Caribbean Medical School Curriculum
Building the Foundation for Your Success
16 Months
- Prep for USMLE Step 1
- 48 weeks
- 27 weeks
A Medical School Curriculum Built for Exceptional Outcomes
Trinity School of Medicine’s curriculum is designed to help students build knowledge with purpose, confidence, and continuity. Using a spiral, integrated approach, core scientific concepts are introduced early and revisited throughout the program with increasing clinical relevance, reinforcing long-term understanding and real-world application.
Our medical school curriculum starts in the Caribbean, where you’ll build a strong foundation in the basic sciences at our campus in St. Vincent. You will then transition to a clearly structured clinical phase in the U.S., where clerkship administrators schedule your rotations in one location to provide consistency and minimize disruption. This approach emphasizes efficiency, support, and readiness for residency.
Integrated, Spiral Curriculum
Foundational concepts reinforced over time, building deeper understanding and long-term clinical mastery.
Early Clinical Exposure
Hands-on clinical experiences begin early, connecting classroom learning to real patient care.
Small Class Sizes
Personalized instruction with accessible faculty who know you, support you, and invest in your success.
Exceptional Outcomes
A robust Caribbean medical school curriculum and U.S.-based clinical training add up to a 96% all-time residency placement rate.
Trinity’s Medical School Curriculum By Year
Year 1 & 2: Basic Sciences Curriculum in the Caribbean
Module 1: General Principles (3 weeks)
- Anatomy & Embryology 20%
- Histology 15%
- Physiology 18%
- Molecular Biology & Genetics 30%
- ICCM 17%
Module 2: Musculoskeletal (4 weeks)
- Anatomy & Embryology 20%
- Histology 15%
- Physiology 18%
- Molecular Biology & Genetics 30%
- ICCM 17%
Module 3: Blood & Cardiovascular (4 weeks)
- Anatomy & Embryology 20%
- Histology 15%
- Physiology 18%
- Molecular Biology & Genetics 30%
- ICCM 17%
Module 4: Respiratory (2 weeks)
- Anatomy & Embryology 20%
- Histology 15%
- Physiology 18%
- Molecular Biology & Genetics 30%
- ICCM 17%
Module 5: Biostatistics & Epidemiology (1 week)
- Biostatistics 100%
Module 6: Gastrointestinal & Hepatobiliary (3 weeks)
- Anatomy & Embryology 28%
- Histology 11%
- Physiology 15%
- Molecular Biology & Genetics 25%
- ICCM 21%
Module 7: Renal & Urinary (2 weeks)
- Anatomy & Embryology 19%
- Histology 6%
- Physiology 42%
- Molecular Biology & Genetics 23%
- ICCM 10%
Module 8: Endocrine (2 weeks)
- Anatomy & Embryology 15%
- Histology 8%
- Physiology 44%
- Molecular Biology & Genetics 26%
- ICCM 7%
Module 9: Reproductive & Genetics (4 weeks)
- Anatomy & Embryology 14%
- Histology 10%
- Physiology 15%
- Molecular Biology & Genetics 54%
- ICCM 7%
Module 10: Neurobehavioral (2 weeks)
- Anatomy & Embryology 30%
- Histology 5%
- Physiology 10%
- Molecular Biology & Genetics 17%
- Behavioral 30%
- ICCM 8%
Module 1: Neurobehavioral (2 weeks)
- Microbiology 20%
- Pathology 10%
- Pharmacology 20%
- Behavioral 10%
- Neurosciences 30%
- ICCM 10%
Module 2: General Principles (3 weeks)
- Microbiology 22%
- Pathology 36%
- Pharmacology 19%
- ICCM 23%
Module 3: Neoplasms, Chemo, Antimicrobials (3 weeks)
- Pathology 27%
- Pharmacology 66%
- ICCM 7%
Module 4: Blood & Immune (3 weeks)
- Microbiology 43%
- Pathology 35%
- Pharmacology 13%
- ICCM 9%
Module 5: Musculoskeletal & Skin (3 weeks)
- Microbiology 24%
- Pathology 38%
- Pharmacology 33%
- ICCM 5%
Module 6: Cardiovascular & Respiratory (5 weeks)
- Microbiology 15%
- Pathology 44%
- Pharmacology 25%
- ICCM 16%
Module 7: Endocrine & Reproductive (3 weeks)
- Microbiology 14%
- Pathology 51%
- Pharmacology 26%
- ICCM 9%
Module 8: Gastrointestinal & Hepatobiliary (4 weeks)
- Microbiology 19%
- Pathology 60%
- Pharmacology 11%
- ICCM 10%
Module 9: Renal & Urinary (2 weeks)
- Microbiology 50%
- Pathology 33%
- Pharmacology 9%
- ICCM 8%
Year 3 & 4: Clinical Sciences Rotations List
The focus of Term 5, known as the clinical transition term, is the integration of clinical sciences into the basic science curriculum students have already completed at our St. Vincent campus in the Caribbean.
Our Integrated Systems Review is a comprehensive 7-week program designed specifically to equip students for success in the USMLE Step 1 exam. This fully immersive study experience has been carefully tailored to meet the unique needs of students before they embark on clinical rotations.
Students are eligible to enter clinical clerkships after passing the required qualifying exams and USMLE exams.
- Internal Medicine (12 weeks)
- Surgery (12 weeks)
- Pediatric (6 weeks)
- Obstetrics & Gynecology (6 weeks)
- Family Medicine (6 weeks)
- Psychiatry (6 weeks)
Complete electives in Georgia, Maryland, or California or take away electives offered throughout the country.
What is a Spiral Curriculum?
A Smarter Way to Study Medicine
The spiral curriculum is a proven, widely used model in top medical schools. It builds knowledge in layers—revisiting core concepts with increasing depth and clinical relevance—mirroring how real learning happens in medicine.
This approach supports diverse learning styles by integrating content across disciplines and reinforcing it in multiple ways. That means more students connect the dots and fewer fall behind.
Outcomes of the Spiral Curriculum for Trinity Students
Since Trinity adopted the spiral curriculum—both as part of our medical school curriculum in the Caribbean and U.S.-based clinical training—our students' NBME Basic Science exam scores have more than doubled. Additionally, first-time failures have dropped significantly.
For our students, this means walking into high-stakes exams prepared and confident. The spiral curriculum is driving success on the CBSE, Step 1, and throughout their journey to residency.
Universities Using a Spiral Curriculum:
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Benefits of a Spiral Curriculum
Learning by repetition can help medical students learn and retain information throughout their medical school journey. This helps students stand out by allowing them to apply the information once in residency. Allowing students to retain the material also reduces the frustration when a student has to relearn the content for another class.
The spiral curriculum allows for all different learning styles, and repetition throughout students’ four years means that by the time students graduate and start their residency, they have mastered each system.
Trinity has weekly quizzes and practical evaluations, such as labs, to measure the absorption and application of principles. This method has been shown to decrease stress and enhance learning because students can delve into smaller amounts of digestible material.
In a traditional linear curriculum, medical students will learn all about one system in one class and have a midterm and a final. What that does is teach students to prepare for tests, not for the application of knowledge in a clinical setting. Spiral curriculum reduces that stress so students can focus on learning well, not just scoring well.
With the spiral curriculum, students no longer sit through 4 or 5 different classes a term — each module is one singular class. This approach enables students to build a solid foundation while encouraging deeper understanding and critical thinking skills as they progress.
Weekly testing not only measures the absorption of material, but also prepares students for successful completion of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). By utilizing a database of questions instead of having professors write their own, Trinity is using questions that are standardized, transparent, clear, fair, and equitable.
Practice Medicine in Your Home Community
A degree from Trinity means you can participate in the residency match processes in the United States and Canada as well as apply for residencies and licensure in both countries.
Find Your Success at Trinity
Discover the Trinity experience through students and alumni! Learn more about the small class sizes, early clinical experience, rotations in one location, and more!
Supportive Community
Where unparalleled support meets student success.
Clinical Rotations
Rotations are scheduled for you in one location.
Small Class Sizes
Feel valued and seen from the very beginning.
