Utilizing learning communities to deliver an integrated undergraduate medical education curriculum. 2022

Chi Braunreiter, and Sathyanarayan Sudhanthar, and Brad Riley, and Kelly Armstrong, and Brian Mavis, and Jonathan Gold
College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Grand Rapids, MI, USA.

OBJECTIVE Learning communities (LCs) have been identified as a structure to support student wellness as well as create a positive learning environment and have been increasingly adopted in undergraduate medical education (UGME). In 2016, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine made curricular changes which integrated basic, social, and clinical sciences. One of the major strategies adopted to deliver this integrated curriculum was to create LCs that served as a central scaffold for students' academic development. Our primary aim is to describe how the school utilized LC faculty to deliver this core integrated curriculum. METHODS Students were surveyed about their perceptions of the effectiveness of the LCs in delivering an integrated science curriculum. Student academic performance in the new curriculum was compared to that of students from the legacy curriculum as a measure of the effectiveness of the curricular changes. RESULTS The percentage of students in each class who responded to surveys ranged between 78.7% and 95.8%. Mean Likert responses (1 = strongly disagree; 5 = strongly agree) for statements 'the Faculty Fellow is effective in helping me learn the scholar group content', 'the Faculty Fellow is an effective teacher in our scholar group', and 'the Faculty Fellow is well prepared for our scholar group' ranged from 4.37 to 4.78, 4.72 to 4.76, and 4.81 to 4.86, respectively. In addition, a comparison of summative exam scores of the new curriculum's students to the legacy curriculum's students demonstrated comparable or better performances in the new curriculum. CONCLUSIONS Utilizing LCs to deliver an integrated science curriculum is an underutilized strategy in UGME. Surveys on student satisfaction and academic performance are encouraging. Additional outcome measures are planned to continually evaluate this innovative multifaceted integration.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007858 Learning Relatively permanent change in behavior that is the result of past experience or practice. The concept includes the acquisition of knowledge. Phenomenography
D003479 Curriculum A course of study offered by an educational institution. Curricula,Short-Term Courses,Course, Short-Term,Courses, Short-Term,Short Term Courses,Short-Term Course
D004504 Education, Medical, Undergraduate The period of medical education in a medical school. In the United States it follows the baccalaureate degree and precedes the granting of the M.D. Medical Education, Undergraduate,Education, Undergraduate Medical,Undergraduate Medical Education
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D013337 Students, Medical Individuals enrolled in a school of medicine or a formal educational program in medicine. Medical Student,Medical Students,Student, Medical
D014495 Universities Educational institutions providing facilities for teaching and research and authorized to grant academic degrees. University

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