Comments on: Life at Princess Margaret Hospital

By: MR. GRANTI GRANT

MR. GRANTI GRANT — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 15:13:31 +0000

I think it’s about time that all of you with your negative comment shut up leave Dominica and dominicans alone, get out of our country stay away and dont come back.
you are no help saying bad things about us, please clean up your front yard before you look at other peoples’ back yard, we were living before you came and we will keep on living after you are gone
STAY IN YOUR COUNTRY WHERE BUMBS, GUNS AND KNIFE is the talk of the day and we will stay in ours where WATERFALLS, RIVERS,MOUNTAINS,RAINFALL, FRESH AIR, HUNGRYLESS PEOPLE SMILING FACES it the order of the day

By: Alex

Alex — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 01:14:36 +0000

I am applying for a teaching position at Ross University. This blog is helpful.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 14:36:23 +0000

There are a lot of negative comments about Dominicans. They are lazy, no ambition, the country is dirty and so much more. I think you can find all bad example listed above in the US, Canada and also England. If its so bad why stay? There are good and bad in all places in the world. And as for the picture of the Hospital I think its very rude.
This is for the Island Med student: Is that the main pic u could put up? Its the worst part of the hospital showing how dirty and untidy the place is. Your trying to sound soooo positive and innocent but in truth your trying to bring us down. Dont act like Americans are so friendly,rich and educated. For the amount of Universities and colleges in the states you still have a vast amount of people not going to school. You don’t expect everyone to become Doctors and lawyers. Every country has its own share of un-ambitious people.
Please don’t come to one man’s country and criticize. And also for the CURRENT ROSS STUDENT…..define what is poor and rich for me?????….because its looks like ur RICH in many aspects. I guess in your country you can’t find any KFC wrappings, graffiti, and other miscellaneous trash.

By: Dominican

Dominican — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 00:52:58 +0000

I am a proud Dominican and have read through most of the comments on this blog about my country. Like all other nations Dominica has its share of difficulties. You talk of filth take a look around most of the so called developed countries and know what filth is. I have seen mountains of garbage in some of the countries that some of my fellow Dominicans want to run to. Dominicans are not lazy and Dominica has come a long way since independence. Granted there can be some improvement in our roads among other things. But I do not think that ROSS is the sole revenue generator and that their leaving would cripple our country. Have a little respect for our country.

By: Bob Roys

Bob Roys — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 20:57:17 +0000

HI Kendra,
I recently had the pleasure of visiting Dominica (one day via cruise ship) and would love to spend more time on the island. I am a respiratory therapist and was wondering if PMH uses RTs? Do you know?
Thanks,
Bob

By: DC ross

DC ross — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 18:05:56 +0000

I’m a current Ross student. I am about to become a 4th semester student. I tutor, spend all of my available time studying and find it extremely rude when a Dominican calls ross students “quacks.” I have a great deal of faith in the resources that Ross provides for its students. It is entirely up to the student what sort of doctor they will become. Anyways, here are some things I have noticed about the island:
The beaches are roadsides are littered with KFC wrappings, graffiti, and other miscellaneous trash. Many Dominicans I have met are extremely unmotivated(lazy). Many of them are friendly. Many can be condescending. I have never seen so many people drinking at 10am in the morning. I am bombarded by drunks demanding money with a false sense of entitlement because i am in their country whenever I enter Roseau or Portsmouth. My schooling is paid for entirely by student loans. I do not receive any sort of aid from anyone. Dominicans who seem to be so proud of their country have very little interest in improving it. Cash flow from Ross to Dominica DOES comprise a majority of the GDP. That is a fact. Look it up.
On the plus side, the weather in Dominica is pleasant. The mountains are beautiful. I can pick guavas from nearby trees on study break. Food is cheap and unadulterated with pesticides. Again, many of the locals are extremely friendly. The island itself is very beautiful but that is probably the end of it. The people are not willing to do anything they aren’t immediately required to do. They are not industrious enough to improve their country quickly. If Ross were to leave, the Dominican government would be crippled. There would not be enough money to maintain roads, the hospitals, and sustain some businesses. For one of the poorest countries in the world, everyone is well fed because of the enormous amount of resources provided by the island and yet hardly anyone has the motivation to capitalize on it.

By: s

Sun, 05 Dec 2010 18:53:07 +0000

Hi Guys

I used to live in dominica and now live in the UK but am hoping to go back to dominica to get some clinical experience in the psychology / psychiatric field. – I am a recent psychology graduate.

Does anyone know whether I can get such experience at Ross in Portsmouth, or do I have to go to Princss Margaret on Roseau for this?

Please let me know asap, and if anyone has any contact details, please let me know

Many Thanks!

By: Greg

Greg — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 05:37:33 +0000

My wife and I had the priviledge of visiting Dominica last year. What a beautiful island. it is truly what one would imagine “paradise” is. However, I partially agree with the person who stated that the native Dominicans were destroying their island. The natives impressed me as unmotivated and quite frankly, lazy. Furthermore, they did not seem to take any pride in their property or commonplaces (parks, highways, beaches, etc..) In fact, the nicest places to visit were those where very little human involvement was necessary (ie. waterfalls, streams, etc..) to maintain. It was really sad driving down a coast that literally used old tires as barriers on the highway. The roads are horrible, rough and overly winding. There is litter and trash every where you look. However, I’ve never seen a more beautiful natural landscape in my life! Shame on you Dominicans! You can do better.

Ross medical students? lol! The previous repliers must have no idea what rich , priviledged US kids look and act like. Most Ross Med students are there for one reason. They could not get into a US medical school. However, they will do anything to become a physician. Hence, they are willing to pay inflated tuition and fees, and live on an island that is not being taken care of by its native. I suspect most cannot wait to come back to the US. This medical school is attractive because they offer student loans- while many other other “carribean” med schools do not. A very large number of students drop or fail out during or soon after their 1st term at Ross (Anatomy, Biochem, or Physio usually do them in). But, please don’t be fooled and think they or their parents are loaded. In my country (the US), if your parents are wealthy, you get anything you want. Admittance into a US medical school is at the bottom of the barrel. These kids wouldn’t even think about attending a med school like Ross. It’s beneath them! It’s my opinion that the med students at Ross appear to be “rude” because they are reacting to the ambivalent and somewhat condescending attitudes of many Dominicans toward them. I’m sure if the students at Ross actually had money and spent it on the island- the attitudes of the natives and even the students would be different (goto to Cayman, Jamiaica, Paradise Island Bahamas, and even neighboring St. Lucia and see what I mean). I’ve never seen rich white and poor black people get along so well! However, since the “white” people (med students who are very culturally and ethnically diverse) are not loaded- the black people (Dominicans) have nothing to gain from them (except for their tution dollars which goes to their government along with the ridiculous tariffs they charge)

In summation, Dominica is a beautiful island. Most natives are pleasant, but can be a bit condescending (British thing?). Roads, buildings, homes, yards, etc.. are substandard and quite frankly embarrasing for the natives. Food on the island is very good if you go to the right places (there are many- but even the natives are almost proud in saying there is no place to get lobster, shrimp, steak, etc..) YOU CAN GET LOBSTER, SHRIMP, STEAK, ETC… at several different places on the island. They are full of it. In fact, I had some of the best lobster in my life at a Dominican restaurant. I think they are just miserable and neagtive people who are looking for pity or something. Who knows? My suggestion to a native Dominican resident is to finish high school, take all of your pre-med classes, enroll in med school at Ross, graduate, pass your boards, do a residency in the US, come back to Domininca, practice medicine and/or take a job at Ross teaching, so that the lazy natives can throw stones at you now for trying to be and actually becoming successful.

By: Julie

Julie — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 21:35:10 +0000

Dominica Rocks!!! Regardless of what a few people might say. Last year I only planned to visit just one last time to allow my American family to see where I came from. But when I got there I did not want to go back and decided to buy property there. We all love this country regardless of all the politics and ups and downs. Dominicans are the most freindly people I’ve gotten in contact with for a long time, and has the lowest crime rate in the world. We appreciate your kindness and love for the people of Dominica. God bless for all your hard work….

By: Tranquil

Tranquil — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:25:45 +0000

Hi Kendra,

Where Are You Today?

A friend introduced me to another blog of which you were mentioned which brought me here. I am dominican by birth…lived in the UK for about twelve years and have adapted to certain standard of healthcare and having read your blog I must agree with much of what you had to say about the country. Some of the comments I don’t agree with seeing that those commentators don’t really want the world to see that Dominica as beautiful as it seems to the outsider being a part of it is much harder. Being a Dominican when I returned in 2007 I made effort to be a part of the Nursing System here and was rejected as well. It is heart breaking that so many of our nurses can migrate to other countries and get employed and others even those born here are rejected. Keep Doing what you do to draw attention of the negativity that goes on here in My country. Those in authority are not very helpful in breaching that negative gap.