History

Long ago, establishing a world-renowned medical education institution in Grenada seemed like an impossible dream. Yet, on July 23, 1976, Charles Modica, Louis Modica, Edward McGowan, and Patrick F. Adams witnessed the birth of that very dream through an act of Grenada’s Parliament establishing St. George’s University School of Medicine. With a handful of students and faculty, classes at St. George’s School of Medicine began on January 17, 1977. The dream became reality.

Now, with nearly 11,000 graduates practicing medicine across the world, a campus that includes professors and students from over 140 different countries and a clinical training program involving over 60 hospitals in the US and the UK, St. George’s University has earned a worldwide reputation as a leading international center for medical education and a beacon of academic excellence. For over 30 years now, the University’s dedication to developing outstanding doctors has improved health standards and healthcare delivery systems throughout the world. The School of Medicine has contributed to the education of over 11,000 doctors worldwide.  SGU's reputation for academic excellence and innovative approach to medical training continues to attract students from across the world and distinguished faculty from the most prestigious medical institutions. There are currently over 2000 SGU faculty members in all, with more than 400 based on the True Blue campus in Grenada, and nearly 1200 clinical faculty members including more than 300 based in the UK.

Roots of Academic Excellence

Among the faculty first recruited to the University was C.V. Rao, PhD, who joined as part of the anatomy teaching staff and has been with St. George’s University ever since, and David Brown, PhD, MD, who was the first person to accept a faculty position with the new institution. In addition to his academic duties, Dr. Rao serves as Dean of Students and heads up wide-ranging support services. Dr. Brown is now Chair of Behavioral Sciences.

Other firsts for the University include Paul Cutler, MD, the first Dean of the University, Stephen M. Ayres, MD, the first Dean of the School of Medicine, and Stephen Weitzman, MD, the first Dean of Clinical Studies.

Geoffrey Bourne, MD, came to SGU from Yerkes Primate Center, Emory University, to serve as SGU’s first Vice Chancellor. Morris Alpert, MD, former professor of anatomy and clinical associate professor of surgery at Albany Medical School, joined the University to build the first part of students’ clinical training in St. Vincent.

Almost all of the founding faculty members had been educated either in the United States, Canada, Europe, many Commonwealth countries, and their broad range of experience has led to the creation of an innovative curriculum that would combine the best of the American and British medical traditions. Keith B. Taylor, FCRP, DM, retired professor of medicine at Stanford University, succeeded Dr. Bourne as Vice Chancellor. In the process, the Oxford-trained Vice Chancellor built a strong faculty, recruited from numerous countries, shaped graduate and undergraduate programs aimed at attracting students from developing nations, worked closely with the government of Grenada to ensure mutual cooperation, and oversaw the expansion of the True Blue campus. Dr. Taylor’s tenure was followed by the appointment of Peter G. Bourne, MA, MD, as Vice Chancellor of the University on July 1, 1998, following in his father’s footsteps. Dr. Bourne continued the legacy of his predecessor, with the campus expansion and continuing further growth of the undergraduate and research programs.

Largely because of its commitment to basic science teaching and faculty development, the University soon attracted distinguished visiting professors from some of the world’s most prestigious institutions, including Harvard University, McGill University, Cornell University, Columbia University, Rockefeller Institute, London School of Tropical Health and many more. Many of these scholars eventually joined the University on a permanent basis and worked, with the administration, to create new programs beyond medicine, such as joint degrees in public health and science. These new advances were instrumental to the University's growth and helped set new standards for medical education in the region. Naturally, St. George’s growing reputation attracted a new breed of international medical students. Just as the Founders anticipated their vision of the School, the students were committed to the life-long study and practice of medicine as well as the transformational power of medicine in improving existing healthcare delivery systems around the world.

Early Challenges

For the Founders and the first students, the road towards success was not guaranteed. Indeed, they encountered some early obstacles and challenges.

The University endured in the face of Grenada’s infamous political event. As student enrollment in Grenada reached 630, a Marxist coup forcibly overturned the Gairy government in 1979. The new administration, commonly known as the “Revo,” and the University, needed each other.

By October 1983, the “Revo” had unraveled. Hard-line doctrinaire Marxists, led by Bernard Coard, staged an uprising at Fort George on October 19, assassinating Prime Minister Bishop and his ministers and massacring Grenadians who had come to free Bishop.

This unsettling development stirred the Caribbean and Washington. Including students, faculty, families and others, there were nearly 1,000 Americans on the island.

On October 25, at 5:00 am, “Operation Urgent Fury” began and suddenly, 6,000 US troops were in Grenada. Within days, the students were flown to safety and classes were temporarily suspended. No students were hurt but 19 American servicemen died in the assault. Unwittingly, St. George's University School of Medicine became a household name.

Within two weeks, temporary classes resumed at the Brooklyn campus of Long Island University and the Rutgers Medical School in Piscataway, and St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, both in New Jersey. Another campus was soon established in Barbados, West Indies. The Grenada campus re-opened on January 10, 1984.

By 1987, St. George's University obtained approval to conduct medical training in New York and New Jersey, making the University the first non-US medical school to gain approval in both states. The British Medical Council granted the School limited recognition in 1988, an act that opened doors to wide acceptance in the British Commonwealth countries, and broadened SGU's appeal as a leading institution for medical education and training.

International Medical Education

The School of Medicine currently has nine basic science departments: Anatomical Sciences, Behavioral Sciences, Biochemistry, Bioethics, Pathology, Microbiology, Pathophysiology and Pharmacology, Physiology and Neuroscience, and Clinical Skills and seven clinical departments: Internal Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Psychiatry. Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine and General Practice and Pediatrics.  The University’s commitment to research has resulted in an alliance with the Windward Islands Research and Education Foundation (WINDREF), an independent research institute located on the Grenada True Blue Campus and the recently established Medical Student Research Institute...

Medical students matriculate in the School of Medicine twice per year, in August and January. Students can take the first year of the MD program either in Grenada or in Northumbria, UK.  The second year is taught on the True Blue Campus in Grenada. Dynamic Medical Selectives in Kenya, India, and Thailand are available to qualifying students, and further expose medical students to new health care delivery systems, extending their global perspective to traditional and alternative medicine. The last two years of the four-year program are conducted in over 60 affiliated hospitals and clinical centers across the United States and the United Kingdom.

As a result of the University’s innovative curriculum, strict focus on teaching, close professorial support and broad range of student services, the dedicated students and graduates of St. George’s University have developed a reputation for scholastic and professional excellence at every level. One key measurement of success has been the University’s performance on the US licensing examinations (USMLEs), which has been consistent throughout. Today’s graduates typically score on parity with US students on the USMLE Step 1 Exam scores, occasionally even surpassing them.  In 2010, SGU’s US and Canadian medical students surpassed medical school students in the US and Canada with a 94% first time pass rate on the United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1. In fact, overall, SGU first time USMLE takers – students who were from 49 different countries – equaled the first time pass rate of 92% in the US and Canada for 2010. 

Indeed, the quality of St. George’s University students has led Professor J.G. Nicholls from the International School for Advanced Studies in Switzerland to say, “I have not found students of medicine with this high degree of openness, enthusiasm and high critical ability at Oxford, Yale, Harvard, Stanford or Basel.”

A central part of the St. George’s University experience is the commitment to student support services and individual academic development. The University supports over 50 student clubs on campus and offers a wide-range of extra-curricular selectives which can take students all over the world. The Dean of Students and the Department of Educational Services (DES) augment the close relationship between professor and student. Centered in the School of Medicine, the DES is open to all students and provides a variety of academic support services, including seminars in study skills, time management, test taking; tutorials and the Specialized English Language Programs (SELP) geared toward the study of medicine. DES works closely with the Dean of Students to ensure that each student succeeds.

New Programs and Schools

While the SGU School of Medicine symbolizes the quintessential St. George’s University experience, the commitment to academic excellence led to new developments in other educational fields. In 1993, the University expanded its offerings in healthcare education by instituting graduate and undergraduate programs, and in 1996, it was granted a charter for the SGU School of Arts and Sciences and the SGU Graduate Studies Program.

There was an immediate and overwhelming response from the Grenadian people, as well as people in the region who were anxious to take advantage of this opportunity for tertiary education. The School began offering night courses in the Fall of 1996, and baccalaureate degree programs in January 1997. There are currently programs offered in international business, accounting, economics/finance, marketing, tourism and hospitality management, management, life sciences, marine biology, liberal studies, management information systems, and information technology.

Reflecting on the dynamic growth and broad range of academic offerings, Dr. The Honorable Keith Mitchell, former Prime Minister of Grenada, noted that with each passing year, St. George's University becomes more involved at the community level, as well as providing new learning opportunities for our young people. This is because the University recognizes the needs of a developing country.

The SGU School of Veterinary Medicine, which was established in 1999, signals the University's evolution as an international institution and reaffirms its commitment to offering a broad range of opportunities in the medical field. Veterinary Anatomy, Histology, Embryology, Physiology, Parasitology, Virology, Pharmacology, Large Animal Medicine, Ethics/Jurisprudence, Small Animal Surgery Pathology and Immunology are just some of the courses available to students.

That same year, SGU’s Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine began its initiative to become a center of excellence for public health teaching, research, community advancement and service both locally and in the region.  Since its inception in 1999, it has been committed to improving the health and well being of populations, communities, and individuals throughout the world.

Another academic milestone in the University's history was the establishment of the research institute leased to the Windward Islands Research and Education Foundation (WINDREF). In 1993, the University began an MD/MSc program wherein students work on investigative projects, write a thesis and are awarded an MSc degree while studying for their MD degree. At WINDREF, research work has included epidemiology, anthropology, virology, conservation ecology, marine biology, and in particular, public health issues that affect Grenada and the surrounding region.

In 2010 St. George’s University launched two new online MBA programs.  The MBA-in Mutli-Sector Health Management and the MBA in International Business are the first degrees created and offered exclusively online by the University, with two one-week residencies in Grenada.

Most recently, The Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) announced its accreditation of the St. George’s University’s Master of Public Health program, making the University only the fifth non-US institution approved holding this distinction.  St. George’s University’s Public Health Program is offered within its schools of medicine and veterinary medicine. Students may earn independent MPH degrees or joint degrees, such as the MD/MPH and the DVM/MPH.
 

Breathtaking New Campus

Central to the University's evolution over the years has been the major architectural development of its main campus, which covers the True Blue peninsula in the southwestern corner of Grenada overlooking the Caribbean Sea.

A quick glance at this majestic campus city and its pastel-tinted neo-Georgian buildings reveals nothing of its humble beginnings. The first class actually studied in a convention center leased by the government to St. George's University. This facility could not accommodate all of the students, so some of them moved to Grand Anse, which became the second campus.

Back on Grenada, the University launched a $45m building project that would ultimately create the impressive new True Blue campus. The last decade alone has seen the construction of over 70 new buildings, including a state-of-the-art library, anatomy labs, dormitories, a student center, lecture halls, a research institute and administrative centers, making the new True Blue campus an international symbol of architectural and academic excellence.

A Partner in the Community

As one of the leading education centers in the Caribbean, St. George's University has been an active and vital member of the community. The research programs of St. George’s on-campus affiliate, the Windward Islands Research and Education Foundation (WINDREF), have improved personal and public health as well as areas of the economy, in Grenada and the Caribbean. The University contributes $225,000 (USD) for hospital equipment and general welfare each year and provides salary supports for its educational programs at the hospital.

The University employs over 600 Grenadians, with that number increasing as new professionals are brought on staff for the School of Arts and Sciences. Many University students in Grenada rent off-campus housing, thereby contributing to the local economy.

The University outperforms the public utilities and the hotel sectors as the single largest source of hard currency on the Island and one of the bigger employers. Its building program has also generated much employment within the local economy.

The University has sponsored and underwritten numerous programs in the social services arena, including charities such as Orphans and Elderly Fund, Bel Air Home for Abused Kids and the Grenada Heart Foundation, which has facilitated heart surgeries free of charge for over 200 children and adults in Grenada. The students organize health fairs around the Island every semester, helping to identify health problems for hundreds of Grenadians, and the annual reception for Orphans and Elderly Fund continues to raise money and awareness for the cause.

Above all, St. George's University continues to play an important role in producing outstanding doctors, striving to improve healthcare systems regionally and globally, and promoting the highest goals of the medical profession. Indeed, one of the conditions of the original charter was a requirement that St. George's University provide five annual tuition-free scholarships to qualified Grenadians. To date, the University has awarded over 100 scholarships to citizens of Grenada and St. Vincent, enabling them to achieve the dream of becoming a doctor, and work for the government, at clinics, in private practice, as clinical tutors for the University at the general hospital, and in the medical program. As of June 2009, over 700 Caribbean citizens have received degrees from St. George’s University.  Nearly 400 are physicians, and 70 are regional public health practitioners

Now celebrating 33 years of academic excellence in the field of medical education, St. George's University is also re-affirming its commitment to and service for society in general. What began as a mere dream has been realized as a powerful agent for human betterment and empowerment.

St. George's University School of Medicine is listed with the World Health Organization and is approved by the Government of Grenada to confer the Doctor of Medicine, the Baccalaureate, and the MSc degrees.

In the United States, the state governments of New York, New Jersey and California have approved the SGU School of Medicine program allow for clinical training of St. George's University students in teaching hospitals within those states.