St. George's University

THIS IS RATED ONE OF THE TOP 5 MEDICAL UNIVERSITIES IN THE WORLD

St. George’s University was founded as an independent School of Medicine in 1976, St. George’s University opened its doors to students..

beginning in January 1977. It has evolved into a top center of international education, drawing students and faculty from 140 countries to the Caribbean island of Grenada, in the West Indies. Students attending SGU enjoy the benefits of a thriving multicultural environment on the True Blue campus, offering all the amenities and technologically advanced facilities of a world-class institution.

The University’s more than 17,000 graduates include physicians, veterinarians, scientists, and public health and business professionals across the world. The University offers medical and veterinary medical degrees in the Schools of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, and independent and dual graduate degrees in the sciences, public health, and business. Undergraduate degree programs are also available through its School of Arts and Sciences, and students may build on their education by pursuing a degree in the School of Graduate Studies. The University programs are accredited and approved by many governing authorities, and SGU is affiliated with educational institutions worldwide, including in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Ireland.

Why is St, George’s the Caribbean Leader?

FIRST private medical school in the Caribbean.

• Established in 1976
• First Entering Class: January of 1977
• First Affiliation between NY Hospital and Private International Medical School for conducting clinical training.
• First Graduating Class: May 1981

Recognized International Leader in US Licensing Examinations over the University’s lifetime.

• 2015: St. George’s University’s US and Canadian Students achieved a 97% first-time pass rate on the USMLE I, surpassing students from US and Canadian Schools 6 years in a row. (http://www.usmle.org/performance-data)
• 2012: USMLE Step 1 First-Time Test Takers Achieve 97% Pass Rate St. George’s University students who took the USMLE 1 for the first time in 2012 achieved a 97 percent pass rate, marking the fourth consecutive year that SGU’s overall first-time pass rate on the examination surpassed 90 percent. These students have come to SGU from 37 countries, with Canadian students achieving an impressive 100 percent pass rate.
• 2011: Top Performance on USMLE Board Exams St. George’s University students who took the USMLE 1 for the first time in 2011 achieved a 95% pass rate. The first-time taker pass rate posted on the USMLE website for students at US and Canadian schools for this same period is 94%. SGU’s US and Canadian students who took this examination for the first time in 2011 achieved a 96% pass rate.
• 2008: 15-year Leader in Caribbean USMLE Step 1 and USMLE Step II/CK first-time pass rate. An article in Academic Medicine cited Grenada (SGU is the only medical school in Grenada) as the 15-year leader in USMLE Part 1 and 2 first-time pass rates. This article puts Grenada 14.7% ahead of the closest country, Dominica. (Academic Medicine, Vol 83, No. 10/October 2008 Supplement).
• 1985: Leader in ECFMG examination results. An article in the Journal of the American Medical Association cited St. George’s University as having the highest initial pass rate on the ECFMG examination of any non-US medical school with a significant number of US medical students (100+ over the studied period of 1969–1982).

Recognition And Accreditation: A World Of Firsts

• 2016: SGU re-designated at the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on Environmental and Occupational Health.
• 2015: SGU MPH program is re-accredited by CEPH for a full seven-year period into 2022. SGU MPH program remains the only CEPH-accredited program in the English-speaking Caribbean and one of six programs outside the United States.
• 2013: SGU/WINDREF approved as the first and only United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Regional Collaborating Center in the English-speaking Caribbean to focus on mitigating the effects of climate change in small island states
• 2013: SGU was selected to host the Gamma Kappa Chapter of the Delta Omega Honors Society, the oldest professional public health society in the world and the first for the Caribbean region.
• 2012: SGU was selected to serve as the first and only World Health Organization Collaborating Center (WHO CC) for the English-speaking Caribbean in the area of Environmental and Occupational Health.
• 2010: FIRST Caribbean school to earn accreditation for its Master of Public Health Degree by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH).
• 2009 FIRST private medical school to be accredited by The Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and Other Health Professions (CAAM-HP)
• 2007: FIRST existing private medical school to receive provisional accreditation by the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM-HP).
• 1987: FIRST private medical school in the Caribbean to be approved by the New York Education Department to place long-term clinical clerks in New York hospitals. This approval was a full decade before any other private medical school in the Caribbean was approved.
• 1984: FIRST private medical school in the Caribbean to be approved by the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners to place long-term clinical clerks in New Jersey hospitals.

Accreditations And Approvals

The Doctor of Medicine (MD) program at St. George’s University School of Medicine has been accredited and/or approved by many external bodies.

• Accredited by the Government of Grenada
• Accredited by the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and Other Health Professions (CAAM-HP), which is recognized by the General Medical Council (GMC) in the UK and by the World Federation for Medical Education/Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (WFME/FAIMER). After 2023, the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) will issue an ECFMG certification only for degrees obtained from a medical school with an accreditation recognized by the WFME.
• In March 2015, St. George’s University School of Medicine’s MD program was approved by the New York State Education Department for long-term clinical clerkships in New York for seven years, subject to standard reporting requirements.
• Approved by the New Jersey State Board of Medical Examiners to conduct clinical clerkship programs at SGU-affiliated New Jersey teaching hospitals and an alternatively accredited medical school by the Advisory Graduate Medical Education Council of New Jersey (AGMEC) within the New Jersey Commission of Higher Education
• Approved by the Georgia Composite Medical Board for clinical clerkships
• Included on the list of medical schools recognized by the Medical Board of California
• Licensed by the Florida Commission on Independent Education
• The National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation (of the US Department of Education), to confer student loans, has deemed Grenada’s accreditation standards to be comparable to those utilized by the United States.

St. George’s University graduates have also gained registration with medical licensing authorities in the following countries:

US Department of Education

In 1996, the US Department of Education reviewed the standards of medical education in 30 countries to confer student loans. Grenada was one of four countries approved during the initial review: the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada were the other three. Other countries have subsequently been approved.

World Health Organization

St. George’s University School of Medicine is listed with the World Health Organization.

The School of Veterinary Medicine

• The Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program has been granted Full Accreditation by the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Education (AVMA COE).
• The Government of Grenada continued the accreditation of St. George’s University School of Veterinary Medicine in February 2010. The School of Veterinary Medicine is fully authorized by the government of Grenada to confer the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree upon those candidates who complete its academic requirements.
• In October 2016, the St. George’s University Small Animal Clinic (SAC) was accredited by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), one of only two institutions outside the US and Canada with the distinction.
  Broad-based training programs offer exposure to the art of veterinary medicine that was specially designed for its international student body. Each student determines the individual government entry requirements in the country or state where they intend to practice.

The History Of St. George’s University

A handful of dreamers set out to change the status quo in medical education in the 1970s and founded an international University that has educated more than 17,000 people worldwide…and impacted the world by the many thousands more who have benefitted from their knowledge and care. Their vision of what international education should be attracted progressive education leaders with prestigious credentials to shape the future of the young school. The result of their shared dream was St. George’s University.

The Beginning

It began on July 23, 1976, when Charles Modica, Louis Modica, Edward McGowan, and Patrick F. Adams witnessed the birth of their dream through an act of Grenada’s Parliament, establishing St. George’s University School of Medicine. It opened its doors in January 1977, welcoming a modest group of students to Grand Anse as part of its charter class. They were the first of many, the University has produced over 14,000 physicians who have gone on to practice in all 50 US states and more than 50 countries worldwide.

Medical School

What was an opportunity for the charter class has developed into an opportunity for many. The Doctor of Medicine program at St. George’s University School of Medicine has been accredited and approved by many external bodies, such as the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and other Health Professions (CAAM-HP), the Government of Grenada, and medical boards throughout the United States. SGU students now have access to clinical training opportunities at over 70 affiliated hospitals and clinical centers in the United States, Canada, Grenada, and the United Kingdom, and annually secure highly competitive US-based residencies, with SGU serving as the number one provider of doctors into first-year positions in the US over the last six years combined, including more than 870 in 2016 alone.

Growth in Research and International Presence

St. George’s University expanded its medical program even further in 2005, this time overseas, establishing the Keith B. Taylor Global Scholars Program, which allows School of Medicine students to spend their first year of basic sciences at Northumbria University in Newcastle, United Kingdom. With it, these students obtain unprecedented international experience in medicine, gaining exposure to models of medicine in three different countries by the time they graduate.
In addition to basic science training, students have been able to carry out short- and long-term, multidisciplinary research and education programs with the Windward Islands Research and Education Foundation (WINDREF), which the University established in True Blue in 1994.

Medicine and Beyond

Beyond medicine, SGU has created a wide range of programs for students of all interests. In 1996, the newly founded School of Arts and Sciences welcomed its first student class, and in 1999, the University established the School of Veterinary Medicine, which is now accredited by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and owns clinical affiliations with 29 US veterinary medical schools. Since then, more than 1,200 SGU veterinarians have entered the workforce. Also in 1999, the Master of Public Health program was launched. It has since gained accreditation from the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH), and the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine has been distinguished as a World Health Organization Collaborating Center (WHO CC) for Environmental and Occupational Health, the first of its kind in the Caribbean. SGU has also created a School of Graduate Studies, which offers more than 30 distinct programs across a wide variety of professional fields.
In 2014, St. George’s University received an equity investment from a group led by Canadian investor Altas Partners and a fund advised by Baring Private Equity Asia, to assist the University with its efforts to forge ahead with a new chapter of its development. In 2015, Dr. G. Richard Olds was appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer to help lead this change.

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