Virginia Research Day 2021

Student Research Educational

05 Seeking an Understanding of What Makes Successful Students Successful

Noorunnehar Qureshi, OMS II; Scott Severance, PhD Corresponding author: Nqureshi2@liberty.edu

Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine

There are clear prerequisites and high standards for medical school admission. Less clear are the factors that lead to success in medical school. If all matriculating students have met the prerequisites and the standards, why do some succeed when others do not? Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine (LUCOM) offers the opportunity for students who have failed an academic year to repeat the entire year on a case-by-case basis. This study seeks to identify transformations that began during his or her time away from medical school and find evidence for strategies that were successfully implemented by repeating students during their repeat year. Due to the high-pressure circumstances associated with medical school, it is thought that successful practices will be ascertained best by studying students who have repeated or who are currently repeating a year at

LUCOM. It is predicted that, while significant changes would have been made in academic practices, major differences in non-academic habits will contribute more to the success of repeating students. Several areas that may affect a student’s performance in the repeat year were identified. The study was conducted using three surveys: the first assessing a student’s habits during their failed year, the second assessing a student’s choices while they were away from LUCOM, and the third assessing a student’s practices during their repeat year. The surveys included questions about the student’s family background, education, study habits, social skills, mental health, and resilience. Additionally, participants were asked open-ended questions so they could expand upon any information that was not addressed in the surveys. These surveys were distributed to students from LUCOM who had failed either their

first or second year. Students who were invited to participate in the study had either successfully repeated a year or were still repeating their repeat year. A total of 38 students, ranging from OMS-I to first-year residents, were asked to participate. The data from the different surveys will be analyzed for trends and patterns and with appropriate statistical methods. Data collection is ongoing. Seemingly, there are more aspects to success than simply study habits. We expect this study to encourage and improve the success of students at LUCOM and at other medical schools.

178