Island Culture

For current, updated information about attending SGU, review of SGU textbooks, and access to more SGU resources, please visit the Welcome to Grenada site.

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English is the language spoken in Grenada. In the school guide, they describe it as a “slightly lilting Caribbean accent”. I disagree. Those Grenadians that work with the university, or in another position that requires constant exposure to tourists and students, are easy to understand. Those that have very little exposure to foreigners can be near unintelligible, but once you have an idea for what someone is trying to say, everything seems much clearer. It is not unlike listening to lyrics from a difficult song after you have already read them in the CD jacket.

If you have a healthy sense of humor, the stressful things about Grenada can be hilarious. First off, if you go to a restaurant and read the menu, do not kid yourself and think that what is on the menu is available. The menu is instead a list of things that were once available and may be available in the future. This is due either to a lack of ingredients, the staff is too busy to make your order, or the staff does not care to make your order. So order something else with a smile.

Second, if you order a drink at a US bar and it takes more than a few moments, it is often because the place is very busy and the bar is understaffed. If you order a drink in a Grenadian bar on a dead night when you are the only customer, it will take even longer. This is not because the bartender is trying to piss you off or ruin your whole day as some dramatics will say, it is instead because the island is a slow place and you need to get used to it. That Grenadian bartender could turn to you and ask, “What’s your hurry anyway?” Try to remember that there is no hurry and life will be a lot easier on you.

Grenadian Weather

For current, updated information about attending SGU, review of SGU textbooks, and access to more SGU resources, please visit the Welcome to Grenada site.

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The wet season is very wet and runs from August to December. It can rain for days on end. If you bring an umbrella, make sure it is the type that opens to form a complete sphere around you, because the rain falls sideways. Honestly, go to a camping store and get a waterproof cover for your backpack, a light waterproof jacket and a shamie. You will be the envy of everyone. Another thing to consider is the mosquitoes. The breeding ground for mosquitoes is standing water, and there will be a lot of it. Invest in a mesh tent for your bed and screens for your windows (only applicable if living off campus). Want to know a fun trick? Instead of a mesh net, get a standing oscillating fan. If you go to sleep with it by your head, the mosquitos get sucked into the back of it and murdered. You get to wake up the next morning with a pile of them on the ground. Good times.

There is little rain in the dry season which runs from January till June. It is the best time to be on the island and enjoy everything that it has to offer. Go to the beach, learn to kite surf, bring your surf board, or rent a jet ski. Head to the capital and learn how to haggle in the market. Most of all, remember to get a tan so that people believe you when you say that you go to school on a tropical island.

School Culture

For current, updated information about attending SGU, review of SGU textbooks, and access to more SGU resources, please visit the Welcome to Grenada site.

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During your first two weeks here you have carte blanche to introduce yourself to as many people as you wish. Your class will probably go out each night that first week and I recommend you go each time. The first week does not contain difficult material and you will not have another chance like it. After this grace period the classes pick up a bit, people fall into routines and your opportunities to meet every member of your class will start to drop off.

SGU operates by four-month-long terms. This tricks you into thinking that each term is a year long and that people in second, third and fourth term are somehow separated from you. This is of course nonsense. The uppertermers will have advice for you on every class and most of it should be ignored. Instead, find a good DES tutor, give yourself a few weeks, and then start making judgments on how to handle your course load. Everyone should go to the Department of Educational Services (DES) office and take a look at all of their handouts on studying, test-taking strategies, and review sessions. It is a goldmine of helpful information.

SGU students study like they party: hard. Go to the Crab Races at The Owl every Monday night at Grand Anse beach. On Wednesday, everyone heads over to Stewart’s Dock for drinks and a live band. If you like to keep going until 4am, Banana’s is the place for you. There are so many organizations on school that every weekend has at least one sponsored party at the Aquarium, Thai Beach, Kudos, etc. Take advantage while you can. Before too long you will start looking forward to the weekend because it means no more classes and you have time to study. Yes, you will be ‘that guy.’

The Day-to-Day

For current, updated information about attending SGU, review of SGU textbooks, and access to more SGU resources, please visit the Welcome to Grenada site.

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As a First-termer, I got up every morning around 7am and checked the class schedule. Typically only two courses are taught a day with each getting two hours of lecture time. On some days you will have Anatomy lab that can begin at 8 or 9am and lasts for three hours, or you have Histology lab at 8 or 10am that lasts for two hours. Lectures begin at 1pm each day and last until 5pm. You do not need to bring much to campus. I usually put my laptop, water bottle, two three ring binders and two textbooks into my backpack and grab the bus.

Eating on campus is not hard though students do complain about the selection. At the top of the hill (you will know it well) there are vendors selling fresh fruits and the Patels selling homemade Indian food. Halfway down campus is the Student’s Center which has two restaurants (Glover’s and Pearl’s) along with a convenience store. At the base of campus is the Sugar Shack. You will not go hungry.

Time before and after lecture is often spent in the library. The library has wireless internet and so should your computer (the “Computing at SGU” section of the SGU website does a good job of preparing you). During peak hours it can be difficult to get a strong connection (bringing an Ethernet cable is a bad move, as many of the plugs on campus work sporadically). The wireless network extends throughout campus into the lecture halls (you can follow lectures online or check email during breaks), across to the bus stop and down to the Student Area (where the gym and restaurants are located). Some students are able to get a connection in their rooms as well. If you live off campus in Grand Anse dorms there is a study room with a wireless connection. High-speed internet is available in off-campus apartments through a contract with Cable & Wireless.

The Last Phone You’ll Every Buy

For current, updated information about attending SGU, review of SGU textbooks, and access to more SGU resources, please visit the Welcome to Grenada site.

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No one gets a landline and you should not bring a cordless phone with you. So that means you are buying a cell phone. Since you are now going to travel from the mainland to Grenada and St. Vincent’s (and possibly Prague) you probably want a phone that can work in all areas. For this, you need to buy a Quad-Band GSM phone. There are two main companies that offer GSM service in the USA. AT&T and Cingular are now merged into one company, and the second company is T-Mobile. So here’s what you do:

1) buy a Quad-Band GSM phone from one of these companies
2) make sure that it is a pay-as-you-go phone with a SIM card
3) Google “unlock SIM” and pay for your phone to be unlocked

I’ll explain all of that:

There are four major broadcasting systems used throughout the world. So a Quad-Band phone means that you’ll never have to buy a new phone for travel. The SIM card is a chip that contains your phone number and your contacts. Put another way, it does not matter from what phone you call: if you put your SIM card in any phone the person you are calling will see that it is you. So if you buy a SIM Quad-Band phone at home, you will have a SIM card with your home’s area code. When you come to Grenada, you will buy another SIM card with a Grenadian number. At this point, you can simply switch the SIM cards while you’re one the islands and then switch them back when you return home. Taping them into your passport is a nice way to keep track of them when not in use.

The reason you have to “unlock” your phone is so that your T-Mobile phone (for example) will operate with a Digicel SIM card from Grenada (for example). Pay-as-you-go means that if you want to talk for ten minutes, you buy ten minutes. If you talk over that, the phone simply cuts off (after a warning of course). This means that you cannot possibly suffer overage charges and you don’t get roped into a contract. And why do you have to pay to unlock your phone? Because T-mobile doesn’t want you to buy there phone and then use it with an AT&T SIM card. T-mobile wants your money. Typically, these companies will unlock your phone for free if you’ve owned it for three months, but if you’re reading this now that’s a bit of late notice. So pay to have it unlocked from a separate code vendor and you should be set.
Some students make use of internet phones as well.

All in All, I paid $95 (phone $50, SIM $20, Unlock $25)

There are several programs that allow you to make phone calls over the internet for pennies a minute to anywhere in the world. Skype, Netphone, and PCPhone are popular programs and only require a headset with microphone.

A Picture is Worth…

For current, updated information about attending SGU, review of SGU textbooks, and access to more SGU resources, please visit the Welcome to Grenada site.

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1000 Words

It’s amazing how a few photographs taken by students can add some perspective to the place. Go to Flickr.com and search for ‘SGU.’ It says something that the students love the school enough to put all of this together themselves.

My favortite albums are shot by
Josh http://www3.flickr.com/photos/joshy55013
Felix http://www2.flickr.com/photos/sravishankar

Where to Live

For current, updated information about attending SGU, review of SGU textbooks, and access to more SGU resources, please visit the Welcome to Grenada site.

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Unless you arrive very early, it is difficult to find a place to live off of campus. You will not know which areas are safe, what prices are fair, and everyone that is coming to the island after First term has snatched up the best apartments. You will probably end up at the True Blue Campus or at Grand Anse.

The University is on the True Blue Campus. There are a number of dorms their: Superdorm #1, #2, #3, and #4. There is also upper-term housing in singles, doubles, four- and six-person suites. Your room will be very small, very cozy. It will also be very expensive. The pros to living on campus include waking up later, not having to use the bus as often, good security and being around people every hour of the day. The cons are the price, the size, campus burnout and being around people every hour of the day. It comes down to your personality.

If you grew up in the projects, you will love the dorms in Grand Anse. You will come home to crabs and lizards. Your plumbing may throw fits and your carpet may begin to smell. If you have ever been camping and like it, then this is the place for you. The pros of living in Grand Anse are the price (considerably cheaper), the location (it is on the beach and across from the Spiceland supermarket and mall), the atmosphere (people that can live happily in those conditions are generally relaxed), the food (Mr. Green Jeans and the Ladies are there to cook for you every day) and the quiet.

When it comes time to find another place to live, you can either enter the Lottery on campus or look elsewhere. I suggest moving off campus. You will be farther away so may need to rent a car and your security is window bars instead of guards, but even taking that into account it can be cheaper and nicer. You can find available apartments through word of mouth or the campus housing office, though their lists are often out of date. You can live in True Blue and this tends to be expensive for what you are getting. The advantage is being within walking distance of campus. The advantage to living in Grand Anse is being in walking distance to every store you could need. Next to Grand Anse is Mont Toute, also a thriving area with several shops. Lance Aux Epines is the Manhattan of Grenada with its paved roads and beautiful homes. Housing can be expensive here, but not as expensive as campus and you get what you pay for.

Arriving in GND

For current, updated information about attending SGU, review of SGU textbooks, and access to more SGU resources, please visit the Welcome to Grenada site.

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It is GrenEHda, not GrenAHda. Pronouncing it correctly is a big deal. Grenada was described to me as a third world country before I came and this will not be your experience. Your time on campus will be indistinguishable from any university in the US; your dorm life will be no different than your undergraduate experience. Everyone uses the bus or drives a car. You will have your Subway, your TCBY Treats, movie theaters, malls, grocery stores, hardware stores, school supplies, bars and clubs. You probably will not be able to find the laundry detergent you like or fresh milk, but these are small things. Anyone who says you will be “roughing it” is lying to you.

***That being said, a few people each year have a hard time adjusting. Some have dietary concerns (it is not hard to be a vegetarian; it is hard to be a vegan). Some get very homesick or cannot adjust to Grenada’s culture. The pace here is very slow. ***

The very first mistake people make when traveling to Grenada is NOT taking a layover. Often times the airlines will overbook a connecting flight from Puerto Rico to Grenada and ask that passengers volunteer to take a later flight, often the next day. TAKE IT! You will be put up in a hotel, given miles for a flight in the future, and have a chance to enjoy another island carefree.

If you are flying to Grenada on a connection from Puerto Rico you will probably spend your first night without all of your luggage. The reason is simple: you came to San Juan on a very big plane and left Puerto Rico on a tiny little plane with propellers. This is the type of plane where they ask the passengers to move to different seats to balance the weight (if that sentence makes you nervous, self-medicate before takeoff). A puddle-jumper like this cannot possibly hold everyone’s luggage in one flight, so expect at least one piece to be a day late. Make sure that you have some toiletries and two changes of clothes in the luggage that never leaves your sight.
The airline will give you a number to call and you will have your luggage shortly. Try to come to the island early so you can take full advantage of Orientation week. It is nice to have that time for settling in, to speak nothing of all of the trips around the island that are provided.

Grenada’s weather has two settings: downpour and blindingly sunny, so come to the island wearing a rain jacket over a bathing suit. Grenada is likely hotter than you are used to. During those first few days, you will break a sweat from standing, lose weight, and drink water like breathing air. You will see students going to class wearing jeans and long sleeved shirts and wonder what is wrong with them. Just know that your body is getting used to the island; it takes about a month.

What to Pack

For current, updated information about attending SGU, review of SGU textbooks, and access to more SGU resources, please visit the Welcome to Grenada site.

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I will only brush my teeth with Arm & Hammer toothpaste. I cannot stand anything else. So every time I fly down to the islands, I have all the toothpaste I will need for the term. A girl I knew would bring Downy drier sheets. The point is this: the shopping malls and grocery stores are sparkling clean and air-conditioned much like home but that does not mean that they are stocked the same. They will have everything you can think of needing but not necessarily your favorite brand. So if you are wedded to a certain brand of tampons or deodorant, bring enough for the term. Other than that, there is no need to worry. To the guy that brings 40 lbs. of Whey protein on the flight: we have a GNC-type store that has that. Do not waste the room and the weight. Also, you look like you work out.

 

You will wear shorts, shirts, and flip-flops every day. Have something nice to wear if you plan on asking someone on a date or celebrating at one of the fine restaurants. Every once in a while, their will be a banquet at the Governor’s Mansion or physicians visiting from our clinical years, so have something nice to wear for those fancy people. You will never be asked to wear a jacket, but maybe a tie. Bring a few pairs of scrubs for Anatomy Lab (you can still wear sandals). We have a nice air-conditioned gym, basketball courts, and a soccer (football) field so bring some athletic gear and your ‘A’ game. Things made of linen are always a smart purchase.

Binders are expensive on the island and worth the space in your luggage to bring a few. Multicolored highlighters are invaluable when reading biochemistry and hard to find on the island. I wish I had brought more. I also wish I had brought dry erase markers for the study rooms in the library. Bring a flash drive and a modest external hard drive. Students share all of their files and useful programs with each other via flash drives or iPods. That means entire seasons of Nip/Tuck, Lost, 24, etc. Each term also has a MacDaddy program filled with old study resources like previous tests, tables, and summaries. These information juggernauts can reach 10 gigabytes; plan accordingly.

 

As for your course books, the school supplies you with them the first week you are here. They are stored at the base of campus and are heavy. I would recommend picking them up in an empty piece of wheeled-luggage. Opinion varies in the upper terms as to which textbooks are useful and which never left their shrink-wrap. Take advantage of your Footsteps Buddy and try to figure out which books will be most helpful for you. That said, there are some books that most people wish they had. Unfortunately, the campus bookstore may not carry them or will sell out early. Check each Class Section for suggested books.

 

Depending on your airline, you can take up to 155lbs to the island. That is two suitcases at 50lbs each and a 40lb carry-on. You are also allowed a personal item that can weigh up to 15lbs. I suggest putting your computer and books into your backpack as a “personal item.” That easily covers 30lbs, freeing up more weight for your checked luggage. Play it cool, though. If they see you slumping under the weight, they will get suspicious and make you check the bag, which will cost you some money.

Anatomy

For current, updated information about attending SGU, review of SGU textbooks, and access to more SGU resources, please visit the Welcome to Grenada site.

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So congratulations! If there’s any course that signifies medical school to the undergrad, it’s Human Anatomy. After this you should know every bone in the body, every muscle that moves them, and every nerve that orders them around. And I’m kidding. You will cover a fair bit of it, know some interesting clinical presentations, and be able to explain to your friends back home what “fight or flight” is all about. And isn’t that the goal? To sound impressive?

This course has changed a bit since I took it. Instead of having every student slave away in the lab cleaning fat for a grade, the department now pro-sects (a professional dissection) every structure of interest and then takes you through ID, relationships to neighboring structures, and pop quiz. I think you get to dissect the first day on a space that’s impossible to screw up too bad: the superficial back. Of course this didn’t stop me from cutting all the way to the ribs on that day. And yes, an announcement was made to the class that I was an idiot.

If you’ve taken the course already and want to freshen up or are taking it for the first time and want a heads up, this site is great. It shows the dissection of the entire human body in easy-to-download quicktime movies. Another great website is the University of Michigan site. Several classes have lived and died by their practice quizzes. Get a wrong answer: it tells you why you’re wrong. Most students click all the wrong answers anyway just to see what they might be missing. And for those of you with the free time to dream of overachieving, they have surgical videos as well.

Now for the books. The school gives you the combined oil paintings of Frank H. Netter, may he rest in peace, and the “Baby Moore” Clinical Anatomy book (make sure you read the Blue Boxes). For a book with a more gross approach to anatomy, the Color Atlas of Anatomy by Rohen is pretty clutch. Some students go so far as to buy Clemente’s but between you and me: that’s overkill. For those out there who like coloring books, they have those too.

The school produces their own Anatomy manual in binder format and all of the lectures are online as PowerPoints. Review at your leisure.

Strategy for covering all of this material? Who knows. The first week or two of classes is light, giving you every opportunity to study like an idiot and learn everything incorrectly. It happens, don’t sweat it. Instead, learn about the different ways to study and make a trip to the Department of Educational Services (DES) office and have a chat with them. I did both; both helped. Another thing you’ll probably due is attend too many DES sessions (tutored by students that are 4 months ahead of you), artificially boosting the confidence of said tutors until you cut back and find your rhythm. Best advice I received was 1) draw everything and 2) study with people smarter than you.

It’s going to be the first hard class of medical school, you will get through it, and look at it this way: by the final you will be able to write out all 208 bones of the human body on a table napkin and not bat an eyelash, and that’s what medical school is all about.