United States

Background: Many post-graduate masters’ programs have been shown to benefit pre-medical students upon entering medical school, but there haven’t been any investigations into the improvement of medical knowledge with shorter, more concise programs tailored to the expectations and responsibilities of a medical student. A common trend in today’s medical school application process is first to obtain a master’s degree. Although this displays to medical programs the dedication, knowledge, and academic maturity of the applicant, these programs have narrow scopes of learning and have become a financial burden. The goal of the IMPRESS (Introduction to the Medical Profession: a Rotation to Empower Students) program was to expose pre-medical students to the academic and professional life of medical students, teaching both skills and knowledge to help increase their understanding of medicine. 

Methods: We collected data from 11 underrepresented undergraduate students from the inaugural class of the IMPRESS program. These students were exposed to a 4-week long course that involved clinical skills, research, and didactics. Prior to the start of the program, each student completed a pre-test, which assessed their level of clinical and medical knowledge. They were not given the answers and they didn’t have access to the questions after taking the pre-test. They subsequently completed the same test at the end of the program. 

Results: The median pre-test score was 54.5% (IQR 15.9%) and the median post-test score was 63.6% (IQR 6.8%), the p-value is calculated to be 0.01 using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. The median score increased by 9.1% following the four-week program.

Conclusion: Our findings show that exposing a student to a wide variety of medical school-based learning opportunities increases their medical knowledge in a short period of time. The benefit of the program is not limited to medical knowledge, but also exposes the students to clinical, practical, and research experience.


2023 AMA Research Challenge

Impact on medical knowledge after an immersive pathway program for the underrepresented community

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Welcome to the **largest national, multi-specialty research** event featuring research from nearly 700 medical students, residents, fellows, and international medical graduates.

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#### Event Details

The 2023 American Medical Association Research Challenge includes a poster symposium hall and a semifinals hall with the top scored research. **Log in at any time throughout the event to:**

* **View posters and presentations** on a variety of topics and specialties
* **Score posters in the semifinals** to help decide the top five finalists (AMA member exclusive opportunity)
* **Connect with participants** and provide feedback to help advance their research
* **Attend education sessions** with physician experts on key research topics

At the conclusion of this event, the AMA will announce the top five finalists who will advance to the AMA Research Challenge finals, present their research to an elite panel of judges, and compete to win a $10,000 grand prize sponsored by Laurel Road. 

### Grand Prize Sponsor

AMA would like to thank Laurel Road for sponsoring a $10,000 grand prize for the winner of the AMA Research Challenge. Laurel Road is not involved in the judging or scoring process to select the winner. The winner will be announced on February 4, 2024 during the AMA Research Challenge finals. Payment of the grand prize will be directly from Laurel Road. See the AMA Research Challenge Official Rules for terms and conditions.

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Register to explore research in a variety of topics. AMA members get exclusive access to score posters in the semifinals.

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Registration Is Required

Join the AMA Research Challenge poster symposium and semifinals to explore top research posters, score posters in the semifinals (an AMA member exclusive opportunity) and attend education sessions with experienced physicians to learn tips to advance your research and career. 

Abstract Title: Addressing a key gap in medical school curriculum: Promoting education on care of patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities at UMass Chan Medical School
Background: The population of individuals living with an intellectual or developmental disability (I/DD) in the U.S. has been increasing with advances in health care, but many medical schools are just beginning to train physicians on how to care for this growing population. These patients will inevitably navigate numerous medical offices, including primary care offices, specialty clinics, and the inpatient wards. Medical schools across the country have started to incorporate education on caring for individuals with I/DD into the core curriculum, and in 2022, the UMass Chan Medical School partnered with Operation House Call (OHC), a program under the Arc of Massachusetts, to establish integrated education on this topic.

Methods: After an OHC educational program was piloted as an elective course at UMass in 2021, it was fully integrated into the curriculum for first-year medical students in 2022 with multi- departmental financial support. The OHC experience includes three key components: (1) a large group didactic session on caring for patients with I/DD (2) a virtual home visit to a patient with I/DD and his or her family (3) an open-ended reflection submitted to a shared forum.

Results: OHC is now a required program for UMass Chan medical students and will continue for future classes. The program is currently being evaluated via analysis of recurring themes and trends in student reflections. Our team is currently developing a standardized survey to evaluate students’ knowledge development, attitudes, confidence in working with people with I/DD, and overall satisfaction with the experience to optimize the current curriculum.

Conclusion: OHC is undergoing formal evaluation with pre and post survey analysis for the upcoming academic year to assess student attitudes and perceptions before and after participating in the new curriculum. Post experience surveys are beginning to be analyzed for common themes from the 2022-2023 academic year. There are plans to convert to an in-person home visit model for the 2023-2024 academic year, and to include a final group session for reflection and discussion to the curriculum.

Addressing a key gap in medical school curriculum: Promoting education on care of patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD)

Background: Trauma informed care (TIC) is an approach to clinical care centering how trauma affects patients, especially those in marginalized communities. TIC has been shown to improve psychobehavioral outcomes and increase trust between patients and clinicians. Despite the evidence for TIC’s role in patient-centered care, there is a gap in teaching TIC within medical education, particularly with an intersectional lens. To address this, we sought to develop, implement, and evaluate a TIC elective course. 

Methods: Through literature review and collaboration with faculty and community experts in TIC, we identified six intersectional topics for the 8-week course: sexual assault/trafficking, domestic violence, healthcare-induced trauma, state sanctioned violence, displacement trauma, and neighbourhood violence. Each class focused on one topic, with the first and last class consisting of an introduction to a trauma-informed care framework and medical student presentations, respectively. Teaching methodologies included traditional lecture, restorative discussion circles, and a case-based learning format incorporating dialogue with faculty/community TIC experts. 15 preclinical medical students participated. A nested mixed methods approach was used to evaluate the elective. Quantitative data included pre/post surveys with Likert-type questions on trauma-informed care knowledge and attitudes (Attitudes Related to Trauma-Informed Care, ARTIC). Qualitative data was collected through a focus group nested at the end of the course to explore students’ perspectives on the elective. 

Results: There was a significant increase of 29.0% in mean self-reported knowledge of TIC (p<0.001). There was a significant increase of 7.4% in ARTIC scores (p<0.05). Four themes emerged from focus group analysis: (1) need for consistent TIC teaching, practice, and assessment in primary medical education curricula, (2) importance of learning an intersectional TIC framework for understanding and responding to trauma, (3) appreciation for an interactive case-based discussion format and use of restorative circles, and (4) balance of teaching from academic medical faculty and community TIC experts. 

Conclusion: Evaluation of this skills-based, community-oriented TIC elective course showed improvement in medical students’ TIC knowledge and attitudes. Students shared positive feedback regarding the pedagogical approach utilized. They emphasized the need for this intersectional approach to TIC as a required part of medical education. The efficacy of TIC incorporation in medical education may be improved through use of more interactive teaching styles and an intersectional framework, with multiple opportunities to practice TIC skills. This may ensure that students can successfully utilize TIC in patient interactions now and in the future.

Transforming Medical Education: 
Intersectional Approaches to Trauma-Informed Care

Infertility impacts 1 in 4 female physicians which is twice a s high in comparison to the women in the general population. As the proportion of women in the medical workforce
continues to rise, it becomes crucial to address reproductive health issues for female physicians. This study aims to a s s e s s medical students' knowledge of fertility, risk factors for infertility, and available treatment options.

Assessing Medical Students' Understanding of Fertility and Infertility: Implications for Physician Well-being and Reproductive Health

**Scoring is only possible in the semifinals hall**

**Abstract:**



The Neurological Examination: Overcoming Language Barriers to Increase Access to Patient-Directed Neurologic Care


Background
Extensive research has been done on the necessity of DEI in the medical profession, particularly its benefits in increasing cultural awareness in physicians. However, there is very little in the literature about how medical students and new trainees’ view DEI events put on in medical schools, and the impact of these events in their personal journey towards becoming well-rounded physicians. This research study serves to examine the impact of DEI training in medical schools from the perspectives of medical students and first year residents. 

Methods
A cross sectional survey of medical students and first-year residents was conducted. A 17-question survey was constructed using a Likert-type Scale (Figure 1). The survey was disseminated via email, and on messaging platforms commonly such as discord and GroupMe. Survey results were stratified into three parts-exposure to DEI events and medical students and resident responses respectively. Statistical analyses were performed on these data sets via two sample t-tests and Pearson correlation coefficients. 

Results
Data analyses of student responses showed positive correlations between DEI events and improved cultural awareness and confidence in caring for diverse patient populations. On the other hand there was a negative correlation between DEI training and its usefulness in the post-graduate training setting. This seems to suggest that while medical students feel DEI events may be beneficial to their training, that impact is greatly diminished during residency training. 

Conclusion
The impact of DEI on medical student and resident training is a challenging parameter to quantify. However the efficacy of these events in medical training must be elicited to understand which events have more impact on the trainees, and which might better serve them as they provide optimal, culturally sensitive, patient-centered care. The goal is to provide medical trainees with the necessary DEI tools to care for a wide variety of patients, and to produce well-rounded physicians with whom patients can better relate.

Medical Students and Residents’ Perspectives on the 
Impact of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Events during Medical Training

Background 

Despite the prevalence of sexual health-related issues, only half of medical schools in the United States necessitate formal education in sexual medicine. The lack of standard guidelines leaves trainees unprepared to handle sexual health, undermining the quality of overall healthcare.1 This deficit disproportionately impacts women, gender minorities, and the LGBTQIA+ community. 

To address this, we developed a structured, week-long educational initiative, 'Sex Positivity Week' (SPW). This student-led program aimed to address these gaps in formal curriculum, focusing on sexual health of marginalized communities. 



Methods 

SPW is a week of student-run and professional-taught workshops and lectures on topics including birth control, gender and sexual diversity, sexually transmitted infections, sex work, mental health, and anatomy. 

One week before SPW 2022, preclinical students were invited to complete a voluntary, anonymous survey that utilized a 6-point Likert scale (strongly agree to strongly disagree) to assess self-reported comprehension of sexual health and positivity before and during medical school. After SPW 2022, students were sent the same survey with additional questions about SPW 2022’s impact. Data was analyzed with SPSS.   



Results 

In the first survey, 79% of students reported not having an LGBTQIA+ inclusive education prior to medical school, and 34.2% and 55.2% of students felt uninformed about women’s sexual health and non-heteronormative sex, respectively. 

Responses reflected perceived inadequacy of the required curriculum. 62% of students agreed the curriculum failed to make them feel knowledgeable about sexual health needs of LGBTQIA+ patients, and 78.2% and 65.6% of students disagreed that the curriculum educated them on non-heteronormative sex practices and female patient needs, respectively. 

Following SPW, 96% of students agreed they learned more about sexual health from SPW than from the required curriculum . 94% and 96% of students agreed SPW made them feel more knowledgeable about women’s health and LGBTQIA+ sexual health topics, respectively. Furthermore, 96% of students reported they felt more comfortable speaking about LGBTQIA+ sexual health topics, and 94% of students agreed they felt more comfortable discussing birth control options with patients. 



Conclusion 

Medical students report poor understanding of LGBTQIA+ and female sexual health before medical school. This poor understanding persists with current curriculum standards. Following SPW, students felt more knowledgeable about sexual health and more comfortable discussing it. This study identifies a gap in medical school education regarding sexual health of LGBTQIA+ and female populations, and an improved reported understanding of these topics following implementation of inclusive sexual health education delivered through SPW. 







References: 



Beebe S, Payne N, Posid T, et al. The Lack of Sexual Health Education in Medical Training Leaves Students and Residents Feeling Unprepared. J Sex Med. 2021;18(12):1998-2004. doi:10.1016/j.jsxm.2021.09.011

Improving Future Provider Understanding of LGBTQIA+ and Women’s Health Through a Novel Curriculum Enhancement Model for Sexual Health Education in Medical School

Background
Trauma-informed care (TIC) is an approach that assumes every patient has probably experienced some traumatic event in their lifetime. Studies have shown that 63% - 89% of people living in the United States have experienced at least one traumatic event in their lifetime, which is evidence that supports the importance of this assumption. TIC is also an approach that recognizes common signs and symptoms of trauma that a patient may present with, such as dissociation, hypervigilance, or self-harm. Furthermore, TIC acknowledges that past traumas could still influence patients' current lives regarding their mental, physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being. For example, trauma can lead to the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which has been associated with an increased risk of chronic mental and physical health conditions such as substance use, depression and anxiety, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Trauma-informed care integrates these ideas and overall knowledge of trauma into practice and policy so that practitioners can proactively avoid retraumatizing patients while providing patients with the care they need.

Methods 
To promote the use of trauma-informed care by medical students at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (UCCOM), we decided to incorporate it into the preclinical curriculum. We revised the instructional packets used to teach physical exam skills to first-year medical students within the clinical skills course. These revisions included revised informational packets that included suggestions for how to drape patients during exams, how to approach sensitive topics or exam maneuvers, and other TIC practices. At the beginning of the academic year, first-year students were asked to respond to the statement “I feel confident in my ability to provide trauma-informed care.” Responses were based on a 5-point Likert scale from strongly agree (5) to strongly disagree (1). 

Results
After the introduction to TIC through the clinical skills course materials, the number of students who responded “agree” or “strongly agree” (likert rating of 4 or 5, respectively) increased from 20% to 76%. Additionally, the number of students who responded “disagree” or “strongly disagree” (likert rating of 2 or 1, respectively) decreased from 57.5% to 16%. The average rating increased from 2.45 to 3.76.

Conclusion
Students reported overall increased confidence in their abilities to provide trauma-informed care after exposure to TIC practices and suggestions during their preclinical courses. Based on these results, we intend to continue the integration of TIC into the preclinical curriculum for the upcoming academic year and hope to elicit more student feedback using existing evaluations collected by UCCOM for further improvement.

Incorporating Trauma-Informed Care into the Preclinical Curriculum

Background: After the COVID-19 pandemic, social media has become exponentially more important for attracting fellowship applicants. Virtual interviews have made it difficult for applicants to learn about aspects of a program, such as the culture of the program, appearance of the hospital, and what the city has to offer. Social media can bridge that gap for many fellowship programs. It also gives programs the opportunity to show how they are unique and connect with applicants on a personal level. We sought to evaluate the presence of social media across allergy and immunology fellowship programs in the United States and determine if it is being effectively used to attract applicants to the field and their program. 

Methods: A comprehensive list of all allergy and immunology fellowships offered in the United States was compiled via the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology website and the AMA FREIDA Fellowship database. Subsequently, a search was performed for each fellowship's social media presence on Twitter and Instagram, in addition to YouTube for a recruitment video. For programs that did not have a specific fellowship social media account, the department account was used if there was fellowship prevalent content being shared. An additional search was performed to evaluate if each program had an active up-to-date website with information for applicants. Further analysis was subsequently performed looking at the number of followers and the total number of posts on both instagram and twitter. Microsoft Excel was subsequently used to analyze the data and perform descriptive statistics. 

Results: Based on the analysis, the social media platform most utilized by allergy and immunology fellowship programs was YouTube via recruitment videos (27.92%). This is followed by Twitter (15.22%) and lastly Instagram (5.81%). A majority of fellowship programs were found to have an actively updated website (95.34%). In comparing Twitter vs. Instagram followers, Twitter was the more popular platform of choice displaying an average of 415 followers per allergy and immunology fellowship program. Meanwhile, Instagram displayed an average of 257 followers.

Conclusion: Social media can be an effective tool to help applicants learn more about programs and to distribute information quickly. However, it is being severely underutilized by many fellowship programs in the era of virtual interviews. It is imperative that graduate medical education departments remain current with trends in social media to maintain and keep an active professional presence on easily accessible platforms. 


The Utilization of Social Media in Allergy & Immunology Fellowship Programs

Background: Social media (SoMe) has revolutionized the way people communicate and transformed various aspects of modern life. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated reduced in person interaction and the ACGME recommended a shift to virtual residency interviews. This shift increased the reliance of residency programs and medical school graduates on SoMe for recruitment and information. This study aims to determine the impact of social media during the anesthesiology residency application cycle and characterize the content that anesthesiology residency programs can use to most effectively optimize programs’ ability to recruit applicants.
Methods: This project was approved by the Augusta University Institutional Review Board. An anonymous online survey was distributed to residency program directors and coordinators at all US ACGME-accredited anesthesiology residency programs for dissemination to their residents. This 17-question survey was created on Qualtrics and included questions regarding demographics, current PGY year, type of medical degree, interview type, social media use, and social media impact. Microsoft Excel was used to perform descriptive statistics and t-tests where applicable. Responses were summarized using frequencies and percentages for categorical data. The chi-square test (or Fisher exact test, as appropriate) was used to examine the association between categorical variables. Theme analysis was used for the open-ended questions.

Results: A total of 109 respondents completed the survey. Respondents were similarly distributed among the four PGY years. Participants under 30 years older were significantly more likely to look at SoMe while applying for residency compared to individual older than 35 years old (p<0.01). Female respondents used Instagram significantly more often than males, and males used YouTube and Reddit significantly more often than females (p < 0.05). Participants primarily sought information regarding program culture (58%) and lifestyle (50%) from SoMe. Regarding improving efficacy of SoMe outreach, common themes identified include resident-made content, using different elements of SoMe posts to increase engagement, and increasing accessibility to SoMe via increasing number of platforms.

Conclusion: This study presents a national analysis of SoMe impact on the anesthesiology residency application process. To cultivate a more purposeful approach to SoMe usage among anesthesiology residency programs, a meticulous examination of the content that is most beneficial to residency applicants is paramount. This study underscores the importance of using social media’s original "social" function by crafting posts that spotlight program culture and residency lifestyle in a clear and welcoming manner, all with the goal of engaging and appealing to anesthesiology residency applicants.

Making Social Media “Social” May Improve Anesthesiology Residency Program Outreach

Background
While substantial progress has been made toward gender parity in dermatology, significant gender gaps remain in Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS). Less than one-third of US Mohs surgeons are women, compared to 52% of dermatologists and 37% of all physicians. Fellowship directors (FDs) play a pivotal role in shaping the future of MMS through direct mentorship and advocacy of subspecialty-wide changes. Characterizing FDs in terms of gender, research productivity, and career timeline have yielded crucial insights into mitigating future inequities. Presently, studies characterizing FDs within MMS are lacking. Herein, we aimed to explore gender trends in MMS FDs and fellows over time and analyze FD characteristics to provide a framework for improving gender diversity.

Methods
We compiled a comprehensive list of FDs and fellows for all Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education–accredited Micrographic Surgery & Dermatologic Oncology programs from 1996 to 2023. Publicly available data from various internet sources from February 1, 2023 to May 30, 2023 were used to assess characteristics of MMS FDs, including gender, research productivity, program type, educational background, and career timeline. Student’s t-test, Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, and linear regression were used for statistical analysis.

Results
From 1996 to 2023, the percentage of women fellows increased from 24% to 43% and women FDs increased from 6% to 25%. Women FDs were more likely to select women fellows than men FDs (p=0.0002). Six residency programs accounted for 32% of current FDs, and 10 fellowship programs accounted for nearly 50% of current FDs. Women FDs had fewer years between fellowship completion and FD appointment (9.1 ± 4.7 years) compared to men (13.6 ± 8.8 years; p = 0.036). Women FDs also had fewer years of practice (18.3 ± 6.8 years) compared to men (24.2 ± 10.8 years; p = 0.030). H-index, program type, and academic rank were similar between men and women FDs.

Conclusion
Earlier involvement in academic leadership for women Mohs surgeons is a promising predictor of gender equality on the trainee level, though gender diversity of FDs must be improved. Limitations of this study include that our methods did not account for non-binary genders; thus, the collected data may not be entirely representative of the study population. Future studies should explore ethnic/racial representation in MMS leadership. Such endeavors will propel the field towards building a more representative medical community that delivers the best patient care.

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Addressing a key gap in medical school curriculum: Promoting education on care of patients with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD)