Midwestern University’s Post

Increasing diverse representation among med students is an objective that can and should be accomplished with a variety of tactics, but where direct, race- or gender- specific outreach is being banned, institutions can focus their efforts on innovating the criteria sets that so often see historically excluded groups prevented entry and access. Personally, I'm inspired by the work the University of Manitoba has done to transform the admissions criteria to their critically important and highly competitive Masters of Physician Assistant program. You can read about their equitable innovations here, and be inspired to find ways to de-bias your own institution's program entry requirements. https://lnkd.in/gdvTtXs https://lnkd.in/gJVgucWt.

How can medical schools analyze and improve residency match rates, while streamlining the process? The short answer: Less time spent on MSPE data administration means more time to focus on ensuring students have the best chance of matching into their chosen residency specialty – a key measure of your #MedEd program’s success. The Medical School Performance Evaluation (MSPE) letter is a critical component in a student's #MedicalEducation journey – comprehensively evaluating the student's academic and professional performance during their undergraduate program. With the proper guidance, this document is instrumental in matching the student with the residency program that best fits their qualifications and aspirations; it can be the key to opening doors to a bright and promising future. This week on The Holistic Success Show: Tanja Adonizio, Associate Dean of Student Affairs at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine, shares lessons learned from a decade of innovation in adapting and fine-tuning the program’s MSPE process. Her goal with the MSPE improvements: a clear, concise, and valuable process that ensures transparency for everyone involved, while decreasing individual investment of time and supporting wellbeing. Watch the full episode to dive in: https://lnkd.in/eAuFP2Zx #HolisticSuccessShow #MedicalSchools #MedicalResidents #HigherEd

To better support first-time clinical learners, we partnered with UT Tyler's School of Medicine and integrated clinical reasoning curriculum in a flipped classroom environment early on. Learn how we can support your clerkship students too: https://lnkd.in/dymwEnqy To improve clinical preparedness and long-term retention, University of Texas at Tyler's School of Medicine is focusing on early integration of clinical reasoning skills and working to reinforce foundational science concepts throughout the clinical years. To address this challenge, UT Tyler placed Osmosis from Elsevier's Foundational Sciences and Clinical Sciences videos in each of their self-directed learning pods. “The feedback we're getting is that our students’ clinical reasoning is far beyond what we would expect for new third years, let alone for first years. That's been really impressive,” shares Dr. Andrea Cooley, DO, FACOS, Assistant Professor of Medical Education. Explore our partnerships with health education programs worldwide and start a conversation about how Osmosis from Elsevier can help achieve your clerkship program's goals at the link above. #learnbyosmosis Elsevier Health Education #academicsuccess #curricularsupport #clinicalsciences #clinicalrotations #clerkship #meded

I have some criticisms of this article. 1)     The authors failed to present any data except for two student cohorts (22-23 and 23-24) that entered after this new dean was hired. Without at least a few years of data from before the hiring of this new dean, it’s impossible to tell how unusual, if at all, recent student performance has been. 2)     There is a great deal of evidence that tremendous harm was done to student achievement in America during the pandemic. The possibility that these harms might follow students into graduate study is not a surprising one. We will be paying the bill for this for many years to come. 3)     This is very important: Their claims about UCLA’s drop in the US News and World Report medical school rankings is a very misleading one. It seems like going from being ranked 6th to being ranked 18th would be a disaster for what was once a top ten medical school. Rankings also seem like an objective measure. But if you actually look at the list (in US News and World Report), you’ll find that there are a lot of ties: 5 for 5th, 3 for 10th and 5 for 13th. UCLA is then tied with two other schools for 18th. Choosing to number the ordering of schools in this ranking in this way is purely arbitrary. US News just as easily could’ve decided to list 5 schools tied for 5th, 3 for 6th, 5 for 7th and 3 (including UCLA) for 8th. In general, I don’t think the decision to number the ordering of the school ranking in the way they did is very important. But in the context of this article, it is very important because they’re trying to make big claims about the harms being done to the quality of education at UCLA’s medical school as a consequence of DEI initiatives and they’re using this as evidence. Please don't be fooled.

An interesting article explains #social_accountability and its different aspects. The University of California, Riverside (UCR) School of Medicine in the USA was established to address significant health challenges in Inland Southern California, including a severe physician shortage and poor health outcomes. It is designed with unique social missions, reflected in the curriculum and student recruitment process. The development of the school was inspired by medical education situations in developing countries. https://lnkd.in/eZ2j6a68

By the time anyone reaches graduate school -- certainly medical school -- there should be no compelling reason to keep up the academic competition that might have been necessary to get into grad school in the first place. However, I was one of many students who found it difficult to "let go." I ruined a friendship with a childhood friend. You can read about my experience and recommendations on how to academically disengage in my most recent Op-Med posted on Doximity. #medicalschool #competition #friendships

Let’s keep the conversation going! 💬 Check out Usha Lee McFarling's article on how UC Davis School of Medicine overcame challenges to diversify its student body without considering race in admissions, despite California's affirmative action ban. Challenges UC Davis School of Medicine faced in diversifying admissions: 1. Wealth and educational inequities, high education costs, and reliance on standardized tests like the MCAT. 2. California’s 1996 affirmative action ban, which reduced admissions of Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous students. 3. Resistance from alumni, donors, and faculty concerned about rankings and MCAT scores. 4. Institutional pressures to maintain rankings and selective inclusion policies. 5. Unsupportive environments and discrimination faced by underrepresented students after admission. UC Davis's Response to Diversifying Admissions: 1. Shifted focus to socioeconomic factors, prioritizing grit and perseverance over MCAT scores. 2. Diversified admissions committee to reduce bias. 3. Offered $12 million in annual scholarships and fee waivers to 40% of students. 4. Created programs to admit students committed to serving underserved communities. 5. Provided holistic support through mentorship and inclusion initiatives. 6. Developed innovative programs, like a three-year primary care pathway, to encourage underrepresented students. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gvHMPdMQ #ConsortiumofDEIHealthEducators #DEI #HealthEquity #DiversityandInclusion #DiversifyingAdmissions

Promotion and Tenure Policies and Practices at U.S. Medical Schools: Is Tenure Irrelevant or More Relevant Than Ever? "Promotion and tenure (P&T) have been common mechanisms to support and nurture faculty at higher education institutions and, therefore, have been of continual interest to medical school faculty and administrators. In the last decade, significant changes in the academic medicine sector have occurred, including new medical schools, mergers and acquisitions of academic hospitals and health systems, and institutional and societal efforts to address systemic racism and inequality." In this article, William T. Mallon EdD and Natalya Cox, MPH, review the prevalence of tenure systems at U.S. MD-granting medical schools; trends in the use of such systems for full-time basic science and clinical faculty; models of including diversity, equity, and inclusion criteria in P&T standards; and alterations to introduce greater flexibility into the P&T process. Read the article here: https://ow.ly/cHit50Rv8iX. #academicmedicine #medicaleducation #promotion #tenure #faculty

In 2022, Tripp Umbach measured the economic impact of Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) and Old Dominion University (ODU) joining forces to become a more comprehensive university, combining academic and research programs at ODU. Now, EVMS and ODU are nearing the end of the process to bring their medical programs under one umbrella. #TurningIdeasIntoAction #EconomicImpact https://lnkd.in/erskNCZv

Given the great diversity of teaching methods, a strong staff-to-student ratio isn't an ideal proxy for good university teaching - but the data can be very useful in helping us to understand the kind of teaching environment a university can offer, suggesting the potential level of intimacy and access to teachers and adding to the bigger picture on the resources available for teaching. That's why Times Higher Education includes a metric on staff-student ratios among the 17 separate performance indicators used to create the THE World University Rankings - albeit with a low weighting. In the interests of transparency and the importance of disaggregating the composite ranking scores, the team at THE Student has pulled out the data and compiled this list of the world's top 100 universities with the best staff-student ratios. It is a fascinating list - noticeably dominated by medical schools and Japanese schools (where a rapidly declining youth population is of concern to the sector) - but the list is also full of world-renowned universities where an intimate and intense teaching environment is a real additional selling point. I'd highlight among stand-out schools with very favourable staff-student ratios from the US, Duke University and Vanderbilt University in joint 22nd with 3.9 students for every member of staff). Emory University in 25th and The Johns Hopkins University in 26th. Columbia University and Yale University in joint 39th (with 5.2 students per staff member). University of Pennsylvania takes 55th place (6.2) and Stanford University is in 60th (6.4). Outside specialist schools, including the world number one Brighton and Sussex Medical School, the UK is notable by its absence from the world top 100. In Denmark, the University of Copenhagen (Københavns Universitet) takes 30th place with 4.3 students per staff member. Bulgaria's Sofia University takes a top 100 position with its neighbour Medical University of Sofia, MUS, taking a top 50 spot. Take a look at the full list here: https://lnkd.in/etjt-BHq #topuniversities #theunirankings #teachingandlearning #teachingexcellence #unirankings