Effectiveness of a collaborative, virtual outreach curriculum for 4th year EM-bound students at an HBCU
Abstract
Learning Objectives: We sought to 1) teach the approach to core complaints in EM, 2) teach key skills in EM, 3) de-mystify the process of applying to an EM residency program, and 4) connect students with residents and faculty in the field of EM.
Introduction/Background: Despite having a diverse patient population, emergency medicine (EM) remains among the medical specialties with the lowest number of residents and attendings underrepresented in medicine (URiM). Increasing awareness of the field of EM in medical schools that are affiliated with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) is one way to increase the pipeline of URiM in EM. Currently, however, there are zero HBCUs with academic emergency medicine departments. As representatives of four departments of EM, we partnered with one HBCU to attempt to fill this gap for EM-interested students on their 4th year EM home rotation.
Educational Objectives: We sought to 1) teach the approach to core complaints in EM, 2) teach key skills in EM, 3) de-mystify the process of applying to an EM residency program, and 4) connect students with residents and faculty in the field of EM.
Curricular Design: Educational objectives were developed in conjunction with the faculty advisor to the 4th year EM rotation. We created a 4-week didactic program, with content organized into weekly 4-hour blocks, each led by a different department of EM, on a virtual, interactive platform. Content was mapped and coordinated, pre-reading was assigned and each day included a mix of clinical topics and “advising” sessions.
Impact/Effectiveness: A post-curricular survey found universal agreement from students on whether the curriculum was effective in meeting the above goals. Narrative feedback from students highlighted the value of meeting with faculty and residents from different programs, and from going through cases in real time. Informal feedback from supervising faculty at the host-institution was also very positive, particularly in terms of readying students for away rotations. Although our program was targeted towards students at one HBCU, it could be expanded to any medical school without an academic emergency medicine department.