Defining Learning Communities in Undergraduate Medical Education: A National Study

BACKGROUND: Learning communities (LCs) are intentionally designed groups that are actively engaged in learning with and from each other. While gaining prominence in US medical schools, LCs show significant variability in their characteristics across institutions, creating uncertainty about how best to measure their effects. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to describe the characteristics of medical school LCs by primary purpose, structures, and processes and lay the groundwork for future outcome studies and benchmarking for best practices. METHODS: Medical school LC directors from programs affiliated with the Learning Communities Institute (LCI) were sent an online survey of program demographics and activities, and asked to upload a program description or summary of the LC's purpose, goals, and how it functions. Descriptive statistics were computed for survey responses and a qualitative content analysis was performed on program descriptions by 3 authors to identify and categorize emergent themes. RESULTS: Of 28 medical school LCs surveyed, 96% (27) responded, and 25 (89%) provided program descriptions for qualitative content analysis. All programs reported longitudinal relationships between students and faculty. Most frequently cited objectives were advising or mentoring (100%), professional development (96%), courses (96%), social activities (85%), and wellness (82%). Primary purpose themes were supporting students' professional development, fostering a sense of community, and creating a sense of wholeness. Structures included a community framework, subdivisions into smaller units, and governance by faculty and students. Process themes included longitudinal relationships, integrating faculty roles, and connecting students across class years. CONCLUSIONS: Medical school LCs represent a collection of high-impact educational practices characterized by community and small-group structures, relational continuity, and collaborative learning as a means to guide and holistically support students in their learning and development as physicians. In describing 27 medical school LCs, this study proposes a unifying framework to facilitate future educational outcomes studies across institutions.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Changing medical students’ perception of the evaluation culture: Is it possible?

Student feedback is a critical component of the teacher-learner cycle. However, there is not a gold standard course or clerkship evaluation form and limited research on the impact of changing the evaluation process. Results from a focus group and pre-implementation feedback survey coupled with best practices in survey design were used to improve all course/clerkship evaluation for academic year 2013-2014. In spring 2014 we asked all subjected students in University of Utah School of Medicine, United States of America to complete the same feedback survey (post-implementation survey). We assessed the evaluation climate with 3 measures on the feedback survey: overall satisfaction with the evaluation process; time students gave effort to the process; and time students used shortcuts. Scores from these measures were compared between 2013 and 2014 with Mann-Whitney U-tests. Response rates were 79% (254) for 2013 and 52% (179) for 2014. Students’ overall satisfaction score were significantly higher (more positive) post-implementation compared to pre-implementation (P<0.001). There was no change in the amount of time students gave effort to completing evaluations (P=0.981) and no change for the amount of time they used shortcuts to complete evaluations (P=0.956). We were able to change overall satisfaction with the medical school evaluation culture, but there was no change in the amount of time students gave effort to completing evaluations and times they used shortcuts to complete evaluations. To ensure accurate evaluation results we will need to focus our efforts on time needed to complete course evaluations across all four years