Running into St. George's University students at the airport

In the airport on my way back to Denver, I talked with a couple students from St. George's University Medical School in Grenada. They saw me reading BRS Pathology, recognized its distinctive formatting, and struck up a conversation.

I was very curious to hear a first-hand perspective about SGU because I had seriously considered applying there. For Americans it's usually highly preferable to go to medical school in the States, but in recent years, many medical schools have been founded that cater mostly to people who for one reason or another were not able to attend an American medical school. St. George's University is the first and most reputable of the "Caribbean medical schools."

There's a certain stigma attached with going to a Caribbean medical school. The assumptions, I think, are that students are of a lower caliber and that the curricula at Caribbean medical schools are "inferior" to those of American schools. The reality is that 1) every year hundreds or thousands of deserving applicants are denied entry into an American medical school, 2) Caribbean medical schools must meet the same curriculum standards as American schools, and 3) students attending Caribbean medical schools must pass the same standardized exams as everyone else.

I was most curious to learn whether my new friends had encountered any prejudice against their school; they had not, yet, but they were in their first and second years and had not yet gone back to the States to do their clinical rotations. "It's all about going out there and making a name for yourself; you have to do that regardless of where you go to school."

That was something of which I was unaware: that SGU students do their clinical rotations at hospitals in either the New York or Los Angeles metro areas. It makes sense. Moreover, like the Sackler School of Medicine at Tel Aviv University (which I did apply to), the residency match program is run through New York State.

I also had an image in my mind of SGU students SCUBA diving before class, sailing on the weekends, etc... According to my friends, that's not they way it is down there at all. Most everyone, they say, is very serious about studying.

One major difference about their program is that they are much more strict about failing a class or the Step 1. Apparently, at SGU, you can be kicked out for failing one class. Here at Colorado, a student who fails a class is offered a chance to remediate that class. It still goes on the transcript, which will make residency applications that much more difficult, but at least it doesn't torpedo a fledgling career.

Even though their school is in the Caribbean, and despite the slight curriculum differences between their school and mine, their experiences in their path to becoming a doctor are not so very different from my own. There's something comforting about that.