RESUMEN
Problem: Medical students experience racial and sociopolitical trauma that disrupts their learning and wellbeing. Intervention: University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine students advocated for a systems approach to responding to traumatic events. Students partnered with educators to introduce an innovative protocol that affords short-term flexibility in curricular expectations (e.g., defer attendance, assignments, assessments) to empower students to rest, gather, or pursue community advocacy work. This study explored students' protocol utilization and student, staff, and faculty experience with its implementation. Context: UCSF is a public medical school with a diverse student body. Students raised the need to acknowledge the effects of trauma on their learning and wellbeing. Consequently, students and educators created the UCSF Racial and Sociopolitical Trauma protocol ('protocol') to allow students time-limited flexibility around academic obligations following events anticipated to inflict trauma on a school community level. The protocol affords students space to process events and engage with affected communities while ensuring all students achieve school competencies and graduation requirements. Impact: We conducted a two-phase mixed methods study: (1) retrospective analysis of quantitative data on students' protocol use and (2) focus groups with students, staff, and faculty. We used descriptive statistics to summarize students' protocol use to adjust attendance, assignment submission, and assessments and thematic analysis of focus group data. Across eight protocol activations June 2020 - November 2021, 357 of 664 (54%) students used it for 501 curricular activities: 56% (n = 198) for attendance, 71% (n = 252) for assignments, and 14% (n = 51) for assessments. When deciding to utilize the protocol, student focus group participants considered sources of restoration; impact on their curricular/patient responsibilities; and their identities. The protocol symbolized an institutional value system that made students feel affirmed and staff and faculty proud. Staff and faculty initially faced implementation challenges with questions around how to apply the protocol to curricular components and how it would affect their roles; however, these questions became clearer with each protocol activation. Questions remain regarding how the protocol can be best adapted for the clerkship setting. Lessons Learned: High protocol usage and focus group data confirmed that students found value in the protocol, and staff and faculty felt invested in the protocol mission. This student-initiated intervention supports a cultural shift beyond diversity toward trauma-informed medical education. Partnership among learners and educators can contribute to transforming learning and healthcare environments by enacting systems and structures that enable all learners to thrive.
RESUMEN
Coaching is increasingly implemented in medical education to support learners' growth, learning, and wellbeing. Data demonstrating the impact of longitudinal coaching programs are needed.We developed and evaluated a comprehensive longitudinal medical student coaching program designed to achieve three aims for students: fostering personal and professional development, advancing physician skills with a growth mindset, and promoting student wellbeing and belonging within an inclusive learning community. We also sought to advance coaches' development as faculty through satisfying education roles with structured training. Students meet with coaches weekly for the first 17 months of medical school for patient care and health systems skills learning, and at least twice yearly throughout the remainder of medical school for individual progress and planning meetings and small-group discussions about professional identity. Using the developmental evaluation framework, we iteratively evaluated the program over the first five years of implementation with multiple quantitative and qualitative measures of students' and coaches' experiences related to the three aims.The University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, developed a longitudinal coaching program in 2016 for medical students alongside reform of the four-year curriculum. The coaching program addressed unmet student needs for a longitudinal, non-evaluative relationship with a coach to support their development, shape their approach to learning, and promote belonging and community.In surveys and focus groups, students reported high satisfaction with coaching in measures of the three program aims. They appreciated coaches' availability and guidance for the range of academic, personal, career, and other questions they had throughout medical school. Students endorsed the value of a longitudinal relationship and coaches' ability to meet their changing needs over time. Students rated coaches' teaching of foundational clinical skills highly. Students observed coaches learning some clinical skills with them - skills outside a coach's daily practice. Students also raised some concerns about variability among coaches. Attention to wellbeing and belonging to a learning community were program highlights for students. Coaches benefited from relationships with students and other coaches and welcomed the professional development to equip them to support all student needs.Students perceive that a comprehensive medical student coaching program can achieve aims to promote their development and provide support. Within a non-evaluative longitudinal coach relationship, students build skills in driving their own learning and improvement. Coaches experience a satisfying yet challenging role. Ongoing faculty development within a coach community and funding for the role seem essential for coaches to fulfill their responsibilities.
