How a Medical Education Master’s Program Promotes Student Resiliency and Success in Medical School

Abstract Body : Introduction and Objective:
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center’s (TTUHSC) Graduate Medical Education Sciences (GMES) Master’s degree is a 2-year non-thesis program (https://www.ttuhsc.edu/biomedical-sciences/program/graduate-medical-sciences.aspx) designed for students seeking additional preparation for medical school or teaching in the health professions. During the first year of study, GMES students are immersed with the first-year School of Medicine (SOM) class taking identical exams yet with a higher required passing standard. During their second year in the program, students serve as Teaching Assistants for the same blocks that were taken in year one and also develop a medical-education-related research project. Students in good standing are guaranteed an admissions interview with TTUHSC SOM in Lubbock and EL Paso. Graduates of this program historically have a high probability (>95%) of acceptance into medical school and often receive several offers. To examine how the GMES program impacts student success in medical school, we followed a cohort of Master’s students that matriculated in 2019, finished the GMES program under the limitations of the COVID pandemic and started medical school in 2021.
Materials & Methods:
In this study, we tracked the academic progress of 11 GMES graduates that entered TTUHSC SOM medical school in 2021. This class is of particular interest since they started medical school under an entirely new curriculum that also migrated from Categorical to Pass/Fail grading. We examined objective data (course grades and class rank) as well as subjective data (TA evaluations and self-reported student surveys).
Results:
Despite a major change in curriculum and a migration from Categorical to Pass/Fail grading, this class of GMES graduates scored markedly better (100%) in the 2021 Anatomy, Histology, Embryology (AHE) block of the new curriculum as compared to the 2019 block Clinically Oriented Anatomy (91% p=0.000047). In addition, they scored higher (100% vs 89% p=1.34 x 10-7) in AHE compared to first-year medical students. This trend continued throughout the year. GMES graduates scored higher in the second block (96% vs 88% p=0.005), in the third block (94% vs 87% p=0.0009), and the fourth block (93% vs 87% p=0.001) as compared to first-year medical students. It is important to note that blocks 2-4 in the new curriculum contains content not covered in the GMES program.
Conclusion:
The data presented demonstrate that this cohort of GMES graduates was highly successful in gaining admission to medical school and excelled academically. Subjective evaluations indicated that this cohort displayed increased confidence and self-reported decreased stress, potentially contributing to the observations that GMES graduates frequently function as peer leaders and student role models in the SOM.
Significance/Implication:
Most of the students in the cohort that was studied had a history of unsuccessful medical school applications. However, upon completion of the GMES program, 100% of the 2021 GMES class was accepted to medical school and they excelled academically. The observation that this cohort thrived under difficult circumstances (COVID pandemic, a new curriculum and grading system) infers that the GMES program teaches and promotes successful long-term self-directed learning strategies and resiliency.