Academic and Social Acclimation of Medical Students Following a Prematriculation Program
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Academic and Social Acclimation of Medical Students Following a Prematriculation Program
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2016
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Transitioning to medical school is challenging. To help ease this transition, medical schools across the country have implemented summer online courses, supplemental instruction, and pre-matriculation programs. Pre-matriculation programs offer the unique opportunity to acclimate students to the academic rigor and culture of medical school. The University of Minnesota Medical School Duluth Campus offers a summer pre-matriculation program to students from disadvantaged backgrounds and underrepresented populations in medicine. The program coincides with the school’s mission to train students who are committed to practicing family medicine that serves rural Minnesota and American Indian communities. Through this program, students gain academic knowledge, study-skills, and a support-network of faculty and peers. Evaluation of scores on a microbiology concept inventory exam of participants before and after the pre-matriculation program compared to their peers showed academic gains of the participants. A focus group with pre-matriculation participants was conducted over three years to help evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the program. Interviews were conducted with non-participants, students who were invited to participate in the program but chose not to attend, in order to gain insight into strategies to improve participation in the program and observe differences between participants and non-participants. Focus groups were also conducted with peer mentors, participants from previous years who assisted the students during the program. Repeating first-year students were invited to attend and reported unique benefits of the program to returning students in a focus group. To assess the program’s impact on social and studying networks, social network analysis was conducted on three years of medical students to evaluate the impacts and longevity of connections made during the pre-matriculation program. The social network analysis also identified the unique studying and social networks of medical students. Evaluating the social networks, academic gains, and participant perception of the program will help the University of Minnesota Medical School Duluth Campus improve the pre-matriculation program and further support underrepresented students.
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University Honors Capstone Project Paper and Poster, University of Minnesota Duluth, 2016. Abigail Whitney authored paper and poster; Andrew Skildum, Anna Wirta Kosobuski, and Amy Prunuske authored poster.
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Funding was also provided by the undergraduate research opportunities program (UROP). Grant funding for the Pre-matriculation program was provided from the DHHS HRSA, BHPr Health Careers Opportunity Programs #D18HP10618.
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Skildum, Andrew; Kosobuski, Anna W; Prunuske, Amy; Whitney, Abigail. (2016). Academic and Social Acclimation of Medical Students Following a Prematriculation Program. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/195766.
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