Vincentians graduate from Trinity School of Medicine

Eight Vincentians were among the Trinity School of Medicine class of 2015, which attended their graduation ceremony on June 6, at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, Georgia.

The class, along with their friends and family, were welcomed to the occasion by Governor General Sir {{more}}Frederick Ballantyne, received parting thoughts from administrators and distinguished guests, and took their Oath of Geneva.

The eight Vincentians: Colette Sharlene Charles, Gomattie Chunilall, Dahnesster Elmire Cole, Shakeera Kaylee Dunn, Anique ENA Evans, Delroy Andrew Thomas, Kimroy Samuel Walters and Raquel Wilson were joined by 21 of their peers, representing Trinity’s international student population.

Two points of pride mark the already happy occasion, the first being that nearly a third of the class graduated with honours in clinical and/or basic sciences. Beyond that, this class is the first group with graduates that began their journey in Trinity’s pre-medical programme, acting as inspirations to present and future attendees.

In fact, Vincentians Charles, Chunilall, Cole, Dunn, Thomas and Walters all entered the MD programme upon successful promotion from the pre-med programme, with Colette Sharlene Charles bearing the distinction of graduating with honours. She will soon start her residency in family medicine at the Central Maine Medical Centre in the United States.

Delivering the keynote address was Dr Donna Brown, a board of trustees member at Trinity. Dr Brown is an active member of the medical community locally, with her practice at the Virginia Eye Institute; nationally through the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Adult Strabismus; and internationally through her work with the World Pediatric Project. The World Pediatric Project brings a wide variety of medical services to Vincentians, from pediatric awareness classes for parents and professionals on respiratory health, to active medical intervention. Dr Brown is well known to many residents of St Vincent and the Grenadines, as she has been visiting regularly for the past 15 years, providing eye care for adults and children alike.

Dr Brown’s address was heavily focused on perspective and how it influences the graduates as individuals and doctors. Citing two stories from her own career: the first being of a senior patient in an extended care facility wanting to be well enough to attend dinner outside of her room; the other being the restoration of the sight of a poet, Dr Brown made sure that the fresh graduates understood their keen ability to directly alter the course of their patients’ lives. To contextualize this, she emphasized that students should always remember where they came from before medical school, during their time at Trinity and whatever comes next and letting it grow within them a sense of development and empathy, considering pivotal events they’d experienced, that they were about to become a potential pivotal event in the lives of others through their work.

Trinity’s dean, Dr Skelton, closed his remarks with earnest candour, delivering his personal wish and expectations for the future of his graduating students: “I want you, as physicians, to be a consistent, powerful, positive, ethical presence for your patients, for medicine, and your families. If you do that, you’ll be very successful and you will have pleased this dean.”