St Christophers

[docbarry]

I dont know too much about St Christophers school of medicine in Luton. I was hoping that someone could provide some insight on if this a worth while school or not. I just need general info.. thanks alot

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[neilc]

I dont know too much about St Christophers school of medicine in Luton. I was hoping that someone could provide some insight on if this a worth while school or not. I just need general info.. thanks alot

no licensed grads. not licensable in all 50 states. there are many, many schools that meet these basic requirements....so, the best advice is to go to the fully approved schools, and avoid st chris or similar schools, if you have that option.

 

[ssg]

I dont know too much about St Christophers school of medicine in Luton. I was hoping that someone could provide some insight on if this a worth while school or not. I just need general info.. thanks alot

Personally, I would recommend you to research for yourself and to take non-biased advice from people. There are many sources where you can find out more information about this school and other offshore schools. Have you tried valuemd.com ? Also look at the official websites and see for yourself how legit they are.

 

[bts4202]

Personally, I would recommend you to research for yourself and to take non-biased advice from people. There are many sources where you can find out more information about this school and other offshore schools. Have you tried valuemd.com ? Also look at the official websites and see for yourself how legit they are.

I am an actual student at st chris. I have passed my USMLE and I am currently in the US doing clinicals. The school is very legit and quite good. I am happy to answer any questions you may have.

 

[PathOne]

I am an actual student at st chris. I have passed my USMLE and I am currently in the US doing clinicals. The school is very legit and quite good. I am happy to answer any questions you may have.

While I have no basis on which to judge St. Christopher's College of Medicine, I would say that it's a bit of a stretch to call the school "very legit". St. Christopher is NOT accredited in the UK, but depend on an accreditation in Senegal, which, despite all other advantages that country may have, isn't exactly world renowned for its medical education (e.g. a median life expectancy of less than 57 years, 60% illiteracy).

If they can produce doctors who're accepted by hospitals, fine by me. But I must invariably be sceptic about a school which isn't accredited in the country where students are actually enrolled... In fact, I wonder if a St. Chris graduate would be able to work in Senegal, as the official language in that country is French, and the curriculum at the sole medical school physically present in Senegal is entirely based on the French system.... But it was probably the cheapest place to buy into the WHO list. Good luck claiming US school equivalency iwith Texas licensing board.
Oh, and not approved in California, and thus Arizona, either.

 

[bts4202]

While I have no basis on which to judge St. Christopher's College of Medicine, I would say that it's a bit of a stretch to call the school "very legit". St. Christopher is NOT accredited in the UK, but depend on an accreditation in Senegal, which, despite all other advantages that country may have, isn't exactly world renowned for its medical education (e.g. a median life expectancy of less than 57 years, 60% illiteracy).

If they can produce doctors who're accepted by hospitals, fine by me. But I must invariably be sceptic about a school which isn't accredited in the country where students are actually enrolled... In fact, I wonder if a St. Chris graduate would be able to work in Senegal, as the official language in that country is French, and the curriculum at the sole medical school physically present in Senegal is entirely based on the French system.... But it was probably the cheapest place to buy into the WHO list. Good luck claiming US school equivalency iwith Texas licensing board.
Oh, and not approved in California, and thus Arizona, either.

well since you say yourself you have no basis to judge, then you may want to keep yuour insinuations about US equivalency to yourself. As far as senegal, there is a full, active st chris campus in senegal that produces local doctors. There are several free clinics and many other free humanitarian projects organized and run by st chris in senegal. St chris does more for its home country than any caribb school does for its home country. So buying a charter is monumentally unfounded.

And as far as legitimacy, like you said, you have no basis to judge.

 

[neilc]

well since you say yourself you have no basis to judge, then you may want to keep yuour insinuations about US equivalency to yourself. As far as senegal, there is a full, active st chris campus in senegal that produces local doctors. There are several free clinics and many other free humanitarian projects organized and run by st chris in senegal. St chris does more for its home country than any caribb school does for its home country. So buying a charter is monumentally unfounded.

And as far as legitimacy, like you said, you have no basis to judge.

well, unless he uses some basic standards for legitimacy....like whether the grads can get licensed (for sure no in some states, unknown in all the rest), whether the school has a good history (not really, it has been around a short while), whether the admin is honest (nope...do a search of this forum and valuemd for an exhaustive review), etc...

the school is certainly suspect to say the least. not to mention, it operates outside of the country of charter in england, and who knows how long the UK will tolerate this.

so, whether or not the school is ligit depends on your definition of legitimate. most people would say it has a long, long way to go at the very least.

 

[neilc]

as far as senegal being equivilent to the US, it is not. there was a study published of countries with med school accreditation being similar to the US accreditation, and senegal was NOT on the list. so, if the country cannot regulate the schools within its borders in an equivilent fashion, it is highly unlikely that it can regulate it's sattelite branches.

(i will look for that listing of equivilent schools to post as a reference, unless somebody else has it and posts it first)

 

[bts4202]

as far as senegal being equivilent to the US, it is not. there was a study published of countries with med school accreditation being similar to the US accreditation, and senegal was NOT on the list. so, if the country cannot regulate the schools within its borders in an equivilent fashion, it is highly unlikely that it can regulate it's sattelite branches.

(i will look for that listing of equivilent schools to post as a reference, unless somebody else has it and posts it first)

lol, yeah post that! haha. If you are talking abotu NCFMEA, then that is not a group that has reviewed the world, they have only reviewed places that applied for evaluation.

So again, you both have no basis to make any evaluation.

 

[neilc]

lol, yeah post that! haha. If you are talking abotu NCFMEA, then that is not a group that has reviewed the world, they have only reviewed places that applied for evaluation.

So again, you both have no basis to make any evaluation.

uhh, okay

if not having recognized equivilancy because they did not apply implies legitimacy to you....

the fact remains...they are not on the list, and they have no other form of recognition that would imply that they are equivilent. i think that most of the reasonable world would take that to mean they are NOT equivilent.

so, to answer the question of legitimacy...the school has NOT demonstrated any level of legitimacy...i think in this case, with so many other demonstrably legit schools out there, it is wise to assume that the school is not a good idea until solid evidence shows you otherwise. in the case of st chris, there is no evidence on the horizon...so, the best bet is to run far away from this "school".

 

[PathOne]

well since you say yourself you have no basis to judge, then you may want to keep yuour insinuations about US equivalency to yourself. As far as senegal, there is a full, active st chris campus in senegal that produces local doctors. There are several free clinics and many other free humanitarian projects organized and run by st chris in senegal. St chris does more for its home country than any caribb school does for its home country. So buying a charter is monumentally unfounded.

And as far as legitimacy, like you said, you have no basis to judge.

Oh, I'm afraid you misunderstand me. I wrote that I cannot say anything about the training, since I have not attended or visited St. Christopher's.
However, I CAN say some things about the school's accreditation, or lack of same - and yes, I do think there's a link between accreditation and legitimacy:

FACT: No med school in Senegal, not even the state-run university, is certified as being US equivalent by Texas.
http://www.tsbme.state.tx.us/professionals/docinfo/STDNHPSE.rtf

FACT: Despite having it's main campus in England, St. Chris is NOT accredited by the GMC.
http://www.chms.ac.uk/fschlweb.html

FACT: St. Chris is NOT recognized by California (and thus Arizona). Nor is ANY school in Senegal.
http://www.medbd.ca.gov/Approved_Schools.htm#S

FACT: St. Chris IS on the WHO directory of medical schools. however, please note that WHO clearly states that:
"Readers are reminded that WHO has no authority to grant any form of recognition or accreditation to schools of medicine or other training institutions. Such a procedure remains the exclusive prerogative of the national government concerned. WHO limits itself to publishing information on medical schools that has been provided or confirmed by the governments of its Member States."
http://www.who.int/hrh/wdms/en/

SO what we have left is any accreditation carried out by the Senegal gov't. (would that be in Senegal or the UK, under what circumstances, when and by whom??). And in fact Senegal as so far been unable to convince ANYBODY that the country's own medical traning is acceptable. However, they can of course, as a sovereign nation, put anybody they want to on the WHO list. A priviledge which is also fully exploited by a number of Caribbean island-nations.

BUT if bts4202 can provide independent verification of training standards, I'd of course be happy to see them. Since bts4202 probably hasn't attended a US or established European medical school, I would venture that it's a bit hard to compare medical training on such a basis..

 

[bts4202]

Oh, I'm afraid you misunderstand me. I wrote that I cannot say anything about the training, since I have not attended or visited St. Christopher's.
However, I CAN say some things about the school's accreditation, or lack of same - and yes, I do think there's a link between accreditation and legitimacy:

FACT: No med school in Senegal, not even the state-run university, is certified as being US equivalent by Texas.
http://www.tsbme.state.tx.us/professionals/docinfo/STDNHPSE.rtf

FACT: Despite having it's main campus in England, St. Chris is NOT accredited by the GMC.
http://www.chms.ac.uk/fschlweb.html

FACT: St. Chris is NOT recognized by California (and thus Arizona). Nor is ANY school in Senegal.
http://www.medbd.ca.gov/Approved_Schools.htm#S

FACT: St. Chris IS on the WHO directory of medical schools. however, please note that WHO clearly states that:
"Readers are reminded that WHO has no authority to grant any form of recognition or accreditation to schools of medicine or other training institutions. Such a procedure remains the exclusive prerogative of the national government concerned. WHO limits itself to publishing information on medical schools that has been provided or confirmed by the governments of its Member States."
http://www.who.int/hrh/wdms/en/

SO what we have left is any accreditation carried out by the Senegal gov't. (would that be in Senegal or the UK, under what circumstances, when and by whom??). And in fact Senegal as so far been unable to convince ANYBODY that the country's own medical traning is acceptable. However, they can of course, as a sovereign nation, put anybody they want to on the WHO list. A priviledge which is also fully exploited by a number of Caribbean island-nations.

BUT if bts4202 can provide independent verification of training standards, I'd of course be happy to see them. Since bts4202 probably hasn't attended a US or established European medical school, I would venture that it's a bit hard to compare medical training on such a basis..

Firstly, you keep saying arizona when i think you mean new mexico.

Second, the other senegalese medical school is approved in Cali, so senegal must have some standards from accreditation. Just ask pat park.

thirdly, to say that a school is not equivalent just because they have not applied to be listed on a website is ludicrous. there is no need for senegal to be listed so the government of senegal has not applied. Being listed has no bearing on licensure in any state in the US. Show me one law that says that ytou must be listed on the NCFMEA to get a license and I will recant.

fourthly, st chris is not a british school, so not being GMC accreditted is a completely inane point and has no bearing on st chris whatsoever. Although, st chris is listed on the Uk's Department for Education and Skills website:

http://www.dfes.gov.uk/providersregister/search.cfm

Search for the schools name or for the postcode: LU1 3BE

 

[PathOne]

1. I stand corrected. Yes, am referring to NM.
2. If the state univ. is approved, why isn't it on the posted list? Anyway, approval of one school doesn't mean that all schools in a country are approved. And St. Chris is NOT approved by Cali. Correct?
3. Don't know why you bring up NCFMEA. Perhaps you confuse me with another poster.
4. I beg to differ. Personally, I find it fairly strange, that people can graduate from a medical school without ever setting foot in the country that chartered that school. And even stranger, that any nation would charter a school which produces graduates in an entirely different country. In fact, it is a practise which is illegal in the US - otherwise I am sure that all the Caribbean schools would be relocating in an instant.

Obviously, anyone can spend their time and money in any way and at any place they want to. Equally obviously, you believe that St. Chris is a good school. Good for you.

However, the OP was looking for information on St. Chris, and the lack of accreditation I mentioned still holds. If the OP, or any other, wants to attend St. Chris, by all means do so. However, I would personally never want to attend a school where there's no solid and proven track record of getting graduates licensed.

 

[PathOne]

... Although, st chris is listed on the Uk's Department for Education and Skills website:

http://www.dfes.gov.uk/providersregister/search.cfm

Search for the schools name or for the postcode: LU1 3BE

Aha! So that's the accreditation for St. Chris? OK. Let me mention some other entities listed on the Department for Education and Skills website, which are based in Luton:

Bedfordshire John Howard Society
Better Prospects (Formally Luton Office Training Ltd)
Broadmead School
Construction Industry Training Board (Luton)
Corporate Services Group PLC
Luton Borough Council
Madrassa Islamia School
Voluntary Action Luton
(by no means exhaustive, just look it up yourself, omitting 3BE from the postcode.

Doesn't seem to be a highly discriminating list...

 

[bts4202]

You keep mentioning accreditation, but st chris is fully accreditted. I fail to see how you have proven anything.

 

[PathOne]

You keep mentioning accreditation, but st chris is fully accreditted. I fail to see how you have proven anything.

No, I guess you're right. I have only proven that St. Chris is not accredited in the country where students are based, nor by any third party, but only by the government of Senegal.
And I honestly don't think that Senegal would be offended by being called a third world country - Ranking as #157 out of 175 in the UN Human Development Index. Not the most substantial of accreditations in my book.