Laying the Groundwork: Enhancing Medical Student Preparedness Through Pre-Matriculation
and Mentoring
Presenters: Dyron Corley, Ed, and Stephanie Dearden, MA, Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine
[The following blog was generated by Doug McKell and Akshata Naik]
The final session of the IAMSE Fall 2024 webcast focused on enhancing medical student preparedness through pre-matriculation and mentoring programs. Dr. Dyron Corley and Ms. Stephanie Dearden from Rowan Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine discussed their three- week, free, in-person program for incoming students, which includes two curricular tracks: a) Synergistic Group Learning (SGL), which is lecture-based, and b) Problem-Based Learning (PBL), which is small group based. The program, funded by the medical school and federal work-study grants, is designed to facilitate incoming medical studentsā academic, social, and environmental adjustment, introduce them to the medical school curriculum, and begin the development of their metacognitive skills. The program’s effectiveness is evaluated using the LASSI inventory and final exam scores, demonstrating first-year medical studentsā improvement in anxiety reduction (stress) and learning how to apply effective study skills.
Dr. Corley described their three-week pre-matriculation program, which takes place in June before formal orientation at the start of the studentās first year. Usually, around 130 students attend this program, about 50% of the first-year entering class. He stressed that the program is built on a peer-to-peer model, fostering a strong sense of community and support. While some SOM faculty lecture about content-specific medical school topics, the pre-matriculation program primarily relies on well-qualified second year medical students to be content teachers and peer mentors. He emphasized that they wanted to establish interpersonal connections among the first-year medical students, based on the mentoring relationships demonstrated by their second-year medical students, and build relationships with the faculty and staff through large and small group interactions. He stressed that this support does not end upon completing the pre-matriculation program. The Office of Student Services continues to provide targeted interventions to those who are academically at risk and are identified as needing additional
continual support. To address this, they created the ālearning groups initiative,ā which allows them to follow the students needing support for the subsequent three blocks of the medical school career.
The pre-matriculation program relies on the leadership of previously successful first-year students as the driving force for its success through the abovementioned objectives and interventions. Established twenty years ago, this program was created to help students with their biochemistry preparation component because, at that time, this topic was not part of the MCAT, and the faculty needed to make sure that students were prepared for that content coming into medical school.
Dr. Corley stated that their pre-matriculation program has evolved into providing students a jumpstart in medical school and preparing them for the rigors of what they’ll experience in their first year. Their two-art core question is – What do we want our students to participate in to prepare them, and what do we want them to take away? He described the following Program Goals: The Pre-Matriculation Program will: 1. Facilitate the academic, social, and environmental adjustment of incoming first-year medical students. 2. Cultivate a safe and nurturing environment for incoming first-year medical students. 3. Establish inter-class connections and build relationships with faculty and staff. 4. Support retention efforts by providing targeted interventionsĀ to academically at-risk learners. Program Objectives after participating in the Pre- Matriculation program were that students should be able to: 1. Feel a sense of membership and belonging through supportive personal connections. 2. Demonstrate various study and metacognitive skills to become independent learners and navigate the necessary personal and environmental adjustments to medical school. 3. Engage in self-reflection and problem-solving to identify knowledge gaps and address continuing academic concerns. 4. Outline and explain key concepts related to Anatomy, Biochemistry, Histology, Microbiology, Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM), and Physiology within the framework of their respective curriculum.
Dr. Corley emphasized that the program and faculty want to cultivate a safe and nurturing environment for incoming students to practice goal-setting and self-reflection skills, assess the effectiveness of their learning and study habits, and improve the organization’s time management skills. They also want to establish individual class connections among students and build relationships with the faculty, staff, and other peers through large and small group interactions. Finally, they want to ensure the support did not end with the pre-matriculation program. So, in the support efforts, they want to ensure that the interventions targeted those who were academically at risk and identified the need for continual support.
Ms. Dearden then described the two groups of students participating in this pre-matriculation program, which were evenly divided in numbers between each group: Mandatory participation attendees based on application metrics, science GPA, biology MCAT Scoreābiology, and other factors, and Voluntary participation attendees choosing to attend to focus on alleviating study anxiety by increased preparedness for the academic and social rigors of medical school. She stressed that a carefully selected group of second-year OMS-II students serve as Teaching Assistants (TAs) and mentors in the pre-matriculation program and are essential to the programās success. Approximately 20 students were hired: ten from SGL and ten from PBL. All second-year medical student mentors must have a minimum overall pre-clerkship exam average of 82. They are responsible for the following activities: developing and delivering curriculum content, breaking down curriculum content, teaching transferrable skills related to
curriculum content, facilitating small group discussions, and providing group and 1:1 mentoring. They also create and proctor quizzes, exams, practicums, and facilitator evaluations. She pointed out that it is unusual for them to be part of the core faculty but that, in doing so, they provide powerful role models of success for the incoming students. Ms. Dearden emphasized that the selection process focuses on mentoring skills and personal stories, including selecting some second-year student mentors who struggled during their first year.
Ms. Dearden discussed the ongoing support efforts to make sure that this, and other student support programs, targeted the interventions to those who were academically at risk and identified the need for continual support. For the PBL group, they created the longitudinal learning groups initiative, which follows them for the subsequent three blocks of their medical school career. For students in the SGL group, it has been administratively easier to check on their progress and ensure they’re receiving the support they need to do well by providing weekly support and review sessions. Their program objectives focus on entering medical students and creating a strong sense of membership and belonging through supportive personal connections. One of the running themes of their program is to make sure that
students, their mentors, and the faculty and staff on campus are connected. She stresses that they also wanted to ensure students demonstrated metacognitive skills to become learners and navigate the necessary personal and environmental adjustments to medical school. They give them time to practice the skill sets that they would need to do well in medical school, such as engaging in self-reflection, problem-solving, identifying knowledge gaps, and not being afraid that if they have gaps, whether it’s knowledge or skill-building, we want them to cultivate a growth mindset.
Ms. Dearden reviewed the programās effectiveness as measured by the student’s performance in their first three blocks of curricula. The pre-matriculation participants demonstrated better organizational skills compared to non-participants. Data from the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) showed improved anxiety, attitude, information processing, self-testing, and time management. She also stated that the program had increased interest in voluntary attendance from entering students and a growing interest from faculty in presenting mini- lectures. However, as their program evolves, they have focused on reducing content to allow more practice and peer interaction, thereby increasing the one-on-one interactions. Finally, the pre-matriculation program intends to expand their second-year medical student TA training to incorporate more coaching techniques and more faculty input into the exams during the program.