Presentation 1 - STUDY STRATEGY INTERVIEWS SUGGEST OVERWHELMED AND OVER-RELIANT ATTITUDES IN FIRST-YEAR INDIANA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL STUDENTS
Best Oral Presentation Award Nominee

Amberly Reynolds
Indiana University

PURPOSE First-year medical students are inundated with resources for courses, both required and recommended. Additionally, each course often has lecture slides and/or notes provided. With a multitude of resources, students are expected to define their study strategies to reach successful outcomes, but how do they go about that and what are their attitudes toward that expectation? This research utilizes qualitative methods to analyze first year medical student interviews about their study strategies and the rationale behind them. METHODS First-year medical students across all nine Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) campuses from 2016 and 2017 cohorts were interviewed (n=58) regarding their study strategies for the Gross Human Anatomy course. Semi-structured interviews were completed over the phone during the summer following the first year and generally lasted between twenty and sixty minutes.  Interview questions focused on how students studied for both the lecture and lab components and what influenced their study strategy decisions. Thematic analysis of transcribed interviews pinpointed patterns regarding content resources, study habits and student attitudes toward resources. RESULTS Thematic analysis revealed students' overwhelmed attitude with the number of resources provided but a lack of guidance on how to use said resources.  A second theme denotes an over-reliance on professor presentation slides. Comparative analysis between the two cohorts demonstrate differences in organizational strategies of both instructor and student regarding use of resources. CONCLUSIONS Medical education faces curricular changes as we work to provide future physicians with the proper content but also important is our ability to teach them the necessary skills of how to use the vast content resources. Particularly pertinent to Anatomy educators is the need to instruct students how to choose and effectively use the multitude of resources.  Instructors also need to ensure that students do not believe instructor slideshows contain the only important course content.

 

Presentation 2 - PROMOTING ACADEMIC SUCCESS THROUGH AN ENHANCED PEER-TUTOR PROGRAM
Yen-Ping Kuo

Campbell University
 

PURPOSE Many new medical students experience challenges in successful academic transition, and peer tutors could be valuable support during this critical time.  However, academically successful students do not necessarily possess the skills of effective tutors.  We re-designed our peer-tutor program to provide tutor training, certification, and feedback, encouraging the tutors to assist peers not only on learning specific subject material but also on fostering their effective learning and studying skills.  METHODS We appointed second-year medical students as peer tutors for each course.  The students who met the academic requirements of performing in the top 25% in the course with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.3 were offered the opportunity to attend the tutor-training workshop.  Only students who completed the training and met with the course directors became certified tutors. Questionnaires were completed by the tutors and tutees in order to assess the effectiveness of the training and program outcome.  RESULTS Thirty-four students completed the training program and were assigned to 9 courses, ranging from 1-3 courses per student depending on their eligibility.  The assessment data suggest that 1) through the tutor-training workshop, student tutors become aware of and foster the skillsets of effective tutoring and 2) the development of effective study skills has become an intentional outcome of the peer-tutor sessions. CONCLUSION The enhanced peer-tutor program provides effective academic support for the new medical students, as evidenced by the increased tutoring service requests and sessions.  Furthermore, as an added benefit, it sparks pedagogical interest and insight of participating tutors who may become successful medical academicians in the future.

 

Presentation 3 - HELPING STUDENTS TRANSITION TO AND SUCCEED IN MEDICAL SCHOOL BY DEVELOPING A GROWTH MINDSET BY CONTRASTING MEDICAL SCHOOL LEARNING WITH STUDENTS' PREVIOUS EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCES
Scott Severance

Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine
 

PURPOSE Medical schools accept students who, by and large, have enjoyed much academic success prior to medical school. Academic success prior to medical school, however, is commonly equated with earning high grades. Often, this is achieved by "cramming" before exams using review materials provided by instructors. Consequently, students become efficient at studying information without understanding or learning it within a framework necessary for future retrieval and application. Because this method has been successful, students anticipate that this study strategy will continue to work in medical school.  This approach to learning may play a major role in many medical school students' struggle to adjust to the volume, pace, and expectations of medical school curricula. METHODS Early in the first biomedical sciences course in the OMS-1 year, we sought to help students overcome these struggles in two ways.  First, we developed and disseminated a list of ways that medical school is different from the typical educational experiences most students have had prior to medical school.  Second, we sought to identify and explain the often unspoken goals for each of the four years of medical school and for medical school itself. The lists consisted of over 100 differences and goals that were used to distinguish between methods that bring success in undergraduate and master's work and methods that result in medical school success. RESULTS Although this initiative is in progress, discussions centered on learning like a medical school student have resulted in the number of course failures in the first two courses of the academic year being cut in half compared to previous years. CONCLUSION Changing the paradigm from a fixed to growth mindset is helping medical students understand the true goals of medical school education and decreasing the number of course failures.

 

Presentation 4 - PREDICTORS OF IMPOSTOR SYNDROME IN MEDICAL STUDENTS AT THE PRECLINCAL€“CLINICAL TRANSITION
Best Oral Presentation Award Nominee

Beth Levant

University of Kansas Medical Center

 

PURPOSE Impostor syndrome, a phenomenon in which individuals distrust their abilities and accomplishments, is a contributor to medical student burnout and an impediment to identity formation as physicians, and can be most pronounced during periods of career transition.  Accordingly, this study examined the incidence and severity of impostor syndrome in third-year medical students as they transitioned from the preclinical to clinical phases of their training. METHODS A voluntary, anonymous, 60-item survey was administered to third-year medical students at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in October-November of the 2018 fall semester.  The survey included the Clance Impostor Phenomenon (IP) Scale, the Perceived Stress (PS) Scale, and demographic characteristics. RESULTS A total of 127 of 215 (59%) students surveyed responded with N=111 completing the entire survey. Respondents were 83% Caucasian and 25.8±3 years old (range 23-44).  The mean IP score was 63.0±14.6 (moderate-to-frequent impostor feelings) with 42.2% reporting moderate IP feelings, 37.8% frequent IP feelings, and 14.4% intense IP feelings.  Females (N=63) had higher IP (p<0.05) and PS (p<0.01) scores than males (N=47). Females also had lower USMLE Step 1 scores (p<0.01). Regression modeling identified USMLE Step 1 score as a driving feature for IP, which was strongly independently correlated with PS. Gender and age also independently predicted PS in controlled analyses. CONCLUSION The association of lower USMLE Step 1 scores with impostorism suggests that students' negative appraisal of their USMLE Step 1 performance can undermine self-confidence, which may adversely affect wellness and, in turn, contribute to burnout and impede identity formation as physicians.  This finding may guide the development of interventions to help students negotiate the transition from the preclinical to clinical phases of their training. Supported by the University of Kansas School of Medicine Academy of Medical Educators and NIH CTSA Award UL1TR002366.