More Than an MCAT Score: Uncovering an Applicant's Potential for 2016

The admissions processes for most U.S. medical schools places emphasis first and foremost on standardized test scores and grades. With 50,000 applicants vying for 20,000 seats each year, it’s no surprise that the attributes highly valued in health professionals are left out of consideration until the point where the applicant has made it past both the MCAT and GPA score filters successfully. 

More Than an MCAT Score? Uncovering an Applicants Potential

The admissions processes for most U.S. medical schools places emphasis first and foremost on standardized test scores and grades. With almost 50,000 applicants vying for 20,000 seats each year, it’s no surprise that the attributes highly valued in health professionals are left out of consideration until the point where the applicant has made it past both the MCAT and GPA score filters successfully.

Trinity School of Medicine, St. Vincent and the Grenadines held a White Coat Ceremony for the students who will earn their Doctor of Medicine degree in as part of the Class of 2018. Twenty-five incoming students were robed with their White Coats at the impressive and inspiring event, which took place at the institution on Saturday, May 10th, 2014.
While all of the incoming students claim North America as home, they represent a diverse set of ethnicities and cultures, one of the benefits of studying abroad. Nearly one third of the incoming students came from Canada with the other two thirds from the U.S. The 25 students earned their place in the program with strong academic credentials from large Universities and small Colleges including:

Recently, the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) hosted the algorithim-based process of aligning doctors with residency positions in the United States.  This competitive process, commonly known as "the Match," included over 52,000 applicants this year and amongst them were Trinity graduates from the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean. The 2014 participants were vying for post graduate education positions which resulted in 25,687 matched applicants to first year positions. 

Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines - by Gloria H. Williams

Students of the Dr. J. P. Eustace Memorial High and the Intermediate High Schools were, last week, given the opportunity to find out more about HIV/AIDS.  This was made possible as it formed part of an HIV/AIDS Outreach Programme undertaken by several students of Trinity School of Medicine. Three students: Afolami Fagorala, Cherelle Smith, and Sarah Celebi paid special visits to the Dr. J. P. Eustace Memorial High on Tuesday, 18^th February, and the Intermediate High on Friday, 21^st February with the mission of imparting information about HIV/AIDS to Third Form students of both secondary schools. The workshop began with a video presentation of cases of sexually transmitted infections, like gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia.  According to the facilitators, the main aim was to draw out reactions from the participants, in order to fully engage them in the subject matter.

[Updated on 4/12/2018]

Will I be able to practice in Canada, in the U.S., or near home?  Is Trinity approved, accredited, recognized? Can Caribbean medical school students compete with U.S. Medical students in the Residency match? These are some of our most frequently asked questions from prospective students considering Caribbean medical schools. To help answer these questions, we've gathered the relevant information from the appropriate sources: the American Medical Association (AMA), the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) and from the individual state medical boards of North American. We hope to bring clarity to the vast amount of misinformation and opinion generated by internet searches, pre-med forums and other less-than-reputable sites. 

U.S. medicals schools have been modifying their curriculum to stress the importance of early clinical exposure. This is another aspect of Trinity School of Medicine's MD program that aligns with U.S. medical students' education, to preparing for clerkships and licensure in the U.S. and Canada.