Moderated by Alice Fornari

PRESENTATION 1 - A Novel Framework for Teaching Skills Training During the Preclerkship Phase of Medical School    
Kian Habashi   
Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV

PURPOSE The ability to teach colleagues and patients is an important skill for medical professionals to acquire. However, teaching skills training is often not a required element of undergraduate medical curricula, especially in the preclinical years (1-5). Our team developed a teaching skills framework and assessed the impact on teaching skills development during the Preclerkship phase of the curriculum.

METHODS First year medical students were introduced to the teaching skills framework during Orientation through video lessons on the following five competencies: Learning objectives, Lesson complexity, Audience engagement, Relevance to practice, and Resource selection. Students practiced these competencies weekly through the creation and presentation of learning issues (LIs) for Problem-based learning (PBL) tutorial sessions. The first 4 weeks following Orientation, PBL facilitators used a rubric created to assess the level of performance for each competency and provide immediate feedback to each student. Students earned a score of 0-2 for each of the five competencies. Thereafter, use of the rubric was optional. The same rubric was then used at weeks 8 and 12 to assess continued presence of competency performance.

RESULTS Over the first 4 weeks, mean scores rose for the following competencies: learning objectives - 1.07 to 1.98, complexity - 1.53 to 1.92, engagement - 1.39 to 1.7, relevance - 1.53 to 1.79, and resources - 1.74 to 1.92. At weeks 8, mean score ranged from 1.68 to 1.8. And at week 12, mean scores raged from 1.66 to 1.91.

CONCLUSION These score increases over the first 4 weeks demonstrate an increase in student implementation of the teaching strategies taught through purposeful practice and targeted feedback. The persistent score ranges at weeks 8 & 12 demonstrate continued presence over time. Additional measures would be needed to assess if these skills carry over to Clerkship phase teaching tasks and beyond.

PRESENTATION 2 - A Master Program Enhances Medical Student Diversity and Its Gpa Predicts Success in Medical School    
McKenna Griffin    
Touro University Nevada College of Osteopathic Medicine 

PURPOSE Matriculation into medical school requires students to obtain a specific score on the MCAT and a GPA of 3.5-4.0. To increase student diversity and help unsuccessful students in this endeavor, Touro University Nevada (TUN) created a Master of Health Sciences (MHS) program with a rigorous curriculum to better prepare students for medical school. In addition to determining the contribution of the MHS program to diversity in medical school, this study aims to determine whether the MHS GPA is a good predictor of success in medical school.

METHODS MHS GPA, OMS 1 and 2 GPAs, and Board Scores (COMLEX 1 and 2CE) from five TUN cohorts (2015-2019) were analyzed using Fisher's exact tests or simple linear regressions. Fisher's exact test determined the association between MHS students' success rate on COMLEX I and COMLEX 2CE. A simple linear regression evaluated the association between MHS and/or DO GPA and standardized exam scores.

RESULTS The strongest predictor of COMLEX 1 score on the first attempt was MHS GPA (slope=288, SE=51, p>0.001; r2=0.43), not DO GPA (slope=37, SE=102, p=0.73; r2>0.01). For the COMLEX 2CE, the reverse was true, where the MHS GPA was a poor predictor of final score (slope=150, SE=88, p=0.10; r2=0.05) and the DO GPA a better predictor (slope=161, SE=14, p>0.001; r2=0.30). MHS GPA was a moderately strong predictor of DO GPA in the first (slope=0.82, SE=0.38, p=0.05; r2=0.20) and second (slope=1.24, SE=0.44, p=0.02; r2=0.37) years.

CONCLUSION The MHS GPA is a statistically significant predictor of success in the first and second years of medical school. Moreover, the MHS GPA is a strong predictor of COMLEX 1 scores. Since no clinical experience exposure in the MHS program occurs, MHS GPA does not correlate with the COMLEX 2CE. Although a more comprehensive analysis is still underway, the preliminary data indicate that MHS students contribute considerably to diversity at TUN.

PRESENTATION 3 - Improved Reflective Capacity in Third-year Medical Students During a Two-week Professional Development Course    
Nicole Michels    
Rocky Vista University

PURPOSE The COVID-19 pandemic made a significant impact on medical education, triggering substantial changes in both classroom and clinical learning environments. Students experienced rapid shifts and uncertainties in their education as a result. At Rocky Vista University, we developed a Critical Reflection and Professional Development (CRPD) course to enhance reflective capacity (RC) and foster students' response skills to changing practice environments.

METHODS The CRPD course was delivered over two-weeks to 3rd year medical students. The goal was to provide students with critical reflection skills to effectively navigate clinical practice during the pandemic and shape professional identity formation. Topics within the course included resiliency, coping skills, dealing with mistakes, identifying bias, value explorations, and support systems. Changes in RC were assessed pre- and post-course via anonymous responses to the Reflective Practice Questionnaire (RPQ), a reliable 40 item self-reported measure of RC.

RESULTS 158 paired pre- and post-course responses showed a moderate to crucially important increase in RC at the conclusion of the course (r=0.40, p>0.0001). Subscales of RC include reflection in action, reflection on action, reflection with other, and self-appraisal. Students' general confidence, confidence communicating, and stress interacting with patients also increased moderately. Uncertainty and job satisfaction showed no change during the course, while desire for improvement decreased. Scores on each of the latter six non-reflection subscales correlated moderately with RC scores.

CONCLUSION The CRPD course increased students' RC when measured in pre- and post-surveys. This increase, in addition to changes in the other reflection sub-scales, indicates the course met the primary goal of fostering skills for critical reflection. Additional investigation is needed to determine how students utilize reflection after course completion.

PRESENTATION 4 - Using a Project Management Approach in Design and Development of the Curriculum Inventory    
Mari Hopper    
Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine

PURPOSE: A well-designed curriculum inventory (CI) has become a powerful tool for M.D. and D.O. Medical Schools to ensure continuous quality by tracking content, structure, delivery, and assessment of curricula. The process a medical school undergoes to create their CI is commonly referred to as mapping, and a functional map provides the ability to access data to answer essential questions related to curricular content, resource utilization, faculty workload, accreditation, and much more. Medical schools often design their map to align with and upload to the AAMC CI portal to benchmark their curriculum in reference to national aggregates. Although a number of private vendors have committed to following the AAMC CI technical standards, each vendor offers a different customizable product so that intricacies of individual school curricula may be captured. Development of CI platforms hosted by a vendor requires instructional technology expertise and may impede the progress of a school without the appropriate technical expertise to communicate and advance the customization process. As many find CI development to be a challenging, lengthy, and often a frustrating endeavor, the primary aim is to assist others by reviewing and discussing collaborative CI development at multiple medical schools.

METHODS: In light of the opportunities and challenges in producing a well-designed CI, a project management approach was utilized to 1) initiate; 2) plan; 3) execute; and 4) assess the launch of a CI designed to track a complex four-year undergraduate curricula at large medical school located in the Midwest.

RESULTS: Here, we share a strategic plan and success of a project management approach as well collaboration efforts across multiple medical school programs.

CONCLUSIONS: Discussion will include experiences, best practices, pitfalls, strategies and resources available to assist other programs in developing and refining a highly functional curriculum map that is compliant with the AAMC CI.