Program Introduction/Background
The Hal B Jenson Biomedical Sciences Masters’ degree program is a one-year program designed to support students who need additional academic support prior to entering medical school. MBS students are provisionally accepted into the MD program pending MBS program graduation. The program supports the mission of the medical school in achieving health equity by recruiting and training a diverse cohort of students. The curriculum is composed of 13 courses, three of which are completed alongside the medical students, the remaining courses are unique to the Master’s program. This provides students an opportunity to experience the rigors of medical school, while also receiving the benefits of a small program with increased faculty:student ratios. An overall program evaluation revealed gaps in student knowledge after entering into the MD program that were targeted with the most recent iteration of the curricula.

Relevance to ASPBP
Compared to other pre-medical school matriculation programs (post-baccalaureate or Master’s), this program has several innovative aspects. These include direct admission to medical school upon successful completion, a student-driven thesis, and program funding. To improve knowledge, capacity for critical thinking and written and oral communications skills, students compose a literature-based thesis on a topic of their choosing guided by faculty mentors. The Biomedical Masters’ program is fully funded for students who receive a full tuition and cost-of-living scholarship to eliminate the financial burdens typically experienced by students who need to strengthen their medical school application prior to admission. Removing this burden allows a more diverse group of students to explore a path to medicine.

Target Population
Our program enrolls students who have the experiences, characteristics, and drive needed to pursue medicine but need further academic preparation to succeed in medical school. This program has a particular focus on providing opportunities for students from the southwest Michigan area, and those that bring diversity to support our mission of a just culture of DEIB, which may include overcoming adversity, low socioeconomic backgrounds, and first generation college graduates.

Lessons Learned
Recently the program curricula was redesigned to include a four-part Anatomy and Physiology course series, to support development of foundational knowledge needed to succeed in the organ systems based curriculum utilized at our medical school. Implementation of a new MBS curricula presented many challenges including curricula design, support from administration, faculty time, and new testing methodology. Identifying a curricular champion who can elicit administrative support and faculty who were passionate about the MBS program was essential to our success. Curricula will need to be continuously modified to ensure it meets the needs of students in providing foundational knowledge, while not overburdening students. When implementing a new curricula format, students need to feel comfortable, thus, providing transparency as to why certain pedagogical frameworks are being utilized is essential. Outcome data is still needed to determine effectiveness of the new curricula for graduates of the program. Of the 43 students enrolled in the MBS program, 14 have completed their MD degree and successfully matched into highly competitive residency programs.