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Re-examining the Leaky Pre-med Pipeline: An Updated Survey on Female and Minority Undergraduate Perspectives on Pre-medical Preparation at Stanford University

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Abstract/Contents

Abstract
The goal of the study was to determine how the pre-medical preparation at Stanford is affecting student interest levels in pursuing medicine as a career, with a specific focus on the perspectives of women and Underrepresented Minority (URM) students. The study also examines the ways in which women and URM students perceive the effectiveness strategies that either encouraged, maintained, or discouraged their interest in pursuing medicine to identify the specific types of resources, forms of support, and experiences that facilitate successful premedical preparation. During the 2017-2018 Winter quarter, rated their interest in pursuing premedical studies on a Likert Scale of 1 to 4 at the time they completed the survey. They were asked to recall and rate their interest levels in pursuing premedical studies at the beginning of their freshman year when they matriculated to Stanford University. The difference between ratings were taken to be the change in interest levels. Students’ sense of belongingness in their premedical studies was assessed as well. Responses to open-ended questions regarding the factors that lead to change of interest were identified and categorized with emergent coding. The responses of males to females and URM to non-URM students were compared. The principal positive influencers on student interest include physician mentorship and peer and familial support. Negative influencers include excessive peer competition, and perceived lack of preparedness in premed classes. Three areas of improvement were identified: 1) Alternative Introductory Science Sequences, 2) Expansion of Dedicated Pre-Med Advising, 3) Expansion of Social Support Groups and Mentoring. Longitudinal studies need to be conducted to obtain a more accurate view of the degree to which students’ interest levels changed over the course of their undergraduate career and to determine whether the key factors identified at Stanford apply to a larger, more diverse sample. Data from this study suggest that more specific attention and support must be allocated to URM students aspiring to enter a career in medicine.

Description

Type of resource text
Date created May 2018

Creators/Contributors

Author Adams, Jennifer
Primary advisor Barr, Donald

Subjects

Subject Stanford University
Subject Department of Mechanical Engineering
Subject Graduate School of Education
Subject Interdisciplinary honors thesis
Subject medical education
Subject education
Subject undergraduate
Subject pre-med
Subject premedical
Subject interest levels
Subject medical school
Subject medical career pipeline
Subject sense of belonging
Subject women
Subject minority students
Subject URM students
Subject Underrepresented minority
Subject chemistry
Subject biology
Subject pursuing medicine
Subject Leaky Pre-Med Pipeline
Subject physician mentorship
Subject peer support
Subject peer competition
Subject preparedness
Genre Thesis

Bibliographic information

Location https://purl.stanford.edu/sn660zj3991

Access conditions

Use and reproduction
User agrees that, where applicable, content will not be used to identify or to otherwise infringe the privacy or confidentiality rights of individuals. Content distributed via the Stanford Digital Repository may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor.
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).

Preferred citation

Adams, Jennifer and Barr, Donald. (2018). Re-examining the Leaky Pre-med Pipeline: An Updated Survey on Female and Minority Undergraduate Perspectives on Pre-medical Preparation at Stanford University
. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: https://purl.stanford.edu/sn660zj3991

Collection

Undergraduate Honors Theses, Graduate School of Education

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Contact information

adamsjen@stanford.edu

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