Puerto Rico school feedback?

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Anyone out there have info on the school in Arecibo, PR? It is a 24 month program that begins in August.

I'd love to hear anything, thanks.

zzzzzgirl

Specializes in Emergency.

I'm not Jeb (obviously) but I am also a student at La Inter Metro. I'll see if I can pass on some information. So your first question was about a quality education. This is not a quality education. Some of the teachers are good, and some are very bad. If a student would only do their assigned work and not study outside of that scope for the NCLEX they would almost certainly not pass. As for the language barrier, it can be present at times but one of the most difficult things I have found is teachers with very thick accents and students in the program who barely speak english so they ask questions in spanish and the professors answer them in spanish. Its not really a great situation for the "all english" program. That said, we are working on the teachers to get them to require people to ask questions in english. It's an uphill battle because most of them are more comfortable with spanish as well. Also there are many other students who are bilingual and will help the teachers if there is something they are having trouble expressing in english. Yes, help the teachers.

Labs...well, so far the only labs I have seen are the practical labs which are to basically prepare you for your rotation in the hospital. The labs are very sporifice and outdated (except for the flatscreen tv's). On the other hand though, they do get the students in the accelerated program into the hospital extremely fast. In my opinion this is one of the huge redeeming factors for the school. I am in aprox. my 5th week at the school and I will be starting in the hospital in 4 days. My practical teacher has a VERY thick accent, but she is extremely knowledgable and has gone above and beyond to make sure that we get a great education where our time in the hospital is concerned. As for things like microbiology or chemistry labs...they pretty much don't exist as far as the nursing program is concerned.

As for the application process, I used a friend who spoke Spanish, and a lot of google translate. The link you want is #5 Transfer student. You will not need to use any spanish when in class and the offices always have someone there who speaks english, even if they do it reluctantly.

If you are a motivated student and don't just coast through your classes, (which is not hard to do here), you will get what you came for. . .a piece of paper that says you can sit for the NCLEX. If you are the type of student who needs a school to hold your hand a guide your studying completely, Interamerican is probably not a good school for you. Even though prerequisits are not required, you will be much better prepared for NCLEX and nursing in general if you take some of the required courses from other schools. Read your textbooks and study NCLEX prep because at Interamerican you get what you pay for...if you're lucky.

For some students it is a great opportunity to get into Nursing School quickly and get their license with a BS and for others it could be a nightmare. You just have to decide what kind of school you are really looking for. I hope that I didn't discourage you, but I am just trying to give a realistic picture of what you would be getting with an education here. I am in the program and will stay through to the end.

Cahoon is totally spot on in his/her response! It is all about the piece of paper that lets you sit for the NCLEX. Back home, they have ridiculous waiting lists and a year or 2 worth of prereqs, or if they don't they charge 30k in tuition a year. Here, it is EXTREMELY basic, but tuition is dirt cheap, there is no waiting list and they basically take anyone with a 2.25 gpa or above...and at the end you are guaranteed a high gpa and maybe you'll be able to speak spanish, both of which will help when you apply for jobs.

Oh, yes, I'm in the Interamericana Metro English Trimester program.

Cahoon- Are you in any of J's classes? I have her for 3 of my 4 classes and D, the terrible pharmacology professor in my 4th...

Oh, and if you have a bacherlors degree they automatically put you in the 2 year accelerated program, if not you go in the 3 year program (1 years worth of prereqs)

Specializes in Emergency.

Yes, I have "J" for 2 classes and the deer in headlights known as Dr. "D". I thought she might cry on Thursday night. It was kind of sad. Also sad that students would rather get an A than actually learn something. IMHO I say to them, good luck passing the NCLEX with no Pharm background.

Does anyone have any experience with the child care center there? Also, what are the times/frequency of the classes? I heard there are Saturday classes as well? I checked with UMET, and they definitely seem more professional but the general ed classes there are only in Spanish. So the only option would be to try to take the gen ed courses at Interamerican University and then transfer to UMET.

The english trimester classes are in the evenings, usually anywhere from 5-10pm M-F, however clinicals are offered on Saturdays, since there's more to do/observe on a Saturday morning than a Monday evening. Since I don't have any kids (that I know of), I couldn't tell you about the child care places.

Ya, I think D is a total 1st time teacher and needs to learn how to crack the whip a bit! She just sits up there, and speaking softly, tries to get class going, but that won't work in Puerto Rico. Some of the students are super ticked off at her for teaching a mickey mouse course, but its really too late to change anything, considering we have 4-5 weeks left.... I just plan on doing some studying on my own once I get the book (you don't really need the book for her class). Good luck on J's Thurs exam, I don't have internet at home so just got the memo, plus with my presentation in J's Tues class, it'll be awhile before I get around to it!

Jeb and Cahoon, thanks for the insight. It does worry me a little what you said but I guess, i should have expected it.... I got my bachelors in June of 2008 and since then have been trying to get my prerequisities for nursing. but of course, I can't seem to get into Microbiology for some reason. I've tried 3 different community colleges and universities but its always full. I'm taking classes at one of the community colleges just so that I can get more units to try and get priority registration...but...like i said...its been 2 years and I kant get the last class that i need. I already have Anatomy and Physiology and already got some of the other courses that certain schools require so reallythat damn Micro class!. I'm not old, only at 24 years, but considering that i feel like i've been wasting the past 2 years trying to get my prereqs done is ridiculous. Afterall, i'm not getting any younger. Thats my whole interest in going to Inter....the fact that there's not waiting list and their accelerated program; and the price is cheap (liek you said Jeb) and well, thats a huge PLUS! I was looking into going to a trade school here in Cali considering that you dont need the prereqs and it was a 3 year program but the tuition for the three years is 126,000!! Yes, i said it, 126 THOUSAND! A 6 digit number for a BSN??? Really??? how ridiculous is that!!!! So, that school is out of the picture! Heck, if i'm going to pay 126K then I would go get my MD or become a lawyer or something. ugh, anyways. Do you guys all study together considering that you dont learn much from the teachers themselves??? I'm not saying that I'm a stupid person or anything, but I will admit that often times I need assistance grasping the material and hopefully i would be able to turn to my peers for assistance since I couldnt go to the teacher. Do many of you guys feel you're lost so you all help one another???? Since you guys are students at Inter, have you come across anyone from UMET????? Do they give you the same feedback about their school that you guys talk about, about Inter??? I'm hoping to visit Puerto Rico in the coming months and hopefully you all will be able to provide me with more information as you journey through your way at Inter. :)

Also, considering its a trimester school, when does it start??? Does the program only start in August or do they have other start dates in different months?

Thanks a lot guys for the feedback, and hope to hear from you soon. :clown:

-Stephanie aka Pearlgirl52508

The accelerated program (people w/ BA) starts once a year in September, I don't know about the regular program (people w/o a BA), I believe that one you can start any trimester.

In Puerto Rico the public schools are super cheap and very good/selective (roughly 40 a credit) and require prerequisites, the private schools on the other hand will take anyone as long as their check clears! So the programs at private schools are not as good. I've heard Umet has better facilities and organization than Inter, but it also has prereqs and I'm not sure if they have an english program.

So yeah, if you've got a bachelors you can be done in 2 years with a really high gpa, without taking too much out in loans (I think its supposed to be 7-8k a year in tuition and fees). Just expect to do some studying on your own and enjoy the beaches!

PearlGirl, UMET'S program is bilingual. They offer only the nursing classes in English, but the director of the nursing program said she is working on adding more English general ed classes. I think she said the anatomy is in English, but that is the only general ed class currently taught in English. Besides anatomy, I'm missing microbiology, chemistry and the history of Puerto Rico. I got a better feeling from UMET but that's only based on the fact that I got responses to all of my emails and phone calls. I even got a letter acknowledging receipt of my online application!! It was in Spanish but I got the gist of what it said!

Do you happen to know how long the program is at UMET? is it 2 years or more??

By the way to anyone still following this thread la Inter had awesome news yesterday. The BSN program has been reaccredited for another 8 years. The ADN at Interamericana has been reaccredited for another 5 years.

So everyone that was worried about the reaccreditation issue no longer has to worry. Yipee, I am so happy.

I have not been on this in a long time but I remember someone from UMET stating that Interamericana does not actually teach Anatomy and Physiology. That is not true. Next trimester, those of us in the accelerated program will be taking Adult Care I. It is a 6 unit class and meets 2 times per week for 4 hours each time. There are two professors and they are ******* and *****. ******* teaches the adult care one night a week and Dr ******* teaches the Anatomy the other 4 hours. I have heard really good things from the second year students about both professors.

Also, the Interamericana program is 100% in English. There are plenty of us that have never studied a word of Spanish in our lives. It is truely 100% English. The only time you hear Spanish is after class is dismissed when the Puerto Ricans in the the English program ask the professor questions in Spanish. Keep in mind these students are asking questions that pertain to themselves and class has been dismissed.

Hey World, I have a question regarding Interamericana...how long is the accelerated program??? Is it 4 years? Do you think you are getting a quality education or do you think the teachers lack?

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