A small-group activity to enhance learning of cardiovascular drugs for health science students.

This small-group activity provides two cases in cardiovascular pharmacology to engage students in a medical or other health professions curriculum. The goal of this activity is to apply students' basic knowledge of physiology and pharmacology to clinical case scenarios. Students were provided with the cases 1 week in advance and were encouraged to use their lecture notes and/or other references of their choosing to answer as many of the questions as possible and prepare to discuss the answers with their classmates at the session. Facilitators were provided with detailed notes and a video that explain the answers and provide suggestions for engaging and challenging the students. For the 2021 academic year, 201 students (139 first-year medical students and 62 second-year pharmacy students) at UC San Diego participated in the small-group activity. Eighteen facilitators were recruited to lead this 110-min session. Students' performance was assessed on the final exam of their integrated cardiovascular physiology-pharmacology course. Students achieved 84% (SD 17.54) on questions related to the small-group session compared to 78% (SD 15.60) on other cardiovascular pharmacology questions not related to the activity. Student perceptions of the facilitators leading the small-group activity were very positive (average of 4.7 on a 5-point Likert Scale). Using this approach, we demonstrate that a small-group activity with clinical scenarios helps students master the pharmacology content related to cardiovascular drugs. The small-group activity included constructed response questions to foster conceptual understanding.

A summer prematriculation program to help students succeed in medical school.

Medical schools with a diverse student body face the challenge of ensuring that all students succeed academically. Many medical schools have implemented prematriculation programs to prepare students from diverse backgrounds; however, evidence on their impact is largely lacking. In this study, we analyzed participants' demographics as well as the impact of the prematriculation program on Year 1 performance. Predictive validity of the program was assessed and compared to other traditional predictors, including grade point average (GPA) and Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores and subscores. Linear mixed effect models determined the impact of the prematriculation program, and linear regression analysis assessed the predictive value of the overall score in the prematriculation program and other traditional predictors. Demographics of students participating in the prematriculation program from 2013 to 2015 (n = 75) revealed a significantly higher prevalence of academically disadvantaged students including older students, students with lower GPA and MCAT scores and students of racial and ethnic populations that are underrepresented in medicine, compared to non-participants (n = 293). Participants performed significantly better in Year 1 courses that were covered in the prematriculation program compared to courses that were not covered. The overall performance in the prematriculation program correlated significantly with Year 1 performance and was found to be a strong predictor for Year 1 performance. This study suggests that a prematriculation program can help students to succeed in the first year of medical school. The results have implications for medical schools seeking to implement or evaluate the effectiveness of their prematriculation program.