University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences - Miami, FL — Attraction in Coral Gables

My perspective towards anyone OR anything in this review will be based on my personal opinions and not stated as fact.

The GOOD: “Few good ones”: This program is littered with a revolving door of brand new professors. During my time there, there must of been more than half of my instructors being new graduates who have not taught before. However, there were a few professors who stood out as exceptional instructors. Dr. K. Llaca is a consummate professional and phenomenal instructor. Dr. Llaca will remind you of the no non-sense approach to teaching and genuinely cares about his students understanding the material. He is not the kind of professor that is looking to be “friends” with everyone and does his job. Dr. Llaca was a stoic, but friendly professor.

Dr. S. Brim is another rare professor who seems to care about his students. Like, Dr. Llaca, Dr. Brim, seems to genuinely care about his students learning and their well being. Dr. Brim also provided a safe space to talk to him about any personal barriers. He is big on communication and punctuality when it comes to class time.

Dr. V. Grijalba is another one of the rare professors at this institution who is knowledgeable and provided a safe space to bounce ideas off of for assignments. I feel she had a tremendous presence, but did not get to show her instructional prowess based on her being an assistant to the main instructors.

Dr. S. Khan is the final good one. Dr. Khan was the final professor in my final trimester. She carried herself professionally, was always prepared, and was as reliable source of information for me.

Campus cleanliness and non-instructional staff: The facility was small but very clean. Security staff were a king bunch.

The BAD: “The mostly bad ones”: As I mentioned before, the new/inexperienced instructor carousel at this university was frustrating. You either ran into a new professor who read from a powerpoint all day and/or did not have interpersonal skills to build the authentic rapport that students would need to buy into a professor in the classroom. I might have just described Dr. C. Cox. While she was an instructor who was well informed, I could not get over her condescending energy. She is the pompous type to needlessly “correct” your English in social settings. Not a very inviting individual at all. I never felt comfortable engaging in conversation with her about anything. The only thing I enjoyed about her class was the raw information I would get from her surgical teaching curriculum and her releasing us from class early.

Dr. K. Mrabe’s presence initially struck me as cool and understanding but that quickly changed once time progressed. He was the “hall monitor” type of professor who once gave me a full on email lecture about me turning in ONE assignment, ONE day late was an indictment on my professional integrity. I could understand if this a regular occurrence but it was not. Apparently, turning in that singular assignment late was his clearance to question my professionalism, rather than being understanding of my circumstance. It’s his disconnect from simple effective communication to inspire someone without overly criticizing them. I was decently plugged into the social channels of school, so I knew what the other students thought of certain professors. Those testimonies from other students felt vindicating because I previously thought I was the only one who thought he was awful.

Dr. A St. Germain was a bizarre fellow. My perspective of him is one of a professor who did not fire on all cylinders. While his instruction ability was decent. During an online class movie clip viewing, a remark about a female doll being “the perfect woman because she does not speak” removed any level of respect for him.

The ugly: A racist remark from a fellow student T. Peters was brushed under the rug by a program coordinator. Toxic favoritism. Unorganized place to say the least. A cohort member did not know she got accepted into the program until a week before the 1st trimester.

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USAHS truly prepares you for clinical and real-world experience. The flipped classroom format fosters time management, research, critical thinking, and individual initiative. The curriculum is carefully crafted to scaffold your learning starting with the fundamentals and then building on clinical skills. The curriculum as a whole and with each course is also always being improved based on student feedback to ensure the best possible results for learning and clinical/fieldwork preparation. All the OT professors at the Miami campus go above and beyond to make sure each student succeeds. Whether it is with additional review sessions, open lab hours, consistent and open communication, or lecture breaks, the professors make it a point to get to know each of their students and check in on us. The professors are the best part of this school. The facilities are also specifically designed for the programs offered, so there is no better school to get your OT...

I have nothing but absolute respect and appreciations towards the entire staff of St. Augustine for their professionalism and their extreme attention to detail. I would like to bring light towards a specific individual named Michele Partovi who was involved in my admission and solidified my commitment towards the DPT program due to how well mannered and pleasantly open she is. Michele displayed such incredible empathy towards me and made me feel very welcome. I attribute my enrollment on the simple fact that Michele treated me like family and that’s exactly how any program or university should treat a new or upcoming student. Michele exceeds every aspect necessary for her role as an Admissions specialist. Thank you very much Michele and for anyone taking the time to read my gratitude towards...