A 5-year experience with an elective scholarly concentrations program

Figures & data

Table 1 Examples of scholarly concentration educational components and final projects

Scholarly concentration	Didactic/experiential components	Representative projects
Advocacy and activism	Discussion sessions on societal and economic consequences of disparities in the provision of care	• Putting a face to Providence's homeless veteran population  • Socioeconomic disparities in cancer care: a broad-based analysis
Aging	Lecture series on geriatric and psychiatric medicine	• Changes in IL-6 and CRP levels in post-operative orthopedic patients  • Eye injuries in the elderly
Caring for underserved populations	Lecture series on health disparities	• Qualitative study on why individuals who live in poorer communities smoke
Contemplative studies	Attendance at a contemplative retreat	• Yoga for PTSD  • Hypnotherapy versus gabapentin in the treatment of hot flashes
Disaster medicine	Lecture series on how systems respond to healthcare needs during and after a disaster	• Injury and illness patterns in workers during the 9/11 rescue and recovery operation at the World Trade Center  • Variations in the seasonal risks of an aerosolized bioterror attack
Global health	Global health seminar series	• Public Health Education and Training Program for Youth in Rural Haiti  • Nyaya Health: a public-private partnership to develop healthcare capacity in rural Nepal
Health policy	Lecture series on topics such as Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act	• Scholarly paper on the effect of the Sunshine Act on physicians
Integrative medicine	Alternative Medicine seminar series	• Participation in a acupuncture clinic at a community hospital in an underserved community
Medical education	Medical education seminar series	• From student to mentor: making a difference in the lives of LGBT teens  • Development of a student-based teaching academy
Medical humanities and ethics	Medical humanities seminar course	• Paired narratives of shared experiences around chronic low back pain: classic mismatch between patients and their doctors  • Comfort feeding only: a proposal to bring clarity to decision making regarding difficulty with eating for persons with advanced dementia
Medical informatics	Topics in Translational Research seminar series	• Use of percutaneous, image-guided therapies in cancer treatment
Physician as a communicator	Physician as a Communicator pre-clinical elective course	• Beyond pain and meds: stories of chronic pain patients on long-term opioids  • Body, text, and formaldehyde
Women's reproductive health	Women's Reproductive Health seminar series	• Physical activity levels in women with pelvic floor disorders  • Labor and delivery nurses’ attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge of emergency contraception

CRP, C-reactive protein; LGBT, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender.

Fig. 1.  Participation in AMS’ elective SC Program. Data from the first five graduating classes to participate in the program were analyzed for percent of students choosing to participate in the program (a), attrition prior to graduation, defined as the percent of students who started the program who did not complete it (b), distribution of students among specific concentration areas (c), and completion rate for the various concentrations (d).

Fig. 2.  Distribution of the number of publications per student. Data are shown for concentrators and non-concentrators.

Table 2 Demographic data

	Concentrators (N=130)	Non-concentrators (N=330)	Effect size	Statistical analysis
Matriculation age (years)	22.9 (2.6)^a	22.6 (2.4)	0.122	p=0.239
Gender (percentage female)	60.0%	51.1%	0.179	p=0.049
Admission route (percent of total)
Standard premed	40.0%	31.7%	0.173	p=0.211
PLME	50.8%	55.9%	0.102
Other	9.2%	12.7%	0.112
Percentage underrepresented minority	9.2%	21.1%	0.338	p=0.002
Percentage undergraduate science majors	48.5%	53.0%	0.090	p=0.376
Number of undergraduate science courses	12.5 (6.6)	11.6 (5.9)	0.147	p=0.143

PLME, Program in Liberal Medical Education.

^aComparison of demographics between concentrators and non-concentrators including age, admission route, number of underrepresented minority students, and undergraduate major.

Numbers in parentheses represent one standard deviation. For effect sizes, Cohen's d was calculated for differences in means; Cohen's h was calculated for differences in proportions.

Table 3 Academic performance data^a

	Concentrators (N=130)	Non-concentrators (N=330)	Effect size	Statistical analysis
Step 1 three-digit score	227.2 (19.9)	225.1 (22.6)	0.096	p=0.387
Average year 1–2 examination score	85.5 (5.9)	85.2 (5.8)	0.051	p=0.674
Step 2 CK score	240.5 (17.9)	237.2 (21.8)	0.159	p=0.198
Average clerkship examination score	78.6 (6.6)	77.3 (7.4)	0.181	p=0.315
Number of clerkship honors per student	2.8 (1.8)	2.0 (1.8)	0.444	p<0.001
Percent inducted into AOA	24.5	14.1	0.266	p=0.022
Percent inducted into GHHS	25.3	12.1	0.344	p<0.001

AOA, Alpha Omega Alpha; GHHS, Gold Humanism Honor Society.

^aComparison of outcome factors between concentrators and non-concentrators, including Step 1 score, average Year 1 and Year 2 score, Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK) score, average clerkship examination score; average number of clerkship honors and number of students inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha and the Gold Humanism Society.

Numbers in parentheses represent one standard deviation. For effect sizes, Cohen's d was calculated for differences in means; Cohen's h was calculated for differences in proportions.