Virginia Research Day 2025

Medical Student Research Education and Simulation

01 Impact of an Advising Dinner with Faculty and Seniors on Second-Year Medical Students Pursuing Pediatric Specialty

Elizabeth Letchworth, MS; Harsha Bhagtani, MD; Suzanne de Rooy, ABA Corresponding author: eletchworth@vt.vcom.edu

Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine - Virginia Campus

residency were optionally invited to attend. The event consisted of dinner with a panel of pediatric faculty members and senior medical students. The advising panel discussed important expectations and helpful tips for students. They answered all questions asked in a group format. Prior to the panel, an anonymous pre-survey was given to the students to gauge their comfort level transitioning into clinical rotations. Following the one-hour discussion, a post-survey was given to the students to fill out regarding their opinion and feedback of the event. The survey consisted of twelve questions and was completed by fifteen students. Results: The results of the survey were collected and compiled together. The majority of students surveyed, reported positive feedback on the event, with 93% of students rating their overall experience as Excellent (highest on a 5-point scale). Additionally, 73% of students reported that the panel discussion, dinner, and socialization with advisors, were the highlights of the event. More specifically, all fifteen students reported they gained practical information on

how to navigate third-year rotations and were thankful for access to pediatric advisors, which yielded positive outcomes for this study. Conclusions: With the data collected in this study, the pediatric faculty can be reassured they are helping medical students begin clinical rotations with confidence. The feedback received in the surveys can also help navigate any changes necessary for future advising events to be more successful in preparing medical students. Through more data collection and surveys from medical students, we hope more faculty will implement a group advising event to prepare more students for clinical rotations. This research was deemed exempt by the IRB and labeled not research / QI on September 5, 2024.

Context: The goal of this project is to assess the effectiveness of an advising dinner to prepare second year medical students for their clinical rotations. There is very little research assessing the quality of faculty advising during the transition of medical students from the didactic setting to clinical rotations in osteopathic medical school. The students in this study are pursuing pediatric residencies and met with faculty and older classmates to discuss expectations for third-year clinical rotations. Faculty advising is not mandatory or standardized in many medical schools during the transition from didactic education to clinical education. Objective: To assess the quality of a formal advising event intending to offer advice, pass on knowledge, and equip medical students with confidence to complete clinical education successfully. Methods: An advising dinner event was designed by pediatric faculty for second-year medical students to prepare them for their clinical years. All students who expressed interest in pursuing a pediatric

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2025 Research Recognition Day