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Is It Med School or a Cloning Colony?
Kendra Campbell -- Attending medical school on an isolated tropical island has many obvious benefits. When I was trying to decide which medical school would be a good match for me, there were a lot of factors that drew me to the Caribbean. The idea of an international education was very appealing to me. Since I had done very little actual traveling in my life, I saw this as an opportunity to live in a foreign place, where I could immerse myself in a new culture. I also liked the idea of living in a third world country, as I plan on eventually doing international humanitarian work, where I will be living in impoverished areas. I wanted to make sure that I could survive in this type of environment.
In addition, the isolation factor was another major motivator for me. Living in Washington D.C. and trying to attend medical school full-time seemed quite challenging to me. I knew that my friends would constantly be asking me to go out, and that I would always be tempted away from studying by a gallery opening or movie that I wanted to see. Sure, I could have gone to medical school in Iowa, or some other less distracting place, but I would still have had access to movie theatres, and places to shop, etc. While there are many things to do here, the distractions are very minimal. Sometimes I have to walk towards the sound of the waves calling me from the beach, but I can always bring my books with me to the sand.
Although there are many benefits to living here in Dominica, I have also encountered some bizarre drawbacks. The strangest thing about living here is that it’s sort of like a commune. Ninety percent of the people that I encounter every day are medical students attending Ross University, and the remaining 10% are locals who are somehow related to Ross University. Everything is Ross University. It’s very science fiction like. I sometimes feel like I’m secretly being brainwashed by some evil power to become a robot-like doctor, who is being controlled by some malevolent mad scientist. We all watch the same lectures, study in the same library, eat the same food, visit the same beach, and use the same laundromat. Because we are so isolated from the "real world," it’s very easy to forget there even is a "real world." All we know is going to medical school, eating at medical school, dreaming about medical school, and talking about medical school.
I’m doing my very best to take breaks from studying, and I’m trying to remind myself that there is life beyond medical school, but it’s not always easy when you’re drowning in it. When I’m really going crazy and need a break, at least I do still have the Caribbean Sea, and an amazing beach – even if it is crowded with medical students.
October 26, 2006 in Kendra Campbell | Permalink
Comments
Haha! That's what you get for choosing an "isolated" place to learn medicine. Yeah well.. even if I'm taking up medicine in this same city where I've been for the past 23 years of my life... I get a little crazy during the past three years of medlife too. Our lessons are crammed into 2 hours a day and we have the rest of the day to ourselves.. Talk about self-directed learning! So that I would mostly be with my textbooks and patients rather than out with my friends who are not taking up medicine. In lieu of going out, I turn to the blogs here or play online games to relax.. ;) hehe
In your case, the feeling of eating, breathing, and sleeping medicine is just a normal reaction. It's a small place. What can you expect? You're bound to meet people connected with Ross U. If it's getting to be too much, you know what to do... relax and go to your beach..
Posted by: chunchun | Oct 27, 2006 10:25:41 AM
No worries, med school feels like that everywhere. I live in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and still feel like the only people I see are my classmates. Once you get on rotations, I'm sure it will be better.
Posted by: Roger | Oct 28, 2006 9:18:50 PM
Sounds like my school--AUA, but everyone knows we are better than Ross!
Posted by: Sexy | Oct 28, 2006 10:12:45 PM
WOW! Thanks for a much needed eye opener! I was always taught to avoid US born doctors that went to medical school in the Carribean or S.America. The assumption was that they could not get into ANY medical school in the United States and thus may not be able to provide the appropriate care. Obviously this is an incorrect & antiquated belief, yet I have never heard anyone in the medical profession dispute it.
Posted by: Patty | Oct 31, 2006 3:24:32 PM
so you got into well respected LCME accredited schools but choose to graduate as an Foreign Medical Grad who will be all but forced to practice FP or IM because of the culture? give me a break.
Posted by: anonymous | Oct 31, 2006 3:41:12 PM
Wait until the school starts changing your grades. And when you can't get off the island during breaks because they overbook all of the flights and do not care. It sounds like you haven't experienced the true Dominica and Ross. By the way, they read your emails too.
Posted by: Martin | Oct 31, 2006 3:44:08 PM
The arrogance conveyed in a select (and not surprisingly anonymous) response to Ms. Campbell's remarks about studying medicine in the Carribean is at best short sighted. I am reminded of one of the less noble reasons I am called to medicine - to save my patients from having to be treated by a doctor who is more concerned about where his or her degree came from than providing compassionate and effective medical care. Proof once again the application/acceptance system has occasional faults.
I am reminded of the times I personally have been treated by physicians who have graduated from more well known universities than Ross - some even Ivy League - and how incongruent their care was in comparison to the opinion they held of themselves. If I am properly healed, how can I argue with a piece of paper on the wall?
To the future Dr. Campbell, best wishes as you learn medicine in a uniquely challenging environment and here's to a successful rewarding career of your chosing. Consider practicing with people like Roger, Patty and other supportive persons.
Posted by: JC | Oct 31, 2006 4:41:33 PM
I am a member of one of the largest medical school classes in the nation, and I still feel like I hang out with the same people. I am beginning to realize that is just the life of a medical student. I am a first year student as well, so I have taken this sense of "same-ness" as a comfort factor when I am trying to figure out study tactics, etc. Good luck to you!
Posted by: Sarah | Oct 31, 2006 7:49:18 PM
If it is any consolation, I think the feeling that you are living in a world of only medicine is pretty universal no matter how big or small the town/island. It is a pretty big undertaking, studying medicine, so not too much time to go out and socialize just to meet people. Maybe it is something they put in med school water. :-) Best of luck!
Posted by: | Nov 1, 2006 12:30:13 PM
Believing that there is more to becoming a physician than just learning medical facts and procedures, I took the opposite approach and chose a school in a city with the greatest diversity and countless opportunities for "distractions". For one, I didn't want to learn medicine on a population of homogenous patients. Secondly, the chance to put my books down and live life outside of medicine is good for the soul. Being human helps us connect with our patients. Attempting to forcefully immerse oneself 100% in medical education using isolationism sounds pathologic. We have 7,000+ applicants and conduct 600+ interviews for our program; applicants come from all over the country and many of which have interviewed at multiple schools, so they have a respectable third party perspective for judging the mood of students. During the med-student/interviewee lunch part of the interview, one thing the interviewees often mention is that our medical students seem 'happier' compared to other places they've been. Imagine that... a happy medical student. I think it has as much to do with the environment in which one lives as it does the environment in which one works. So all you pre-meds out there listen up... just like the rule of real estate - LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.
Posted by: Michael | Nov 1, 2006 2:55:04 PM
I'm glad you mentioned how studying abroad was by choice because most people(including U.S.physicians) are very narrow-minded about the subject and believe that med students that study abroad do so because they couldn't get accepted into a U.S.medical school. Has it ever crossed anyone's mind that perhaps you get a better hands-on training in an impoverished country where you get to see different diseases and not just read about them? Perhaps there isn't the technology that you can find in the States but that's what makes these doctors exceptional...they can diagnose and cure with the few resources they have. Isn't that what being a doctor is all about? Lab and imaging studies should be secondary not primary!! LEt's not forget what should be the real reason for becoming a doctor.
Posted by: anonymous | Nov 1, 2006 4:44:05 PM
To the prev poster: do you know that med students from the caribbean do most of their clinical years in the US? you can't really say that you get better hands-on training in an impoverished country, when most of your clinical training is in the US! also, training somewhere where there are more medical resources will make learning the material less painful (and more efficient). for example, having clinical practicals with mannequins or standardized pts exhibiting various, common physical exam findings would be much more useful initially than just training in an impoverished country where these resources are unavailable. That may be why most of the clinical training is actually done in the US. I'm not saying that caribbean students don't make good doctors, but I also wouldn't say that you get better hands-on training in an impoverished country if that training is to become the basis for your profession. Also, one must wonder why most caribbean students apply for residency in the US and not abroad- it's because training where resources are available will make you a better DR. You can then use that knowledge to practice in an impoverished country or wherever you want. just my long two cents.
Posted by: | Nov 1, 2006 8:40:52 PM
That its the reality when you study in other city from your own home
Posted by: | Nov 1, 2006 9:42:49 PM
No offence, but liken your education to 'some evil power to that trains you to become a robot-like doctor, who is being controlled by some malevolent mad scientist" is not doing any favours to dispel the biases regarding Carribean schools. And sad but true, I would have to agree with the anonympus poster doubting your motives for going off shore. It sounds like rationalization and you try to convince yourself that those are the reasons you are at Ross. And before I get accused of being unsupportive: I am simply being realistic, as I also am studying in the Carib.
Good luck to you!
Posted by: Jenna | Nov 2, 2006 4:08:48 PM
Medical school is the same anywhere, its time consuming, its reputation doesn't come from thin air. You would end up closing up even if you studied at home. By the way, te term- third world country - is not used anymore, you might get someone insulted if you say that. And do not think that because you are there it means you are going to know more or better medicine. People in foreing countries apply to the U.S not because they can practice more there, but because of the job opportunities, the money, and the recognitiion of having studied abroad. I applaud your intention of doing humanitarian aid, but do not think of developing countries as inferior or less, what is really important to know, is the difference in the diseases there are, the bigger percentages they have in some things and the lesser important ones; and focus your education on that. Studying medicine is an achievement, it doesn´t matter where you study it, but expect your life to change, because it will, and the quicker you accept it, the easier it will be.
Posted by: Marleny | Nov 2, 2006 5:47:02 PM
The question remains is medical or any other type of training a form of brainwashing? Think about it physicians have their own vocabulary and jargon; and hierarchy and that is just the beginning of the process.
Posted by: VforV | Nov 9, 2006 7:03:07 AM
"One of us... One of us!!!"
I like to compare this place to a breeder reactor. You stuff in some VERY HIGH GRADE material and a lot of other functional material and lock the door. In a reactor, the close confines and reflective environment transform the initial material into... something else. Something much hotter. This new thing produces much more power than if it hadn't been transformed.
Welcome to Ross!
Posted by: Tom | Nov 23, 2006 4:13:52 PM
Ross University grads intermingle with all Ivy League medical school grads in the US, and are well respected by those physicians. The US med school application process makes it very difficult for many people who would do very well in any medical school. Thank God for Ross University. I am sure I will make my mark in medicine and be highly respected by anyone anywhere in the US in the next several years.
Posted by: Bill | Dec 23, 2006 11:16:19 PM
Graduates from the schools you mentioned are not even accepted by certain countries in the Carribean, like Trinidad and Tobago. The medical school of the University of the West Indies (U.W.I) is the premier institute in in the region. Upon graduating from U.W.I., the young doctors go to the U.K. to specialize.
Posted by: | Dec 9, 2007 1:42:12 PM
I am so glad that there are some of you out there that have a positive outlook when it comes to attending a caribbean med school. I am about to apply to Ross University and am scared to death. My fear is that my decision to go to a caribbean school is going to hurt me in the future. I trully want to be physician and see Ross as the best option for me. Any more wise words or helpful information would be greatly appreciated.
Posted by: Danielle | Feb 3, 2008 12:40:42 PM
I am a student from a Caribbean country trying to choose whether to go to University of the West Indies or to the UK or the USA. After reading the numerous comments I feel so disappointed in the ideologies of our American counterparts who seem to have a severe elitist and obviously brainwashed and misguided perspective about the rest of the world. I'm sure its not everyone but just a few, who unfortunately can change the minds of many. I for one wish no longer to consider an American University primarily for fear of being treated in the same manner as the voices that are being spoken here. Anyway thanks for the persuasive words.
Posted by: Jennifer | Jul 28, 2008 3:16:29 PM
Good Stuff! Doesn't This looks like an awesome place to begin your academic program! The True Blue Campus at St. Georges University.
Posted by: John | Apr 20, 2009 1:23:32 PM
