Presented By: Margaret Hadinger, OnlineMedEd

Purpose 
Pre-matriculation programs have been shown to increase learners' preparation for the rigors of medical school. Such programs have been shown to be particularly helpful for students with a non-science undergraduate major, students with educational gaps, second-career students, and students who are underrepresented in medicine. However, these programs can be difficult to implement due to constraints on time, resources, faculty availability, and limited methods for content delivery. This has implications for schools that have historically matriculated a higher percentage of learners from these groups. 

Methods 
A multicampus COM partnered with an online learning platform to pilot an optional, asynchronous 4-week program with OMS-1 matriculants prior to the start of AY23-24. The goal of this pilot was to assess the feasibility of such a program and to determine potential impacts on student learning, confidence, and wellbeing. Content included biochemistry, genetics, metabolism, physiology, pharmacology, microbiology, immunology, and an introduction to OMM. Student usage was tracked and students were surveyed after the start of the academic year. 

Results 
Of the 400 students enrolled, 245 (56%) logged into the platform. Of those students that used the platform, 101 students (76%) completed at least 1 program lesson and 48 (36%) completed 5 or more lessons. Lesson completion increased from week 1 to week 2, was highest during week 2, and decreased through week 4, coinciding with the start of the academic year. Survey results indicated that participating students felt more prepared, more confident, and less stressed prior to the start of school. 

Conclusion 
Preliminary survey data and qualitative feedback point to the benefit of incorporating online resources into medical school pre-matriculation boot camp. Such resources have potential to add value for learners while reducing workload for faculty and administrators and are potentially extendable across multiple campuses sites.