One of the best kept secrets in Caribbean Medical Schools | Trinity School of Medicine | 5th term

Last week, we talked about Integrated Clinical and Community Medicine (ICCM) at Trinity.  We hinted towards the end of that piece that our approach to early, in-depth clinical training during basic sciences culminates in the 5th term.

Today, we're going to explore that and dig into the benefits of more time and responsibility in the hospital, working with the World Pediatric Project, and the final push towards a great score on the USMLE Step-1 exam before heading to clinical clerkships in Baltimore, MD. 

When our graduates discuss their time at Trinity (and when preceptors and attendings discuss Trinity students), exceptional clinical preparedness always comes up. This isn't a coincidence.

Trinity School of Medicine graduates have had extensive clinical training that starts in the first term of study. When they leave St. Vincent after their basic sciences and head to Baltimore, Maryland for their clerkship years, Trinity students feel confident, comfortable, and ready to shine when it's time to round with their US counterparts in the hospital. The backbone of this Trinity advantage is the Introduction to the courses of the Introduction to Clinical and Community Medicine (referred to collectively as "the ICCM").

Today, we're providing an overview of what the ICCM is, how it interacts with the core sciences curriculum on campus, and a video interview with popular student mentor, ICCM course director, and office hours marathon man, Jamil Ibrahim, MD. 

Because of Trinity's rolling admissions process, every start date, January, May, and September, coincides with a 5th term ceremony that sends a coterie of our students away from the St. Vincent campus and off to their clinical rotations in Baltimore, Maryland.

Much like the white coat ceremony and commencement, the 5th term conclusion is marked by a symbolic event signaling to the students and faculty that a phase of their life is concluding as another begins within the larger scope of their training and career. Unlike those events, the focus is much more on student participation and, while no less serious, the event is more informal and celebratory. Read on to join us in sending this group of January starters onto the next phase of their education.

Last week, Trinity School of Medicine held its fifth term ceremony for its students leaving St. Vincent for their clerkships in Baltimore, MD. While the event is overseen by the school, it is very much a student-driven ceremony, including student speakers, student-bestowed awards, and highlights of individual and group accomplishments during basic sciences. The students were bid farewell in the presence of faculty, staff, colleagues and friends that had all become family during their five terms together on campus.

Last week, Trinity School of Medicine held its December 2017 5th Term Ceremony. The evening event, attended by faculty, staff, friends, and family, many of whom traveled far from home, commemorates the transition from basic sciences to clinical rotations. It also represents a departure from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, sending students on to complete their training in Baltimore, Maryland. 

Last week, Trinity School of Medicine held its latest fifth term ceremony, sending 30 of its  students on to Baltimore, MD and the next phase of their medical education. 

The event was attended by families and friends of the departing students, all welcomed by student speaker Killian Harrelson. Harrelson noted the group's diversity, “Some of us came to medical school directly out of college; while others took some time off in between; and for others still, this is their second career." He reminisced about their passion upon arrival in a new country, to new people, and a new experience.  

Trinity School of Medicine students have assisted the Rotary Club of St. Vincent in its Village Doctor exercises around the islands for over five years. The Village Doctor exercise is the flagship program of the Rotary, and it sees a number of healthcare specialists and volunteers traveling to areas within St. Vincent and the Grenadines that are medically under served, conducting clinics and providing medication. 

In the first week of March, the World Pediatric Project returned to St. Vincent, this time for an ophthalmology clinic. The WPP trip, the third for 2017 thus far, brought another group of the NGO's seasoned specialists to the island nation's Milton Cato Memorial Hospital. As is usually the case, a group of Trinity's 5th term students were there to assist, observe, and learn.

On Tuesday, February 14th, St. Vincent & the Grenadines officially opens Argyle International Airport, a multi-year project supported by local businesses, international investment, and the government of SVG. This is an exciting development for the island chain, signaling a future that has the culture, people, and economic interests of St. Vincent more connected to the international community of the Caribbean and the world at large. 

Med students around the world know the anxiety of deciding on a specialty, so it's always heartening to hear a fifth term student (Trinity's final year of basic sciences) moving confidently towards a professional focus, and having that inclination confirmed by practical clinical experience during the early stage of medical school.