Developing an Online Prematriculation Orientation Program and Its Relation to Student Performance in the First Class Taken in Medical School

Abstract

Background: In 2004 the University of Nebraska College of Medicine developed an online prematriculation program, Fast Start, to introduce students to the environment and expectations in medical school. Purpose: This quantitative study was conducted to determine whether using Fast Start correlated with performance in the gross anatomy course. Methods: A hierarchical regression analysis was used to correlate grades in gross anatomy with a set of common prediction variables and a variable for use of Fast Start. Results: The results showed that the predictive power of the full model, including the Fast Start variable, was slightly stronger than for the reduced model. A separate model verified the absence of an interaction between Fast Start use and prior academic ability. Conclusions: The online Fast Start program provided an efficient and effective method of delivering a prematriculation student orientation experience; its use was associated with marginally improved performance in a medical school course.

We thank Lois Colburn, Director of the University of Nebraska Medical Center for Continuing Education, for her valuable editorial guidance and Naomi Lacy, PhD, Department of Family Medicine, University of Nebraska College of Medicine for her methodological advice. Thanks also to the anonymous reviewers whose astute comments contributed greatly to the final product.

Notes

^aDep Var = actual GAE

^bDep Var = RESID