[The following notes were generated by Andrea Belovich, Ph.D.]

Fostering Community Through Rural Pipelines and Pathways

The Spring 2023 IAMSE Web Seminar Series, “Widening the Road to Health Professions Education: Expanding access for diverse and underserved populations,” began on March 2nd, 2023 and concludes on March 30th, 2023. In this five-part series, experts and innovators share their practices in recruiting and matriculating students from underserved populations into health sciences programs and creating pathways for students to meet the unique needs of their communities.

The third session for this series, entitled “Fostering Community Through Rural Pipelines and Pathways,” was co-presented on March 16^th, 2023 by Dr. Natasha Bray, Campus Dean of Oklahoma State University (OSU) College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation and Associate for accreditation for the OSU Center for Health Sciences, and Dr. Machelle Linsenmeyer, Professor and Associate Dean for Assessment and Educational Development at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM). Together, these speakers presented information about pathway programs their institutions have implemented to increase awareness of health challenges experienced in rural, underserved, and tribal communities. They also emphasized the importance of recruiting physicians to rural and underserved areas of the United States and provided an overview of how their respective programs accomplish this by working with students across the educational continuum, residents, faculty, staff, and community members.

Dr. Bray began the webinar by presenting one of the pathway programs at OSU designed to train and recruit physicians to care for underserved populations in rural Oklahoma (OK), with a particular focus on training physicians to provide care for tribal communities in the state. To achieve this goal, OSU opened the first College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM) with a tribal affiliation, OSU-COM at the Cherokee Nation (OSU-COMCN), in 2020. To demonstrate the impetus for opening the new COM, Dr. Bray provided the audience with background about the health outcomes in OK, sharing compelling statistics about high rates of obesity, cardiovascular disease, and mental distress. Dr. Bray acknowledged that strategies to develop the rural and tribal physician workforce are both a multigenerational process and a long-term investment in the infrastructure necessary to address the physician shortage for underserved communities.

OSU-COMCN’s overall pathway strategy culminates in the “R³” program, which is designed to recruit Rural students to medical school, educate them in completely Rural environments, and place graduates of the program in Rural-based residency programs. By recruiting members of the target communities into medical school and conducting their medical education in rural environments, the program trains physicians that are more likely to practice medicine in rural communities.

Dr. Bray discussed several recruitment programs, some of which begin as early as elementary school and are intended to inspire children to become health care providers by providing early exposure to the health sciences. Programs aimed at recruiting high school students include the “Blue Coat to White Coat” program, which is aimed at members of the National Future Farmers of America (FFA) Organization, Dr. Pete’s Medical Immersion Camp, and Operation Orange. In particular, Dr. Bray focused on Operation Orange, which is a one-day camp for students in grades 8-12. Participants are able to meet medical students, learn about career opportunities in the healthcare field, participate in hands-on demonstrations including suturing and simulated intubation, and learn about anatomy with human brains, hearts, and lungs. Operation Orange is hosted both on the OSU-COMCN campus and in communities on tribal lands to increase access as much as possible.

OSU also utilizes pathway programs that support rurally recruited students through college. OSU helps these students prepare to be successful in medical school by pairing them with mentors early in their collegiate experience to help navigate classes and MCATs, as well as to prepare them for application, matriculation, and beyond. to medical school. Furthermore, OSU fosters an environment that is aware of rural/underserved populations, with different programs that support specific populations (like Native American students and other underrepresented minorities). Once students matriculate into OSU’s medical program, the rural training experience is further supported by OSU-COM’s Tribal and Rural Medical training tracks. During 3rd and 4th year rotations, these tracks (parallel training programs) provide carefully selected clinical, research, and leadership experiences in rural or tribal settings throughout the state to allow students to experience the social determinants of health that their future patients are likely to experience. For the Tribal Medical track, 85% of core rotations are conducted in tribally operated health centers, while core rotations in the Rural Medical track are conduced in critical access hospitals and community-based hospitals. Students are also required to do two audition rotations with primary care residencies based in those communities.

Dr. Bray concluded her portion of the webinar with an overview and outcomes of the rural and tribal affiliated residency programs in the state, including three Family Medicine programs and one Pediatric program affiliated with the Cherokee, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Nations. In total, there are 10 rural or tribal OSU-affiliated residency programs, with 157 available slots that encompass Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Emergency Medicine, and Pediatrics. Data from the OSU Tulsa campus show that the vast majority (~80%) of OSU-COM students stay in the state of Oklahoma, with 80-95% of those graduates practicing primary care in medically underserved communities across the state.

Dr. Linsenmeyer then continued the webinar by presenting the pathway programs developed by the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM). Like the state of Oklahoma, West Virginia (WV) ranks low in regards to health outcomes (47/50). Health factors common throughout the state include decreased life expectancy, opioid use, and industrial issues that occur that affect health outcomes (such as coal mining) in more desolate areas. Furthermore, nearly all counties in the state are primary care shortage areas. To address these shortages, it has been proposed to bolster the primary care physician pipelines, beginning in local communities and in high schools.

Dr. Linsenmeyer shared that WVSOM is nationally recognized for its efforts in addressing Rural, Family, and Primary Care medicine, as it is the top school in the nation in graduating students who practice in rural areas. WVSOM is also ranked 4th in the nation for percentage of medical school graduates who enter primary care residencies, with 69% of their graduates from 2018-2020 doing so. Part of WVSOM’s success is due to the various pipeline and pathway programs that target various levels of education in local communities. This includes programs that target high school students, such as Anatomy lab tours, summer camps that teach topics such as neuroscience and infectious disease, and CPR training camps. Programs that target college students include the Pre-Osteopathic Med Program (POMP), and bridge programs such as the West Liberty to WVSOM Bridge program, and the West Virginia Wesleyan Bridge “Go D.O.” program. WVSOM also has a “Green Coat” program that partners with rural hospitals to allow students to be immersed in those settings. In addition to high school and college programs, WVSOM also targets residents and community members with the Rural Outreach Program and the Center for Rural and Community Health.

Dr. Linsenmeyer next provided the audience with a close look at WVSOM’s Rural Health Initiative (RHI), which is a pipeline program intended to help train WVSOM medical students to practice in underserved communities across WV and support community involvement of West Virginians in health education. The RHI has approximately 14-18 students per class year, with additional events that are open to all WVSOM students. While all WVSOM students spend 12 weeks in a rural rotation setting, RHI students do extra rural rotations and are stationed at rural rotation base sites. RHI students and RHI pipeline students spend a total of 20 weeks in rural rotations during their third year and 8 weeks in rural rotations during their fourth year. In addition to gaining additional exposure to the needs of rural WV communities, RHI students are also assigned a practicing rural physician as a mentor, financial incentives (scholarships and sign-on incentives for WV residencies), and housing support that allows them to stay and live in rural communities during years 3 and 4. Additionally, the RHI promotes activities to promote rural research medicine, culminating in a Rural Practice/Rural Primary Care Day event. The RHI also hosts a Wilderness Medicine Rotation and four Industry-relevant activities per year that are open to all WVSOM students. Overall, in 2022, 100% of RHI graduating students reported increased or confirmed interest in practicing in a rural area.

Dr. Linsenmeyer then shared examples of the types of industry related activities offered by the RHI to acquaint students with the health impacts of major state industries (e.g., logging, mining, agriculture, etc.) to better understand the occupational diseases and environmental exposures common in rural West Virginian communities. Additionally, these events are used as opportunities for students to learn about the unique aspects of Appalachian culture than can impact health outcomes (such as folklore and home remedies), allowing them to better understand the needs, backgrounds, and motivations of their future patients.

One such example of these activities is a Coal Mining Simulation and Training event. This event simulates a coal mining accident and rescue and is conducted 5 miles inside a coal mine at a depth of 900 feet. Prior to the simulation, faculty, and industry personnel conduct classroom instruction for the students to familiarize them with background information relevant to the case and the equipment present in the mine. Dr. Linsenmeyer then showed a video of what happens during this event, reporting that it is very a popular experience. Additionally, Dr. Linsenmeyer described WVSOM’s Wilderness Medicine Rotation, which offers wilderness medicine experiences to students, residents, and community member such as firefighters, EMS workers, and national guard community members. Clinical and basic science faculty provide integrated education on topics such insect bites, altitude sickness, flight physiology, and cold-water immersion and drowning, and many more.

Impacts of the RHI include Rural Health advocacy at the capitol and exposing students to legislative processes to gain get a better understanding of how they can advocate for rural health initiatives. Other RHI program outcomes show that RHI graduates have high rates of retention as practicing physicians in WV, with 58% of RHI graduates from 2013-2018 who matched into WV primary care or emergency medicine programs starting practice in WV. Additionally, Dr. Linsenmeyer shared success stories of students who participated in WVSOM’s pipeline program that demonstrated the personal impact these programs have for graduates. Dr. Linsenmeyer finished the webinar with an exposé of WVSOM’s pipeline programs are targeted to residents and community members. WVSOM’s Rural Leadership Fellowship program is a 1-year program with about 10 residents per year and provides stipends to residents to attend training in their specialty. After completing their fellowship training, residents and return to share their training with in-house staff. Community oriented pipeline programs include global and national activities that involve all first responders in the community (fire, EMS, police), the National Guard, Airports and Life Flight operators to join residents, medical students and faculty/staff in various simulations such as automobile accidents and Mass Casualty events with standardized patients. WVSOM also partners with the International Mines Rescue Competition, with 27 teams from 9 countries competing for best rescue outcomes. Finally, Dr. Linsenmeyer shared various programs that allow WVSOM to reach out to the community and increase awareness of the health professions in grade school and middle school students. The Center for Rural and Community Health (CRCH) allows WVSOM students to participate in outreach activities for kids ages 6-11 (grade school and middle school), as well as the opportunity to be involved in several aspects of the community.

[The following notes were generated by Andrea Belovich, Ph.D.]

Building Pathways & Bridges on the Bumpy Road Towards Equity in STEM & Medicine

The Spring 2023 IAMSE Web Seminar Series, “Widening the Road to Health Professions Education: Expanding access for diverse and underserved populations,” began on March 2nd, 2023 and concludes on March 30th, 2023. In this five-part series, experts and innovators share their practices in recruiting and matriculating students from underserved populations into health sciences programs and creating pathways for students to meet the unique needs of their communities.

The opening seminar for this series, entitled “Building Pathways & Bridges on the Bumpy Road Towards Equity in STEM & Medicine” was co-presented as a panel discussion on March 2nd, 2023 by Drs. Jacqueline Ekeoba, Thomas Thesen, Mariam Manuel, and Lily Lam. Dr. Ekeoba is a Master Teacher in the Mathematics Department of the University of Houston’s College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and Dr. Manuel is a Clinical Assistant Professor and Science Master Teacher, also in the Mathematics Department of the University of Houston’s College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Dr. Thesen is an Associate Professor of Medical Education at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, and Dr. Lam is a medical student advisor and an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Medicine of the City University New York School of Medicine. Together, these speakers presented the challenges and obstacles faced by students from Underrepresented in Medicine (URiM) groups in the pursuit of careers in the fields of STEM and Medicine. These speakers also shared examples of their institutions’ solutions to promote equity, inclusion, and support for URiM students in STEM and medicine.

Dr. Ekeoba began the webinar with a brief introduction of the overall problem of the “leaky pipeline” that frequently occurs in STEM and medicine, which often results in students from URiM groups have low rates of entry into the STEM and medicine careers. Dr. Thesen then followed with data and statistics regarding the current state of underrepresented and diverse populations in medical practice and medical education. As seen in the 2021 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US)1, there are significant disparities between the proportion of URiM groups in the general United States population compared to the proportion of URiM groups in the physician workforce.

Dr. Thesen then went on to explain the impacts these disparities have on inequity at both the individual and societal levels. Inequity at the individual level takes the form of reduced opportunities, including reduced access to higher paying professional jobs and limiting generational opportunities. On the societal level, these disparities lead to inequity in healthcare, as the lack of physicians sharing cultural and lived experiences similar to those of their patients can lead to the many well-documented, unequal outcomes along the lines of race and equity in medicine. Regarding the percentage of medical students who plan to serve in underserved areas, Dr. Thesen highlighted findings that show that medical students from URiM groups are more likely to return to underserved communities to practice medicine. Thus, graduating doctors from underserved groups is considered a strategy to expand patient access and improving quality of care in underserved communities.

Dr. Thesen next discussed challenges to expanding URiM representation in medicine, citing AAMC data2 showing that neither the application rate nor the acceptance rate for medical school from certain URiM groups have changed significantly since the 1970’s. Dr. Thesen also pointed out that once URiM students are accepted into medical school, they often find that relatively few medical school faculty are from URiM backgrounds2, so it can be a challenge for URiM students to find role models and mentors from their own communities or lived experiences provide career advice and opportunities and recommendations, making the medical school experience harder for URiM students. Dr. Thesen emphasized the importance of acknowledging the socioeconomic, educational, and psychosocial realities and barriers that many URiM students face. Thus, these challenges and other systematic barriers need to be considered when creating pipeline programs with the goal of reducing “leak” to support URiM students on their path to STEM and Medicine careers.

Next, Dr. Manuel presented an example of a successful pathway (pipeline) program that begins at the high school level: the NSF-funded STEM Research Inquiry Summer Enrichment (STEM-RISE) program at the University of Houston. The STEM-RISE program is an interdepartmental collaboration between the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and the Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine at the University of Houston, along with the Jack Yates High School, which is a high-needs public high school in the historic neighborhood of Third Ward in Houston. Dr. Manuel described this program as an authentic community-based partnership program, as they worked together with the local community to plan the project. Dr. Manuel emphasized the importance of having strong interpersonal connections between members of the different schools, as this helps form a stronger community with other teachers and supports with recruitment efforts.

In short, the STEM-RISE experience is a 6-week summer program that includes 3 participant groups: medical students, undergraduate STEM majors in the teachHouston program, and high school students. All participants are offered incentives, which includes a summer professional development program and a stipend for medical and undergraduate students. The high school students also receive a stipend and gain hands-on STEM and laboratory experiences, which includes lessons on scientific principles and topics to support their laboratory learning outside of the lab. In combination with the opportunity to interview campus STEM faculty, these students are supported in the college and career readiness by being allowed to tour the campus and interact with a variety of campus resources. The program concludes with a celebratory research symposium and a group bowling party.

Dr. Ekeoba then shared more information about the layered mentoring that occurs throughout the STEM-RISE program and the research symposium. High school students are paired together and are assigned to different laboratory projects, but they are also grouped with undergraduate, graduate and medical school students to provide peer and near-peer mentorship along the education and career continuum. Undergraduate students also participate in a “Research Methods” course that allows them to conduct their own research and learn lessons they can carry forward into their own teaching careers. Faculty are also part of this layered mentorship, providing formalized mentorship time to help teach students how to be future mentors and teachers themselves. In addition to formal experiences, informal conversations at mealtimes provide opportunities for development of students’ college applications and career path planning. Dr. Ekeoba concluded this segment of the webinar with a video testimonial from a medical student STEM-RISE participant, who shared her story as a first-generation URiM medical student and how much she valued being part of supporting younger high school and undergraduate students as a mentor.

Dr. Manuel then described more of the inclusive community created by the STEM-RISE program, which culminates in the end-of-program Research Symposium, which focuses on the accomplishments of the STEM-RISE participants. In addition to presenting their research projects, high school student participants are also asked to give a presentation of the career pathway they would like to pursue. Dr. Manuel stated that the supportive environment of the symposium provides positive feedback and encouragement for URiM high school students to pursue careers in STEM and Medicine.

Dr. Lam then continued the webinar with more information about the Health Professions Mentorship Program (HPMP) at the Sophie Davis Biomedical Education Program CUNY School of Medicine, with is an 18-month pipeline/pathway program designed for rising high school juniors and seniors. Similar to the STEM-RISE program a the University of Houston, CUNY’s HPMP involves layered and multi-tiered mentoring. Students are placed into small groups and are assigned to a medical student mentor. High school students in the second year of the program are also encouraged to provide mentorship to junior students, which also helps students develop leadership and mentorship skills. Monthly mentorship sessions occur throughout the duration of the program, with faculty oversight and additional educational support from teaching assistants. During these monthly sessions, students work on developing effective study skills, professionalism and time management skills.

During the first summer of the program, students participate in learning sessions that focus on population health, health care disparities, and social determinants of health to help participants develop a deeper understanding of the complex social and environmental factors that impact health outcomes. Most participants apply their knowledge and skills to community-based projects to propose solutions to health care challenges and have opportunities to present a poster of their project. During the second summer, students are exposed to a variety of health themes and problems as well as health care careers ranging from medicine to nursing to dentistry and engineering. Mentors and teaching assistants give lectures based on what they have learned during medical school, including lectures on organs systems and the basics of obtaining a patient history and conducting a physical exam. The program culminates in a final poster presentation of a research project, followed by continued mentorship on navigated college applications and readiness.

After discussing funding sources for the program and the support available to participants, Dr. Lam presented program outcomes, including testimonials from HPMP graduates. The program began in 2015, with the first class graduating in 2017. Of the students who complete the HPMP, roughly 50% pursued a major in a health care-related field, with 10-20% of each graduating class enrolling in CUNY’s combined 7-year BS/MD program.

Drs. Thesen and Manuel concluded the webinar by providing tips and sharing lessons learned for audience members considering developing pathway programs at their own institutions. Possible avenues for funding include the NSF, the NIH, private foundations, school district funding programs, alumni associations, etc., although audience members may wish to explore funding mechanisms that target specific populations. The importance of creating a welcoming environment for URiM students is vital, as programs should aim to bring students into a nurturing environment where they experience belongingness. This is also important to consider when choosing participating laboratories, mentors, and leadership teams, so that the program’s pedagogy and philosophy is properly embodied as a focus on strength and opportunity rather than a deficit mindset. Direct recruiting at high schools is also sometimes necessary to prevent gatekeeping and to encourage students personally to participate. Near-peer mentorship is also a key factor to building a supportive community, as well as team building exercises and icebreakers that involved all participants as well as community members.

References

1. 2021 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report. Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US); 2021 Dec. Report No.: 21(22)-0054-EF
2. Association of American Medical Colleges. AAMC.org

[The following notes were generated by Tracey A.H. Taylor, Ph.D. and Andrea Belovich, Ph.D.]

Lessons Learned in Developing Accelerated 3-Year MD Programs

In the second session of the series, three experts from the Consortium of Accelerated Medical Pathway Programs (CAMPP) spoke of “Lessons Learned in Developing Accelerated 3-Year MD Programs”. Dr. Joan Cangiarella, M.D. of the NYU Grossman School of Medicine began the session by defining an accelerated medical pathway program as a program that confers the MD degree in less than four years. She said that three-year programs are common in Canadian medical schools and that the first modern program in the United States started in 2010 at Texas Tech University. Interest in these programs is growing, as the group published survey data in 2016 and found that 35% of medical schools (n=127) said they were considering the development of an accelerated pathway program (Cangiarella et al. Med Educ Online, 2016). The general structures of these programs contain a standard MS1 and MS2 year that includes a summer of education in order to meet the LCME (Liaison Committee on Medical Education) accreditation 130-week requirement. The MS3 and MS4 years are usually condensed. Most programs have a directed pathway to an affiliated residency program, but this is not a requirement.

The biggest mission of 3-year accelerated programs is debt reduction where students save a year of tuition and enter the work force one year earlier, to save an estimated $250,000.00. Missions of other programs include serving underserved communities, or focusing on primary care and family medicine. Dr. Cangiarella also described the programs in the CAMPP, which was initiated from a Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation grant in 2014, and include the original seven programs from 2015 (NYU, UC-Davis, Penn State, University of Louisville, MCW-Green Bay Central, Mercer, and McMaster). There has been continued growth every year with new programs joining each year since 2015. One of the core goals of the formation of this group was to identify and disseminate best-practices in the formation of an accelerated pathway program in medical education, addressing diversity, logistical, regulatory, professional development, and competency concerns.

Following this introduction to 3-year accelerated programs, Dr. Cagiarella spoke more specifically about the NYU Grossman accelerated 3-year MD (3YMD) pathway. Developed as part of a major curriculum revision in 2010 that included numerous pathways. The goals were to provide individualized choice, reduce debt, and improve the UME-GME continuum. The medical school is now tuition-free and this was the first step on that path. NYU Grossman was the first medical school in the US to offer a 3YMD pathway to a select group of students with a directed pathway to one of 21 NYU-Langone Medical Center residency programs at the time of admission. This program is highly competitive and was offered as part of the regular admissions process. Students needed to know which specialty they wanted to pursue upon admission, and still participate in the NRMP to be accepted into the residency program following UME graduation after 3 years. The school currently has 40 residency spots available to this program, and the number of slots per specialty is known upon admission. There are various portals of entry to the program: pre-matriculation, during the 4-year MD program (end of year 1 or end of year 2), or through the MD-PhD program. Currently, the 3YMD program is 18 weeks shorter than the traditional four-year pathway at NYU Grossman, and contains a mentoring portion. Between 2013 and 2022, there have been 198 students accepted into the program, representing all residencies available. Of those, 138 have graduated and 43 are current students. A further seventeen students decelerated (either chosen or counseled to do so) and 12 switched specialties. The students overall perform very similarly to their four-year peers with the only differences being performance on step 1 and step 2 (J Graduate Medical Education, February 2022). The program has been so successful that the school has undergone a recent curriculum redesign to expand the 3YMD pathway.

Dr. Catherine Coe, M.D. of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill next discussed the FIRST (fully integrated readiness for service training) program. She started by stating “if you’ve seen one 3-year pathway program, you’ve seen one-3-year pathway program”, and then went on to describe the program at the University of North Carolina. A goal of the program was to increase the physician workforce in the state by reducing barriers and educating students at both the UME and GME level, through an accelerated and enhanced 3-year medical school curriculum. Following 3 year of medical school and residency, graduating physicians complete 3 years of service in a rural and/or underserved area within the state of North Carolina. The program began in 2018 and now offers residency options in Family Medicine, General Surgery, Pediatrics, and Psychiatry at all four of the regional sites. The program reduces barriers and harmonizes the transitions from UME to GME to medical practice. The curriculum consists of an 18-month foundation phase curriculum, followed by a 12-month clinical phase, and 12-16 months of individualization or elective time. Students spend one half day per week in the clinic of their chosen specialty starting at the first week of medical school. Summer between the first and second year contains 8-weeks of the clinical phase. In terms of outcomes to date, there have been 37 students matriculate with 19 total graduates. Six students chose to decelerate and three students changed specialties. All graduates perform similarly to graduates of the 4-year program in nearly all metrics, with the exception of slightly lower step 1 scores.

Dr. Gladys Ayala, M.D., Dean of the NYU Long Island School of Medicine next spoke of the exclusively 3-year medical school program at her institution. This program was developed following the success of the 3-year program described by Dr. Cagiarella. The primary aim is to
train physician leaders who are committed to practice in specific primary care disciplines and address the physician work-force shortages in internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics & gynecology, and general surgery. Like the other programs described, the three-year accelerated curriculum is followed by a pre-chosen residency program, thereby reducing barriers in the UME to GME transition. The curriculum uses problem-based learning as the core teaching modality, and offers tuition-free scholarships to all students, and a debt-free scholarship to those with the greatest need. The program includes a robust coaching (academic and professional development), diversity mentoring, and specialty advising system. The programs is committed and focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion with a student-run clinic, a pipeline program, and service learning projects. The class-size is small with 24 students and a future maximum size of 40 students. In terms of outcomes, 20 students have graduated (one class) with 90% of students staying in primary care specialties.

Lastly, Dr. Coe summarized the discussion by listing benefits of accelerated 3-year MD pathways as including accelerated and individualized entry to desired specialty, being valuable to those with advanced degrees and career interests, including reduced debt and earlier career earnings, facilitated continuum of training from UME through GME, and including intensive mentorship that begins in the first year. The CAMPP has published a roadmap for creating an accelerated 3-year program (Med Educ Online 2017). Dr. Coe described the consortium and the many benefits of CAMPP, including some of the manuscripts that have been published from the group (Cangiarella et al. 2017 Acad Med; Leong et al. 2017 Med Educ Online; Modrek et al. 2021, Acad Med; Cangiarella et al. 2020 Acad Med), and positive outcomes from these programs in terms of preparedness, student satisfaction, wellness, and reduced debt. These programs provide individualized curricula with close mentorship and support. The webinar closed by sharing an invitation to join CAMPP as a way to collaborate, network, and share best practices (www.acceleratedmdpathways.org).

References
• Cangiarella J, Gillespie C, O’Shea J, Morrison G, Abramson SB. Accelerating medical education: a survey of deans and program directors. Med Educ Online 2016;21:31794.
• Cangiarella J, K Eliasz, A Kalet, E Cohen, S Abramson, C Gillespie. A Preliminary Evaluation of Students’ Learning and Performance Outcomes in an Accelerated 3-Year MD Pathway Program. J Grad Med Educ 1 February 2022; 14 (1): 99–107. doi: https://doi.org/10.4300/JGME-D-21-00284.1
• Leong SL, J Cangiarella, T Fancher, L Dodson, C Grochowski, V Harnik, C Hustedde, B Jones, C Kelly, A Macerollo, AC Reboli, M Rosenfeld, K Rundell, T Thompson, R Whyte & M Pusic (2017) Roadmap for creating an accelerated three-year medical education program, Medical Education Online, 22:1, DOI: 10.1080/10872981.2017.1396172
• Cangiarella, J; Fancher, T; Jones, B; Dodson, L; Leong, SL; Hunsaker, M; Pallay, R; Whyte, R; Holthouser, A; Abramson, SB. Three-Year MD Programs: Perspectives From the Consortium of Accelerated Medical Pathway Programs (CAMPP). Academic Medicine 92(4):p 483-490, April 2017. | DOI: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000001465
• Cangiarella, J; Cohen, E; Rivera, R; Gillespie, C; Abramson, S. Evolution of an Accelerated 3-Year Pathway to the MD Degree: The Experience of New York University Grossman School of Medicine. Academic Medicine 95(4):p 534-539, April 2020. | DOI: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000003013
• Modrek, AS; Tanese, N; Placantonakis, DG; Sulman, EP; Rivera, R; Du, KL; Gerber, NK; David, G; Chesler, M; Philips, MR; Cangiarella, J. Breaking Tradition to Bridge Bench and Bedside: Accelerating the MD-PhD-Residency Pathway. Academic Medicine 96(4):p 518-521, April 2021. | DOI: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000003920