St. Georges Pre/Med School in Grenada

Little_Duck · July 20, 2006, 2:49pm

Hi,

I'm going to be a Junior in High school for the 06-07 year but I have some questions.

If I wanted to go to St. Georges for the Pre-Med program (straight from high school), what kind of SAT score, GPA (weighted and unweighted), and EC's would I need?

My brother got in with a 1270 on the old SAT, 3.7 GPA, and about 200 hours of volunteer service (he did gift cart in the hospital and stuff and the library), but this was during the summer of 05'. Things will probably change when my turn comes.

I heard you really don't need to take many hard classes in high school, like a lot of AP's and Honors. Is this true? If it is, I'm dropping them now =)

Thanks

umardarr · July 20, 2006, 11:09pm

Why do you wanna go to St Georges in the first place???

Little_Duck · July 21, 2006, 12:48am

Because I'm not smart enough to get into a med school in the U.S.

bluedevilmike · July 21, 2006, 11:58am

That's a pretty hasty conclusion for a 16 year old.

And even if you're right, go for an NP or a DO or a PA or any of a number of really solid health professions careers. Or do something not in medicine.

Little_Duck · July 22, 2006, 5:48pm

lol, you guys are giving me the same responses my brother got when he decided to go there.

I've been there, I understand that it's a 3rd world nation, but the campus isn't that bad.

btw, what's np, do, and pa for?

bluedevilmike · July 22, 2006, 6:17pm

There's a reason people react that way. And it's not the campus.

DO: Doctor of Osteopathy
NP: Nurse Practitioner
PA: Physician's Assistant

Fandango · July 26, 2006, 9:18pm

BDM: I can understand why most Caribbean medical schools are looked down upon, but what's bad about St. George's or even Ross?

bluedevilmike · July 26, 2006, 9:50pm

I don't mean to overgeneralize, as I have no specific information about those particular schools, but US citizens, generally speaking, attend Caribbean medical schools when they don't have the qualifications to practice medicine here or when they believe they don't.

To go overseas for medical school harms the statistics, as we've been over many times, when it comes to passing the boards and obtaining US residencies, and I'm willing to bet that St. George's is pulling the average down while schools in London and Paris pull them up. I think these are reasonable assumptions, although they are of course assumptions and not specific, empirical data.

Fandango · July 27, 2006, 2:19am

According to St. George's website, SGU has a 90% pass rate for the USMLE Step 1 during the past 8 years. Here's the link: <a href="http://www.sgu.edu/website/sguwebsite.nsf/Home/GraduateStudentSuccess.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.sgu.edu/website/sguwebsite.nsf/Home/GraduateStudentSuccess.htm</a>.

bluedevilmike · July 27, 2006, 12:21pm

That's a very compelling piece of empirical data indeed, as is their 99% match rate (only 1% of their student go unmatched).

First, I'm still skeptical. Their MCAT scores (avg. 24) and GPA (avg 3.2) are much lower than average entering students - so, given that USMLEs are so correlated with MCAT scores, how do they manage to pull off a basically equivalent pass rate? Do they weed? (It would not appear so.) Do they teach for the boards? (This is not necessarily a bad thing, and would not in any case explain such a number.) Do they have a lot more personal attention? (No, their class is more than double the average US size.) So what is it? I honestly have no idea.

Second, given that many people may well lump all Caribbean schools in together when considering such things, then you will still have to face prejudices (such as, apparently, my own), but apparently this doesn't harm their overall residency placement.

Third, do notice that 76% of their students go into primary care. If this is not something you're interested in, then perhaps it's not best. This is not a knock on the quality of their school, just that you should be aware of their intentions. (I say the same thing about Dartmouth all the time, for example.)

norcalguy · July 27, 2006, 12:58pm

Every med school will tell you that they have an above average USMLE mean. There is definitely some fudging of the numbers going on.

Antonio1988 · August 10, 2006, 2:20pm

I am a Jamaican national and I am compelled to say that the medical program of the University of the West Indies in Jamaica is recognised as among the best in this Hemisphere. You cannot put all caribbean medical schools in the same category!

jetsleykingston · December 1, 2007, 9:17pm

if your an MD from st. george's, your an MD in the US. SGU meets the requirements for this equivalent and besides, you do your clinical rotations/residency IN the united states. the only bad thing is that if your a HS graduate under 17 (like me) your not eligible for admission. BOOOO.

bluedevilmike · December 1, 2007, 9:46pm

Show me the documentation for this claim --show me that SGU grads match into US residencies at the same rate as US medical school grads, complete with raw data and the number of incoming students in any MS1 class -- and I will come around.

PSedrishMD · December 3, 2007, 2:46pm

If you're "not smart enough to get into a med school in the U.S.", maybe a career in medicine isn't the best choice.

bluedevilmike · December 3, 2007, 3:10pm

Again, to reemphasize, I've seen several residency programs which will accept IMG's, no problem, so long as the IMG is from the country in question. In other words, if you grow up in India -- elementary school, high school, college, medical school -- US programs will be perfectly happy accepting you. (Not as easily as US MG's, of course, but relatively.)

These hospital systems have explicit policies -- and again, this is only a handful of residencies -- that they will not accept IMG's who are actually from the US. In other words, no growing in California and then going to Pakistan for medical school.

A few residencies have this policy explicitly. The rest probably have an implicit policy which looks just like this.

chaz90 · December 3, 2007, 6:46pm

Wow. I'd believe that, but that's extraordinary. It seems like there would have to be some bizarre reason to go to med school outside the US if you grew up here, but if you make it through some of these programs, it does seem like you would be extremely capable. My thought would be to look at their USMLE scores and see how they do in a residency here. Maybe even have them under closer supervision for a year, but I'd think the best way would be to give them a chance at least.

bluedevilmike · December 4, 2007, 1:00am

The problem is that residency spots are way too scarce to simply give people a chance. The foregone opportunity of a safer bet (a US MD or DO) or a bet with more upside (a completely foreign MD) is very significant.

Even the worst schools that put out US MD's and DO's have relatively high admissions and educational standards. Foreign MD's have never had their shot in the US system and might turn out to be superstars. US MD's from foreign schools are in a no-win comparison.

Leslyn102 · May 18, 2011, 4:45am

im not so sure about some of the things I just read, my brother, Dr. Francis Martin is currently practising in Grenada, he is a graduate from SGU and did his residency here in the united states. Hr chose to work at home because there is a need for great doctors everywhere including Grenada. Being considered third world country does not make our medical school in anyway inferior to any other. Francis out performed his us classmates and landed his residency here i NY and left several offers behind to help people that desperately need care from doctors that isnt only interested in making tons of money. So all of that, while not full of statistics or crazy jargon, is simple honesty and hard work. I would recommend this school to anyone, and I often do.

mmmcdowe · May 18, 2011, 9:17am

First of all, this is a really old thread. Second of all, one successful doctor or successful match does NOT mean SGU is a good option relative to US based schools. The main point isn't that SGU is a bad place for education (though that is worth discussing later), it's the fact that even SGU has a high drop out rate and that being a graduate of a non-US based school IS a disadvantage. 1/3 of residency programs don't even look at IMGs, including SGU.