ACE Academy, formerly known as First Step, is embarking on a transformative journey in the field of medical education.

As part of its vision to become a comprehensive guide for aspiring doctors, the Caribbean-based educational institution, effective January 2, has rebranded itself to align with its ambition of offering holistic support to medical students.

The academy is set to revolutionise medical education in the Caribbean. With a focus on student-centric learning, ACE Academy is enhancing its core courses for the USMLE exams. This includes a unique blend of flexible, data-driven methodologies and cutting-edge resources, tailored to meet the needs and learning styles of students.

At the heart of ACE Academy’s innovative approach is the integration of technology into its curriculum underlining its commitment to adapting to the changing educational landscape.

Dr Matthew Preston, co-CEO and principal of ACE Academy, said: “We hope that with the incorporation of highly data-driven approaches our programme offerings will be more analytics-based and that we will be better able to detect the areas where students are falling short and to respond with a more personalised experience. Currently, our data-based work is in the research and development stage, but we hope to have it integrated into our programmes by next year.” 

Building on First Step’s foundation of a 97 per cent pass rate in United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) exams and empowering over 300 medical professionals globally, the rebranded ACE Academy will be introducing new course materials to expand its coverage of medical-based exams and will also be adding new service offerings tailored at providing both institutional and peer support.

Dr Melissa Lalah, co-CEO and principal of ACE Academy, added: “We currently offer masterclasses, marathons, and one-on-one tutoring, and we’ve also developed a large consortium of high-yield content that we use to support our students based on their positive feedback. Since the rebranding, we have also upgraded our exam prep courses to make them more user-friendly and adaptive to meet the diverse needs of our global students,”

ACE extends beyond traditional boundaries by offering guidance for admission into highly competitive postgraduate and international medical graduate programmes.

ACE’s curated programmes are meticulously designed to cater to the nuances of medical accreditation programs: USMLE Board Steps one and two, which are required for medical doctors to specialise abroad.

ACE Academy’s course offerings will soon span preparation courses for the USMLE exam, the professional linguistic assessments board tests, and other related accreditations. Its service offerings will also go beyond academic tutoring to include student accessibility and accommodation services, career guidance and student development, language services, mentoring, tutoring, residency/match strategies, and specialised coaching.