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

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.