Our education is small-group driven rather than lecture-based. Typically, students will spend their day on campus in a group of 8-10, with one faculty member. When in clinic, generally 2-4 students are paired with each physician.
ACSOM's integrated curriculum allows students to become involved in a clinical and hospital setting from day one—a highly unique opportunity. ACSOM faculty is also incorporated in Dominica’s healthcare system, including faculty members managing the specialty ambulatory clinics and working at the main teaching hospital. Clinical work in the ambulatory and inpatient setting is structured around a team that is composed of a faculty member, a resident, and 2-4 medical students. This is a feature that is unique to ACSOM.
Most other “island based” medical schools do not have access to local ambulatory and hospital clinics and have not developed clinical faculty on their island. Their students' clinical integration begins in Year 3, when students are sent to work with clinical affiliates in the United States. ACSOM is the first such school that has designed its clinical integration similar to any modern, first-rate U.S.-based medical school.
