Introduction

This project explores the current scope of pre-matriculation programs in medical education and their ability to facilitate the transition of students into medical schools. This project’s goal is to create a conceptual framework that provides a comprehensive understanding of the variations in pre-matriculation initiatives in medical education. This poster will describe the problem, background, and study methods of an in-progress critical narrative review of pre-matriculation programs in literature.  

Methods

For the purpose of this review, we define a “pre-matriculation” as a program to support the transition of students who have been accepted into a medical school but who has (have) not yet matriculated into their respective program. As a part of this literature review, we aim to conduct a systematic search targeting published articles and grey literature on pre-matriculation initiatives in medical education from 1985 to 2024. We will utilize databases such as ProQuest, Google Scholar, Scopus and EBSCO, covering articles on pre-matriculation course goals, structure, outcomes, evaluations, and/or needs assessments.  

Results

Results of this project are pending completion of the literature review, estimated for fall 2024. Preliminary findings resulted in the development of a conceptual framework for considering the different models of pre-matriculation programs. This current project will build on these initial findings and will refine the conceptual framework.

Conclusions

Understanding the landscape of pre-matriculation programming is important both for educators/administrators leading or developing such programs. It is also important for students/applicants to understand options available to them as they select a health professions education/training program, as pre-matriculation programs can be an important first step for students at the beginning of their health professions training journey.