Student Spotlight: Tyler Collard

Like many Canadians, Trinity medical student Tyler Collard grew up playing competitive hockey. But not many people can say that is how they ended up in medical school. At the age of 20, Tyler joined a junior hockey team. One day during practice, and before the season even started, Tyler got his teeth knocked out. After working with a dentist and surgeon to get his smile back, Tyler decided he wanted to pursue dentistry.

At the time, Tyler was going through the process of getting offers from U.S. colleges to play hockey. Because of his sparked interest in the medical field, Tyler decided to enter a school with medical programs that could lead him into dentistry. After much thought, Tyler decided to attend West Virginia University where he received a Bachelor’s in Exercise Physiology. During undergrad, he continued to play hockey and was captain and president of his Division 1 ice hockey team from his sophomore year to his senior year. To gain medical experience, Tyler became a medical scribe for the Department of Genetics until he obtained his Master's in Health Sciences.

Like many Canadians pursuing dental school, Tyler received many rejection letters over several application cycles. Because of this, Tyler decided to get a job while he continued to work towards his goal. Right before the Coronavirus pandemic, he started working for an ENT specialist in Boston, Dr. Rebecca Stone. While working with her and other ENT doctors, Tyler was continuously told that he would be a great doctor, “Eventually I started to believe them,” Tyler said. He quickly noticed how much he loved the ENT field and how much he had already learned so much from the great doctors he worked with.

Following the advice of his colleagues, Tyler decided to apply to a Caribbean medical school in hopes they would accept him and believe in his newly-found dream. After two and a half years at a different Caribbean medical school that kept changing its curriculum and expectations, Tyler decided to transfer and find stability at Trinity School of Medicine.“The idea of Trinity just sort of fell into my lap at the right moment.”

Tyler continued his medical journey with Trinity and entered into Term 5 this January. So far, he has experienced a very welcoming and supportive community of students and faculty, small class sizes, and very approachable and friendly deans who care about student success.

‍“The deans, Dr. Geisler and Dr. Manahan are second to none…I could tell from the first day that these people get the position we’re in, they are really here for us, and our success is their utmost priority. You can’t question that at all.”

‍Having experienced both 5th terms from the other Caribbean medical school and Trinity, Tyler has noticed the vast difference in the amount of support and preparation that students receive between both schools, “I’ve learned so much in these seven weeks (at Trinity), much more than any amount of weeks at the old school.”

Although Tyler has only been at Trinity for a few months, he has loved every bit of it. He mentions that he has enjoyed the time spent at Central Georgia Technical College going through skills clinics and simulation labs to practice his skills and build confidence for when it’s time to go to a hospital during clinical rotations.

‍“My whole career turned around the moment I decided to go to Trinity. It’s going to be quite easily the biggest and best decision I’ve ever made.”

‍When it comes to having small class sizes and a supportive environment, Trinity remains unmatched. Tyler talked about how having 80 people in his class at Trinity makes things run much more smoothly than other schools that have hundreds in a class. He mentions that it is easy to hop into a meeting and get everyone on the same page, especially with the help of the very approachable deans. This is very unlike his old school, he says, “Getting time to speak with the dean one-on-one was like pulling teeth.” Tyler believes that Trinity has been doing a great job keeping the class sizes small and staying fully transparent when communicating with its medical students.

‍“I wish I had found Trinity at the beginning. I don’t know how I didn’t, but we’re here now and that’s all that matters.”

For anyone thinking about applying to Trinity, Tyler shared some pieces of advice. “If you’re Canadian and you’re considering a Caribbean medical school, this has to be the only choice for you…this school is affordable, you’re already doing private loans, and you don’t want to be moving around the country coast to coast to get your rotations done when you’re not even an American yourself.” He stated that from a Canadian aspect, every Canadian trying to get into med school should consider Trinity. “Trinity is definitely it. They’ve got the rotations all in one spot in the U.S., they got the faculty and the preceptors and deans all in the same area, and everyone’s on the same page.”

Tyler is currently a fifth-term medical student at Trinity and has just taken Step 1 and passed it. He looks forward to continuing his medical journey with Trinity.

If you’re interested in learning how Trinity can support your dream of becoming a doctor, we invite you to reach out to our admissions team today! Contact us here.