Saint James School of Medicine

Last updated

Saint James School of Medicine
Saint James Logo.png
Type Medical school
Established1999
President Kallol Guha
Location
The Quarter
,
Anguilla, BWI
CampusUrban, 2 acres
Website sjsm.org

Saint James School of Medicine (SJSM) is a private for-profit offshore medical school with two basic science campuses, one in British Overseas Territory of Anguilla, and the other in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, it is considered one school with two campuses. [1] Saint James confers upon its graduates the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree. [2]

Contents

History

Saint James School of Medicine was originally established in Bonaire in 1999 and began instruction in 2000. [2]

In 2006 the people of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba agreed to dissolve the Netherlands Antilles. [3] Upon the imminent dissolution of the country, the ministers of health of the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles requested Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO) to assess the quality of all medical schools in the Netherlands Antilles. [4] The medical school in the island of Saba was the only one to successfully receive NVAO accreditation. [4] [5] The rest of the schools, including St. James School of Medicine, decided to relocate their campuses. [5] [4] In 2010, Saint James opened a second campus in Anguilla. [6]

In 2014, the School opened a third campus in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and began merging the Bonaire campus into the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines campus on the main island of Saint Vincent. [2] At the end of the Fall 2015 semester, Saint James moved its Bonaire operation, students, and faculty to the St. Vincent and the Grenadines campus. They also transferred their IMED listing.[ citation needed ]

In 2022 the FTC determined that "the school misrepresented its U.S. Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 pass rate in sales calls, presentations, and marketing materials. One brochure claimed a 96.77% first-time USMLE Step 1 pass rate but the school's actual pass rate is around 35%, according to the FTC" (Case No. 1:22-cv-1919). As a comparison, 98% of US and Canadian medical students passed the USMLE Step 1 examination on their first attempt. The FTC determined that the average match rate for Saint James medical students is 63%, lower than the 83% that Saint James School of Medicine claims. "Saint James School of Medicine and its Illinois-based operators will have to pay $1.2 million toward refunds and debt cancellation for students harmed by its deceptive marketing, according to an FTC press release." The school refuted these allegations in their statement saying that they settled to avoid lengthy and expensive legal proceeding with the FTC. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

MD Program Curriculum

The MD program at Saint James is a 10 semester course of study that consists of three semesters per calendar year, each semester lasting four months. Semesters 1-5 are basic sciences completed at one of the school's two Caribbean campuses (Anguilla and St. Vincent and the Grenadines). Semester 5 (Advanced Introduction to Clinical Medicine) was completed at Jackson Park Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, but the location of completion of this semester has since been changed. Starting in September 2017, semester 5 will be completed in one of the two school campuses in either Saint Vincent or Anguilla. After completion, students are expected to complete the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) Step 1, for which the school offers a pass guarantee [12] In addition, the school has begun offering extended programs for students in the Basic Science program, offering the normal 5 semester Basic Science program, as well as a 6 and 7 semester Basic Science program.

The Clinical Science portion consists of semesters 6-10 that involve 96 weeks of clinical study that are completed at affiliated hospitals and clinical facilities in the United States. [13] [14]

Accreditation

Both of Saint James School of Medicine's campuses are listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools (WDMS). [15] [16] Graduates of Saint James are eligible for the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) and ECFMG Certification, as well as the Canadian Medical Licensing Exams (Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination). [17]

The Accreditation Commission of Colleges of Medicine granted Saint James School of Medicine conditional accreditation for three years in 2019. Later, in 2022, Saint James received a further three-year accreditation until December 31st, 2025. [18]

In September 2009, the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM-HP) granted Saint James' Anguilla campus initial accreditation as a developing school. In July 2015, CAAM-HP extended Saint James' Anguilla campus' initial provisional accreditation with probation for one year, until 2016. The Anguilla campus' CAAM-HP initial provisional accreditation with probation was extended for one year in July 2016. In August 2018, CAAM-HP extended Saint James' initial provisional accreditation again for one year. [19] In 2019, CAAMP-HP, extended their initial provisional accreditation on probation for one year. [20]

The St. Vincent campus is also registered with the National Accreditation Board (NAB) of the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Financial Aid

Saint James School of Medicine (SJSM) has entered into an arrangement with Delta Financial Solutions, Inc. (Delta) to provide qualified students with a private student loan program. [21] Saint James School of Medicine is not eligible for United States federal loans. [22]

Student life

Students have clubs that they can join, including an AMSA chapter, a Phi Chi chapter, as well as other clubs. The student body also volunteers to operate health screenings for the local community. [23]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of the West Indies</span> International university in the Caribbean

The University of the West Indies (UWI), originally University College of the West Indies, is a public university system established to serve the higher education needs of the residents of 18 English-speaking countries and territories in the Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks and Caicos Islands. Each country is either a member of the Commonwealth of Nations or a British Overseas Territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Matthew's University</span> For-profit Cayman Islands university

St. Matthew's University (SMU) is a private for-profit offshore medical school located in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands in the Caribbean. SMU has a School of Medicine and a School of Veterinary Medicine, which confer M.D. and D.V.M. degrees, respectively. St. Matthew's University is owned by R3 Education, Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medical University of the Americas – Nevis</span>

Medical University of the Americas (MUA) is a private for-profit offshore medical school in Charlestown, Nevis. It is owned by R3 Education, Inc. which also owns St. Matthew's University and Saba University School of Medicine MUA confers upon its graduates the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saba University School of Medicine</span>

Saba University School of Medicine is a private for-profit offshore medical school located on Saba, a special municipality of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. Saba University confers upon its graduates the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree. It is owned by R3 Education, Inc. Devens, Massachusetts which also owns St. Matthew's University and the Medical University of the Americas

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caribbean Medical University</span> Medical School

Caribbean Medical University (CMU) is an independent, for-profit, U.S. curriculum-based medical school. It is located on the island of Curaçao in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The main campus is located in the Piscadera Bay area of Willemstad. After a total of four years of training, students are awarded the degree of Doctor of Medicine (M.D.).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Medicine and Health Sciences</span>

The University of Medicine and Health Sciences is a private, for-profit medical school located in Basseterre, Saint Kitts in the Caribbean. UMHS confers upon its graduates the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree. The university also has a 5th semester campus in Portland, Maine and an administrative office in New York, New York. The University of Medical and Health Sciences has acquired the Ross family owned previously affiliated International University of Nursing.

The American University of Integrative Sciences (AUIS), is a private for-profit offshore medical school with a single campus located in Barbados. Founded in 1999, it was formerly known as the University of Sint Eustatius School of Medicine (USESOM). For a period, the school was based in Sint Maarten, where it was taken over by IEMR LLC, a US-based company. Since October 2017, AUIS has operated in Barbados, and it is currently a candidate for accreditation by the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM-HP). As of January 2024, the university is facing closure due to financial insolvency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aureus University School of Medicine</span> Medical school in Aruba

Aureus University School of Medicine is a private university located in Oranjestad, Aruba. Aureus confers upon its graduates the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spartan Health Sciences University</span>

Spartan Health Sciences University is a private, for-profit medical school located in Vieux Fort, St. Lucia, in the Caribbean. Spartan confers upon its graduates the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree. Spartan graduates can practice medicine in 46 US states.

Windsor University School of Medicine is a private offshore medical school located in Cayon, Saint Mary Cayon Parish, Saint Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean. Windsor confers upon its graduates the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree. The university also has clinical education campuses in Carbondale, Illinois and Houghton Lake, Michigan. Administrative offices are located in Monee, Illinois.

The Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM-HP) is an accrediting body for the education programmes and schools of medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, nursing and other health professions in the 15 member nations of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). CAAM-HP was established in 2003 and is headquartered in Kingston, Jamaica.

All American Institute of Medical Sciences is a private medical school located in the town of Black River, St. Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica, which began operations in 2009. It was chartered by the Government of Jamaica in 2009, and provisionally accredited by the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM-HP) in 2010 with an annual renewal to 2015. The university began classes in 2011 at its Jamaica campus and graduated its first class in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avalon University School of Medicine</span> Medical school in Willemstad, Curacao

Avalon University School of Medicine (AUSOM) is a private medical school located in Willemstad, Curaçao, in the Caribbean. AUSOM confers upon its graduates the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree. Administrative offices for the university are located in Youngstown, Ohio.

Destiny University was an offshore private medical school located in Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia Now College of Medicine and Health Sciences, St. Lucia. The school's offshore office was located in Butte, Montana. It began operations in 2001 as the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, St. Lucia, under which name it operated until 2008. Then it re-opened at 2013 still as the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, St. Lucia. The Destiny Group of Companies intended to build a new facility for the university in Vieux Fort, which would be fully operational by 2010. When the school began session in 2008, it was functioning as a "distance learning university" in the former Sandy Beach Hotel. The school operated until 2013, at which time it temporarily ceased operations and it re-opened that same year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American International School of Medicine</span> Private medical school in Guyana

The American International School of Medicine (AISM) is a private medical school with its main campus in Georgetown, Guyana, and a US information office in Atlanta, Georgia. Clinical placements in the United States of America, United Kingdom, India, Canada, and some sites in Africa. Graduates obtain a Medical Doctorate upon successful completion of the four or five years of didactic education and training candidates earn the doctor of medicine degree to exit the medical program successfully.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American International Medical University</span> Medical school in St. Lucia

American International Medical University (AIMU) is an offshore medical school located on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. It operates a School of Medicine and a School of Nursing. It partners with universities and hospitals in the United States including Washington Adventist University (WAU) in Takoma Park, Maryland for independent support programs and offers joint classes with WAU for the AIM-U Premedical Science Program on the WAU campus. Future AIM-U programs on the WAU campus may include BSN Completion and Introduction to Clinical Science, as well as the opportunity for AIM-U students to complete the WAU MBA program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texila American University</span> Medical school in Georgetown, Guyana

Texila American University (TAU) is an offshore private medical school, owned by the Texila American University Ltd – Hong Kong (TAU-HK). TAU-HK is a project of the ALLTERE Education Management Company. Texila's U.S. offices are in New Jersey. The University is located in Guyana, South America and offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in medicine, nursing, public health and allied sciences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trinity Medical Sciences University</span>

Trinity Medical Sciences University is an offshore private medical school with its Basic Science part of the MD program, Pre-Medical program and Masters program located in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean and Clinical Science part of the MD program in Warner Robins, Georgia, United States. It opened in 2008 as a fully accredited medical facility to respond to a shortage of physicians in the United States and Canada. It has its administrative headquarters in Roswell, Georgia, and it partners with Milton Cato Memorial Hospital located in Kingstown and Northwest Hospital in Baltimore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlantic University School of Medicine</span> Former medical school in Saint Lucia

Atlantic University School of Medicine (AUSOM) was an offshore private medical school, located in St. Lucia from its foundation in 2010 until August 2017 and then for 5 months in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda until December 2017, when it fully closed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richmond Gabriel University</span> Vincentian private university

Richmond Gabriel University is a private university located in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the Caribbean. The university commenced operations in 2011 as All Saints University, College of Medicine, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and was subsequently renamed after a change of management and ownership.

References

  1. "Choose Your Campus". Saint James School of Medicine. Archived from the original on 18 March 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 "IMED - FAIMER International Medical Education Directory - School Details". Imed.faimer.org. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  3. Radio Netherlands (12 October 2006). "Caribbean islands become Dutch municipalities". Archived from the original on 13 December 2006. Retrieved 2 February 2007.
  4. 1 2 3 "Caribbean_admin, Author at Caribbean Medicine". 20 June 2018.
  5. 1 2 "'Govt. Not to be blamed for closing of Medical School'". Caribbean Medical News. 25 August 2013.
  6. "Saint James Medical School Officially Opened". The Anguillian. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012.
  7. Medscape (19 April 2022). "Med School to Pay $1.2M to Students in Refunds and Debt Cancellation in FTC Settlement" . Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  8. "Case No. 1:22-cv-1919: Complaint for Permanent Injunction, Monetary Relief, and Other Relief" (PDF). FTC.gov. 14 April 2022. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  9. "Federal Trade Commission Takes Action Against For-Profit Medical School for Using Deceptive Marketing to Lure Students". 14 April 2022.
  10. Fiore, Kristina (18 April 2022). "Caribbean Med School Lied About Match Rates?". MedPage Today. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  11. "Human Resources Development Services, Inc. Settles with FTC Over Disclosures". Saint James School of Medicine. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  12. "USMLE Step 1 Guarantee | Saint James School of Medicine". Saint James School of Medicine. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  13. "Saint James School of Medicine's top MD Program". Bonaire.sjsm.org. 7 January 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  14. "Clinical Sciences & Clinical Rotations | Saint James School of Medicine". Saint James School of Medicine. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  15. WDMS Saint James School of Medicine St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Retrieved on October 29, 2016
  16. WDMS Saint James School of Medicine Anguilla. October 29, 2016
  17. ECFMG Requirements for Certification. Retrieved on October on 29, 2016
  18. "Accredited Medical Education Programmes". www.accredmed.org. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  19. "Saint James School of Medicine". www.caam-hp.org. Archived from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  20. https://caam-hp.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Saint-James-School-of-Medicine-Anguilla-and-St-Vincent-the-Grenadines-.pdf "Saint James School of Medicine, Anguilla and St Vincent & the Grenadines" (PDF). www.caam-hp.org. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  21. "Financial Assistance for Medical Students | St. James School of Medicine". Saint James School of Medicine. Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  22. "2024–25 Federal School Code List of Participating Schools (November 2023) | Knowledge Center". fsapartners.ed.gov. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  23. Zack (8 August 2016). "SJSM Health Fair Offers Advice to Local Community". Saint James School of Medicine. Retrieved 14 June 2023.