Virtual Town Hall Meetings to Convey Emergency Medicine Residency Program Information to Students
Background: Applying to emergency medicine (EM) residency programs as a medical student is challenging and complicated in a normal year, but the 2020/2021 application cycle was further complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the decrease of in-person opportunities for students to connect with r...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
eScholarship Publishing, University of California
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Western Journal of Emergency Medicine |
| Online Access: | https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2vn9w644 |
| _version_ | 1818067451454160896 |
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| author | Geoffrey Comp Kateland Townley Eric Blazar Taylor Webb Mark Keuchel Bikash Bhattarai Amrita Vempati Michael Epter Katherine Holmes |
| author_facet | Geoffrey Comp Kateland Townley Eric Blazar Taylor Webb Mark Keuchel Bikash Bhattarai Amrita Vempati Michael Epter Katherine Holmes |
| author_sort | Geoffrey Comp |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Applying to emergency medicine (EM) residency programs as a medical student is challenging and complicated in a normal year, but the 2020/2021 application cycle was further complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the decrease of in-person opportunities for students to connect with residency programs, virtual “town-hall” meetings were developed. In this study our primary objective was to determine whether attendance at a virtual residency program information session improved the perceived knowledge of curriculum information and program exposure to medical students applying to an EM residency. Methods: Four study sites hosted a total of 12 virtual events consisting of residents, faculty, or both. Standardized pre-event/post-event surveys were conducted to capture medical student perceptions before/after each of the virtual sessions. Apart from measuring the improvement in students’ perceived knowledge of a program by gauging their responses to each question, we used a 10-question composite score to compare pre- vs post-event improvement among the participants. Results: The pre-event survey was completed by 195 attendees, and the post-event survey was completed by 123 attendees. The median and mean composite score to this 10-question survey improved from 32.19 to 45, and 31.45 to 44.2, respectively, in the pre- to post-event survey. Conclusion: This study showed improvement of medical students’ perceived knowledge of residency programs (reflected as increased agreement from pre- to post-event survey). The data demonstrates through question responses that students not only obtained information about the programs but also were able to gain exposure to the culture and “feel” of a program. In a non-traditional application season in which students are unable to pursue their interest in a program through audition rotations, virtual town hall events, along with other asynchronous events, may be a reasonable approach to increasing medical student understanding and awareness of a program and its culture. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T15:23:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b7107bad710648fea6a5323ae9044823 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1936-9018 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T15:23:53Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | eScholarship Publishing, University of California |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Western Journal of Emergency Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-b7107bad710648fea6a5323ae90448232022-12-22T01:43:35ZengeScholarship Publishing, University of CaliforniaWestern Journal of Emergency Medicine1936-90182022-07-0123410.5811/westjem.2022.4.54637wjem-23-525Virtual Town Hall Meetings to Convey Emergency Medicine Residency Program Information to StudentsGeoffrey Comp0Kateland Townley1Eric Blazar2Taylor Webb3Mark Keuchel4Bikash Bhattarai5Amrita Vempati6Michael Epter7Katherine Holmes8Creighton University School of Medicine, Valleywise Health Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Phoenix, ArizonaCreighton University School of Medicine, Valleywise Health Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Phoenix, ArizonaInspira Health Network, Department of Emergency Medicine, Vineland, New JerseyCreighton University School of Medicine, Valleywise Health Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Phoenix, ArizonaINTEGRIS Southwest Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Oklahoma City, OklahomaValleywise Health Medical Center, Department of Research, Phoenix, ArizonaCreighton University School of Medicine, Valleywise Health Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Phoenix, ArizonaCreighton University School of Medicine, Valleywise Health Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Phoenix, ArizonaJohn Peter Smith Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Fort Worth, TexasBackground: Applying to emergency medicine (EM) residency programs as a medical student is challenging and complicated in a normal year, but the 2020/2021 application cycle was further complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the decrease of in-person opportunities for students to connect with residency programs, virtual “town-hall” meetings were developed. In this study our primary objective was to determine whether attendance at a virtual residency program information session improved the perceived knowledge of curriculum information and program exposure to medical students applying to an EM residency. Methods: Four study sites hosted a total of 12 virtual events consisting of residents, faculty, or both. Standardized pre-event/post-event surveys were conducted to capture medical student perceptions before/after each of the virtual sessions. Apart from measuring the improvement in students’ perceived knowledge of a program by gauging their responses to each question, we used a 10-question composite score to compare pre- vs post-event improvement among the participants. Results: The pre-event survey was completed by 195 attendees, and the post-event survey was completed by 123 attendees. The median and mean composite score to this 10-question survey improved from 32.19 to 45, and 31.45 to 44.2, respectively, in the pre- to post-event survey. Conclusion: This study showed improvement of medical students’ perceived knowledge of residency programs (reflected as increased agreement from pre- to post-event survey). The data demonstrates through question responses that students not only obtained information about the programs but also were able to gain exposure to the culture and “feel” of a program. In a non-traditional application season in which students are unable to pursue their interest in a program through audition rotations, virtual town hall events, along with other asynchronous events, may be a reasonable approach to increasing medical student understanding and awareness of a program and its culture.https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2vn9w644 |
| spellingShingle | Geoffrey Comp Kateland Townley Eric Blazar Taylor Webb Mark Keuchel Bikash Bhattarai Amrita Vempati Michael Epter Katherine Holmes Virtual Town Hall Meetings to Convey Emergency Medicine Residency Program Information to Students Western Journal of Emergency Medicine |
| title | Virtual Town Hall Meetings to Convey Emergency Medicine Residency Program Information to Students |
| title_full | Virtual Town Hall Meetings to Convey Emergency Medicine Residency Program Information to Students |
| title_fullStr | Virtual Town Hall Meetings to Convey Emergency Medicine Residency Program Information to Students |
| title_full_unstemmed | Virtual Town Hall Meetings to Convey Emergency Medicine Residency Program Information to Students |
| title_short | Virtual Town Hall Meetings to Convey Emergency Medicine Residency Program Information to Students |
| title_sort | virtual town hall meetings to convey emergency medicine residency program information to students |
| url | https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2vn9w644 |
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