On Monday, July 26, 2021, Dominic Miller went to bed an anxious student. He woke up the following morning, travelled to The University of the West Indies, Mona campus where he picked up his exam results at the Faculty of Medical Sciences.

“I was the first person, at the front of the line, in my class to collect my results and I remember walking out of the room with the envelope with everyone staring at me. So I rushed to a quiet place to open the envelope. I remember reading and the first thing I thought when I opened that brown envelope with my name on it was wow, is this real? This is really happening right now!” he recalled.

The single sentence on the document brought a wide, bright smile to his face: “Congratulations. We are pleased to inform you that you have been successful in the final MBBS examinations.”

In line with Miller’s student ID number and his name was the word he cherished most: ‘PASS’.

“I could not believe the four letters on the paper; PASS. But I could at the same time. I have never been so excited to see my name with those words written next to it in my life. Truly, there is no feeling quite like that,” 23-year-old Miller told the Jamaica Observer.

After what he described as “the wildest, hardest, most entertaining, humbling, most fulfilling, and hectic five years” of medical school, Miller had finally realised his dream of becoming a medical doctor.

That dream started when he was much younger, seeing his grandmother doing laser eye surgery. He decided to do the sciences at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination levels and excelled.

He then applied for the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) programme at The UWI and got accepted.

Miller told the Sunday Observer that outside the regular, heavy workload, his studies went smoothly until the novel coronavirus pandemic obliterated all semblance of normalcy.

“COVID was a challenging time for all of us medical students, like everyone else. It changed up the dynamics of our learning environment for a whole year and more — from learning at the bed side of a patient to [having classes] on Zoom in front of a computer screen,” he explained.

“It was a little challenging and definitely not what any of us had planned, but I would say that it gave each of us a little extra time to learn more of the necessary theory to help us when we went back on the wards,” added the Meadowbrook High School alumni.

“Medicine is an apprenticeship. We all learn by doing and from seeing patients right in front of us. However, when we were switched to Zoom … it really challenged myself and fellow classmates as well as our teachers to think outside of the box for new ways to learn medicine and help us all become well-rounded and safe physicians.

“The experience was not what we were promised in our first year… but it was necessary, and I truly think that we have made the most of what we were presented with and we came out on top,” he continued.

However, the pandemic, he admitted, provided at least one positive experience — the importance of teamwork.

“Working together and following the rules or guidelines collectively is probably the best way to end this pandemic,” he said. “Another takeaway is to not plan obsessively over the future because you never know how your life can be completely changed.”

Today, he is “extremely proud” of his accomplishment, and is thankful for the support he received from his friends and family, particularly his parents.

“Their favourite thing to say to myself and brother is, ‘Find something that you’re interested in and we will help and support you all the way.’ And they really have stood by those words in raising my brother and I towards our career goals. They have and continue to support me in my stressful and stress-free moments, lending an ear when I needed to vent and celebrating my wins in life,” he related.

“I feel a mixture of relief as the long five years of med school have passed and it is finally over. I am so grateful for where I am today and everyone who helped and supported me along the way,” said Miller, who plans to specialise in ophthalmology.