Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has expressed his sincere gratitude to the leadership of the American Canadian School of Medicine (ACSOM) for its steadfast partnership, choosing Dominica as the home of its institution, well as its continued commitment to building a medical school of high repute and academic excellence.
He was speaking during the ACSOM’s 5th White Coat Ceremony held recently.
“For those of you who do not know, I want to say to you that Dominica provided the United States with the most physicians at any given time over a very long time,” he said. “ And I have no doubt that Dominica shall provide the world with the most physicians in any of our periods through ACSOM.”
Skerrit continued, “Because if you want to do well in medicine, you come to study in Dominica.”
He added, “As you grow, you are demonstrating that you are committed to quality, to equity, and to producing doctors who will serve communities around the world with compassion and professionalism.”
According to the Prime Minister, his government celebrates the arrival of 52 new students at the ACSOM.
“I want to welcome you to Dominico. This is your home. This is a safe place to live and to study,” he revealed. “And please make some time to enjoy our beautiful country… I am also informed that applications for the upcoming January 2026 intake have already doubled compared to the same time last year.”
This, Skerrit noted, is a clear sign of the growing interest and confidence in ACSOM.
“This is not ordinary growth, this is exponential,” he indicated. “What ACSOM has built here, starting with just a few students and faculty members, has already blossomed into a fully functional, internationally aligned institution. This is resilience.”
Skerrit went on to add, “ This is what it looks like when people invest hard work to turn a dream into reality.”
He pointed out that the impact of the American Canadian School of Medicine extends well beyond the boundaries of the campus.
“It is becoming an integral part of the economic and social fabric of Portsmouth, and the Wider Dominican community,” he said. “ Local landlords are again welcoming international students as tenants, creating a steady stream of rental income. Supermarkets, restaurants, and other small businesses have experienced increased demand, fueled by the growing student population and the institution’s day-to-day operations.”
The Prime Minister further stated that new jobs have been created for the Dominican people.
Skerrit extended his heartfelt congratulations to the students for the dedication, discipline, and courage that have brought them to this point.
He said choosing a career in medicine is a noble decision, which reflects a deep sense of purpose and genuine desire to serve humanity.
“You are embarking on a journey that demands your intellect, your compassion, and your resilience,” he stated. “It will challenge you in ways you have yet to imagine, but it will also reward you with the privilege of making a lasting difference in the lives of others.”
The PM went on to note that the White Coat Ceremony is a tradition celebrated at almost every US medical school and by many others worldwide. The first ceremony of this type was held in 1993 at Columbia University in New York.
For the class of 2029, this ceremony is more than a milestone, asserted Skerrit.
Continuing, he said that it is a symbol to the new students of their entry as a trainee into the medical profession and the responsibilities that come with it.
Meanwhile, President of the ACSOM Carey James described the ceremony as a “meaningful milestone”.
“Today marks a meaningful milestone, the beginning of your journey in medicine,” he said. “The white coat you received today is more than a symbol. It represents responsibility, service, and a future defined by knowledge, compassion, and purpose.”
He continued, “You join the American Canadian School of Medicine at a time of rapid progress.”
James confirmed that in the past year, the student body has doubled, and students are now beginning clinical training in the United States, starting in California and expanding to a clinical campus in Pennsylvania this winter.
He said that from inception, the ACSOM was designed to be different.
James emphasized that the school is committed to building a campus community made up of the most deserving students, not just the most fortunate.
ACSOM is open to all with the ability, compassion, and determination to become physicians.
“We never want a student to have to choose between ACSOM’s tailored educational excellence and a lesser experience simply because of finances,” he noted. “Today is the day of your white coat, a celebration of you, but I would be remiss if I didn’t say this clearly. It is my responsibility to ensure that you are fully supported.”
James continued, “That means in the classroom and outside of the classroom, in the community and with the funding you need to succeed.” Nothing should stand between you and your MD except for your hard work and our ability to support you in it.”
He told students that their presence here is the result of their talents and effort, “ but it is also the result of the sacrifices and dreams of your parents and grandparents and all those who came before them. Their legacy echoes through the ages, and travels with you into this room. And now you will begin to build your own.”
He concluded, “The knowledge and the compassion you develop here will live on in the lives that you touch and in the patients whose lives you will one day hold in your hands, and never forget the privilege and the responsibility it represents.”
ACSOM states that it maintains a strong commitment to training excellent physicians through a clinically integrated curriculum, a large network of teaching hospitals, a thriving international student environment, traveling faculty from elite U.S. medical schools—such as Yale and Penn State—and integrated preparation for the U.S. and Canadian licensing exams.
“If Dominica is so good at producing physicians why do we need a foreign school to come here and do it?”(smh).
Very good question: and that’s how stupid is Roosevelt; he runs his mouth off; but, watch this: In Anguilla, there is an American medical School called American University
.Antigua- American University of Antigua
.Grenada-St. George’s University
. Nevis-Medical University School of medicine
.Saba- University school of medicine
.St. Maarten-American University of the Caribbean
.St. Vincent-American University School of Medicine
.St. Lucia-American Int. Medical University (if am correct, there are more than one in St. Lucia).
.St. Kitts-The University of Medicine Health and Science
.Jamaica-All American Institute of Medical Science
I left out many in the Northern Caribbean. Now Grenada Medical School and that in St. Kitts, and Gr existed before Ross in Dominica; so if Roosevelt is correct which island supplied more: Roosevelt is an idiot!
I just hope Mia stays away from this one when/if the CEO requests such simple things as a meeting with the light-weight government CEO on accreditation etc, then gets redirected to meet his subordinate. She’s waiting in the shadows for the faut-pas, that never goes well for the rookies with over 20 years experience.
The devil looks so innocent in face and yet so destructive in character. I wonder if the devil has secret interests in Acsom
A Prime Minister gives a speech to international medical students and it does not inspire, it is visionless, it has no global or historical references, no data, no statistics, just rhetoric and emotions not even worthy of a High School graduation ceremony!
Are you serious? By the way I had forgotten about that school, the only time we hear about it is when the government has something political to do or say about it. How low we have fallen!
This is no Ross University School of Medicine! You welcomed 53 students? Do you know how many Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley welcomed on behalf of Ross this year? Over 900 students! Oh, by the way, she made her Minister of Education do that! But you need to be spokesman for every Ministry.
Here is some Ross University School of Medicine Barbados data and statistics for your benefit – hope you can understand it! https://shunstudent.com/article/how-many-medical-students-at-ross-university
“The school year for Dominica’s newest private medical school has officially begun as it welcomed students from all over the world this week.”
“A total of nine students enrolled at the American Canadian School of Medicine (ACSOM), a premier institution that replaced the Ross University School of Medicine in Picard, Portsmouth.”
They do not even know when they are lying, spreading false propaganda: If there are 195 countries in the entire world, and you welcome students from all over the world; if one got one student from every country in the world including Dominica, that means there should be at least one hundred ninety-five students attending classes.
Why lie?
If you started with nine student be honest about it: Dr. Ross started in a rented house in Goodwill, with either one or two students; and eventually educated thousands over a forty year span: one who cannot be trusted to tell the truth; I would worry about the degree they bestow on students.
Continuation:
“I want to say to you that Dominica provided the United States with the most physicians at any given time over a very long time,”(Roosevelt Skerrit).
It is important to note, that the medical curriculum Ross, or any medical school operating in the Caribbean i.e. St. Kitts, and certainly Grenada, I believe Antigua too; and elsewhere is all American, and when the students finish in Dominica, it’s mandatory that they do their intern in the United States, practically in the State they wish to practice; since the medical test in the United States are not Standardized, just because one practices medicine or law in New York, does not mean they can come to California, and go into practice without passing the state exam.
Roosevelt concept is that Dominicans are trained in medicine in Dominica, and exported to America to work. If you are sending doctors to America to work, and you import Cubans and Chines quacks to kill people in Dominica, then you Roosevelt must be mad!
“I want to say to you that Dominica provided the United States with the most physicians at any given time over a very long time,”(Roosevelt Skerrit).
True or false? I say depending on if one wants to believe Roosevelt fable, and lies, or understanding fact from fiction! First of all to date there are 192 accredited medical schools operating in the United States, of that one hundred (155) fifty-five grants M.D degrees, and thirty (37) seven grant D.O. “doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree. If one believes Roosevelt that would mean that Roosevelt has a medical school in Dominica preparing doctors to supply America. For more than Forty (40) years an American institution world renowned Ross Medical School operated in Dominica, prior to the birth of Roosevelt, who chased them out of Dominica. Their faculty were all Americans, with the exception of two Dominicans, perhaps! More than 90% of their students were Americans, a few from Canada, and elsewhere.
Will be continued:
“Dominica” didn’t produce those physicians, ROSS did, and they are still producing them in Barbados after you sold us out to your friend Motley crew. If Dominica is so good at producing physicians why do we need a foreign school to come here and do it?
And this guy is always making stuff up. Ross has at no time contributed “the most physicians to the U.S. at any given time”. That’s ridiculous. Dominica is a tiny country with third world infrastructure that could fit inside the U.S. hundreds of times. Is there anybody in their right mind who believes that more physicians could come out of a school based here, than from the massive universities in the U.S. with better infrastructure, tehcnology, professors etc?
Waiting for the usual negative comments from UWP and their blue puppets.
@ A CLOWN
Your CLOWN and illiterate, UWP cannot comment. Your shameless no brainer, use your time productively and go to school.
Haven’t you heard of Ross University before? Why it was taken away from Skerrit the liar?
Youf shamdless fool.
Wow! It is growing. The baby is growing right before our eyes. Some will hate this reality but this is great news that is worthy of a celebration.
Congrats, PM and your team! Congrats to ACSOM’s leadership.
@ LIN CLOWN #2
The baby was already 40 years old.Where is it now?
Your Sot!
That’s domed for failure: Is it not strange that the present day operators; were employed at Ross Medical School, when Ross departed to Barbados?
Guy, that so called whatever, for a hundred years will never become a Ross University School of medicine.
Check and find out how many new students enrolled at Ross in Barbados for this semester. You will find that almost a thousand (1000) new students enrolled; compare that to twenty-five, which is a joke! And since they lied claiming they received students from around the world meaning more than 190 countries, only to eventually say their total student body comprised of nine student for their first semester, how can anybody believe they have 25 students at the moment!
It all about money, if their teaching professors,(faculty) down to janitors cant got paid, it must close. The School success depends on the amount of enrolled paying students!
I did not read ALL of this LAZY buffoon’s crap. That’s a dimwit that allowed Ross University (a 40 year old institution) to slip away from Dominica, because of his ineptness and LAZINESS, and he is now grovelling at the feet of other less renowned schools to start again.
The buffoon babbles like Dominicans know nothing, so he should be praised.
The LAZY doltish thinks that it’s labourites he was addressing.
MEME