost immediately from University of Maryland. I was floored because historically they were pretty IMG friendly. Then I hit their web site and saw this new ECFMG cert. requirement and things became quite clear. The 5 best things you can do for your application as per a resident director I am in contact with:
1. Have a good class ranking ("top 10 %")
2. Score at least at or above the USMLE National Avg. for each step (Step 1 is more important than step 2 because most US graduates have not even taken step 2 at the time of the interview so you want a High step 1 scores for comparison. Dont get me wrong, score high on both but if you have to score high on one and low on the other score High on Step 1 because depending on when you take step 2 it is very very possible that you may not even have your step 2 score by the time of the interview. This is okay as it is NOT required to interview.
3. ACGME approved cores in US hospitals (minimally)
4. Good Letters of Recommendation
5. Personable, Warm, Friendly, Confident demeanor at interview. (remember the people who interview you will have to work with you for many years and if you are a peckerhead they wont want you)
Im sure each residency director varies in his or her opinion but I can say that these 5 criteria are the ones used at one of the most prestigous medical schools in the country so take it for what it is worth. They certainly sound reasonable to me. Best of Luck to All. Scott Jones DC MS III
Posted on Nov 7, 2002, 6:12 AM from IP address 207.19.126.2
DSMD is right!!!! Do rotations in the US if you can
by
(no login)
Not to mention the fact that many residencies, including the roughly 30% of the programs I have inquired about wanted to know where I did my clinicals. I told them in ACGME approved hospitals in the US. That is what they wanted to hear. Two programs directors told me point blank on the phone that they only consider foreign students who did all of their 3rd and 4th year training in the US. When I first started at Saba I thought going to England for rotations was the best move because all of the hospital work over there would be considered Green Book Teaching back here in the US. Although this generality appears to be true it is still a double edge sword because programs also want the US experience. Its not that the education is lacking over there its just that you get exposure to our system of medicine here in the US which is very different from overseas. My wife is European and trust me hospitals over there are very different. By getting exposure to US medicine you get exposed to the paperwork, computer systems, charting, and other hospital protocols. Plus the fact, medicine is not socialized here as it is in England so procedures like patient processing are very different. If you can do all of your rotations in the US it just makes that uphill climb a bit easier. Best of Luck to all. Scott Jones DC MS III
Posted on Oct 31, 2002, 7:20 AM from IP address 207.19.126.2
Dr. D, first of all I would like to thank you for your eloquent post. People say a lot of things on this forum, some good some not so good, but I have to commend you on your professionalism on presently your opinion. Your insight will no doubt be useful to many people who are grappling with their decision to attend Saba.
Having said that, I am in my 3rd year and like you I am doing my clinical rotations in the midwest. If I may can I ask you to share with me where you performed some of your rotations, namely pediatrics and OB? My email is mochaboykc@yahoo.com. Thanks again for any help you can offer. Mark
Posted on Nov 1, 2002, 2:25 PM from IP address 24.31.244.119
My Ob-Gyn rotation was done at a facility on the Eastern side of Missouri. A friend of mine had completed an Ob-Gyn rotation at this institution as a PA student and contacted them to do a rotation when he went back to medical school. He completed the rotation before I did and he had put me in touch with the appropriate person. I believe that we were the only two Saba students to complete Ob-Gyn at this facility and in part that may be due to the fact that the admin at Saba may have dropped the ball. I am a firm believer that any rotation in which a student set up on their own, Saba should have immediately followed up with a self-addressed response card asking them if they would be willing to take future students. I will say that I did see other Saba students rotating through other places at the hospital, so it may be possible to do rotations there. I also am pretty sure that one of my classmates matched in IM at that hospital and is now a second year there.
As for pediatrics, I did that at one of Saba's sites in New York. Being from the east originally, it was a welcome return home for me.
Posted on Nov 2, 2002, 11:21 AM from IP address 207.74.111.98
Hello all,
I am a 3rd year Saba student. I just finished my tour of duty on the island and it is not that bad. It is better if you plan to put an effort into becomig a doctor (the sacrifice will pay off).
I am currently doing clinical rotations and SUSOM has set me up with some pretty good training.
I have heard that A site visit from NY is upcoming and also that CA is starting to to be impressed with our application for approval there.(CA is a difficult nut to crack.) SUSOM is also trying to get approval from the certifying board for British medical schools. I do not know what that will mean directly but I am sure it is not a bad thing.
I too have heard from the Saba administration that CA is around the corner, but from what I understand from people high in administration, it may be not that far from the truth. We will see.
If you can go to a US school, go for it, If not Saba SOM is a pretty good choice!
Jon
Posted on Nov 3, 2002, 1:45 AM from IP address 149.168.71.3
I'm hearing good things about SABA. I know the tuition per semester is low compared to some of the other island schools. Does the 5K per semester for basic science semesters have added fees and other costs. If so, I would appreciate some bottom line info. Anyone have an idea of a realistic range for total living cost with the SABA program?
while on the subject, SGU purports 4 yrs of living expenses in the range of 67K while AUC suggests about 120K during their program. It's two years on the island and two years away on rotation for each program so I'm having a problem understanding the difference. Please imput if you have info on these questions. Many thanks.
Posted on Nov 6, 2002, 6:48 PM from IP address 63.156.84.223
Housing and Apartments Exchange for med students
For Sale By Owner.
