Association of the COVID-19 Pandemic With Medical School Diversity Pathway Programs.

Importance: Medical school pathway programs are a strategy to increase the diversity of the physician workforce. The COVID-19 pandemic may have negatively affected pathway programs, further challenging efforts to increase diversity. Objectives: To describe the changes in medical school pathway programs during the COVID-19 pandemic and identify methods for sustaining and supporting these programs during and after the pandemic. Design, Setting, and Participants: A survey study using an exploratory sequential mixed-method design was conducted from January 4 to August 3, 2021. Semistructured interviews with a sample of medical school pathway program administrators and academic leaders of US allopathic and osteopathic medical school diversity pathway programs identified themes and patterns of change to pathway programs since the onset of the pandemic compared with previous years. These themes were used to develop a survey that was sent to medical schools to assess the association between COVID-19 and their programs. Main Outcomes and Measures: The association between the COVID-19 pandemic and medical school diversity pathway programs was explored using interview and survey data assessing respondent characteristics; changes in the scope, size, and funding of programs in 2020 compared with previous years; and respondents' perceptions of future needs for pathway programs. Results: Twelve program administrators and academic leaders were interviewed. Interviews revealed challenges and benefits of virtual programming in engaging and reaching students and speakers, the value of community partnerships to sustaining programming, and the importance of psychosocial support to mediating students' mental health challenges due to COVID-19 and remote learning. Of 198 schools surveyed in the quantitative phase, 112 responded (56.6%), 106 (94.6%) of which had been sponsoring or assisting with pathway programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Forty-two respondents (39.6%) had reduced pathway programs since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the previous year. Program cancellations were more likely to be noted in elementary school-aged (50.0% decrease in programming; P = .01) and middle school-aged (32.6%; P = .02) students compared with older groups. Conclusions and Relevance: In this survey study, schools indicated that pathway programs were disrupted by COVID-19. Ongoing and flexible supports may be needed to sustain these programs. These findings are timely given recent investments in equity-focused programs to diversify the health workforce.

The Scope of Social Mission Content in Health Professions Education Accreditation Standards.

PURPOSE: Health professions education accreditation standards influence institutional practices and policies and ensure high-quality education that meets the needs of patients and society. Social mission is the contribution of a school in its mission, programs, and the performance of its graduates, faculty, and leadership to advancing health equity and addressing the health disparities of the society in which it exists. This study examined the scope of social mission content in major U.S. and Canadian health professions education accreditation standards. METHOD: The authors analyzed publicly available accreditation standards documents from 9 accreditors across 5 disciplines-dental, medical, nursing, pharmacy, and physician assistant schools-with effective years from 2016 to 2020. They created a codebook from the previously published social mission metrics survey, which includes 18 social mission activity areas and 79 indicators within those areas. The authors then conducted detailed document reviews to identify the presence of the social mission areas and indicators within the accreditation standards. RESULTS: Across all 18 activity areas and 9 accreditors, the authors identified 93 instances of social mission. Curriculum was the most well-represented area with 34 instances. Interprofessional education in curriculum was the most prevalent indicator with 17 instances. The Committee on Accreditation of Canadian Medical Schools included more social mission areas and indicators than the other accreditors. CONCLUSIONS: There is substantial variability in the social mission content in accreditation standards across accreditors and disciplines. The authors found little representation of key aspects of social mission, including community collaborations, faculty training, and pipeline programs. These findings highlight areas of potential interdisciplinary collaboration to enhance the social mission content of health professions education.