Tired of being a small fry in a big basket

I went to a big undergraduate university with 30,000 students including new students, graduate students, and faculty, so I understand this place a little better than some.

Medical School is supposed to be a personal experience. An environment filled with nurturing, caring, and understanding faculty, helping you grow and succeed as you work harder than ever before to earn a the right to be called a professional. At SGU, sadly this is somewhat of a distortion of reality. Probably one of the biggest entering classes I've ever heard of, accepting two entering classes per year definitely adds to this depressing fact: SGU students are not given personal attention. We are not treated like professionals, and our professors do not know know us as individuals. Often times, our professors are flown in, give us a few lectures, and fly out just as hastily. What happens when someone acts out or causes a problem? People usually keep their mouths shut, and for the faculty, pin-pointing a single student amongst 600 is nearly impossible. Although we enjoy our Caribbean "dresscode" of flip flops and t-shirts, we are often times reprimanded like children in response to only a few students mal-appropriate actions. There are grown individuals here, often times older than those in the faculty, which shouldn't be grouped with everyone, but with 1200 students/year, how can you expect the school to address each student individually? It's easier just to reprimand the whole class together, fair or not. Well, with all the money we pour into this establishment, a lot of students feel we expect more. We are entitled to that opinion. 

I have to take a neutral stance here though, don't get me wrong, I don't hate my school. I like that I had the option to matriculate in January, despite the consequence of coming to a school with large class sizes. It gives me plenty of breathing room to prepare for my Step Exam, travel, and setup rotations for my third year. Where else was I going to get the opportunity to see Europe, Africa, the Caribbean, and New York? Nowhere. SGU gives us a unique opportunity. Some people, and I know some, come straight here without applying to US Medical Schools, just for the experience. Anyway, I digress. How does one deal with such a big school? Like I learned in undergraduate school, here you have to make an extra effort here to stand out. One of the pluses of Caribbean schools is that they will accept you even though US schools wouldn't. But it's not easier, you still have to come here and prove yourself. In fact, we work even harder. The school, although boasting the highest pass rate of the Caribbean schools, does not push every student they accept to graduate. Classes are not made for everyone to pass, and many people do not. The school, I assume, tries to make everyone aspire to the reputation of the school, or default to leave. It doesn't seem fair, and many times the examinations are blatantly over the top, but atleast they gave us the opportunity to have a professional career. It's a little bit twisted, but we are not really in the best position to complain. The worst fact is, we don't know the drop out rate. The public is entitled to these types of Statistics. From an inside perspective, I see people repeating classes every term. From the original 120 students in the Newcastle, England-Abroad class I was part of, I think we are now under 90 students who have not had to repeat a class. This sheds some truth to the repeat-rate, but does not say much about a raw drop out rate. I think we are all curious. It seems like an incredible business model, bringing in lots of money, dropping out the little guys, and keeping the stellar students on the team to boast a high pass rate. The least they could do is lower the tuition. 

All in all, when I make it through this process of "weeding", I know that in the face of adversity, I overcame the odds. I could go on all day about how this and that needs to be improved at this school, and believe me there are a lot of things, but I won't. It's not so bad that I won't be able to persevere. We are resourceful people here, we find a way to overcome. No doubt, this school makes the process very frustrating. But, by the time I leave this school, I doubt anything will change. I have accepted this type of philosophy, instead:


If anything, SGU builds headstrong individuals, who can adapt to a stressful, rapidly changing environment, people who can overcome unfair situations with a positive attitude, and rise to the challenge. All those who can't cease to complain, who constantly fight the system and resist the program, the ones who look for shortcuts, this is not the school for you. We are here to grow from tough love, and we will be much better people because of it. 

After all, we might as well learn earlier than later how we are supposed to prove ourselves to our US Medical Graduate counterparts. 


-A do-or-die SGU student