Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, DC.
Department of Health Policy and Management, Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University, Washington, DC.
JAMA Netw Open. 2022 Aug 1;5(8):e2229086. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.29086.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
医学院校途径项目是增加医生队伍多样性的一种策略。COVID-19 大流行可能对途径项目产生了负面影响，进一步挑战了增加多样性的努力。
描述 COVID-19 大流行期间医学院校途径项目的变化，并确定在大流行期间和之后维持和支持这些项目的方法。
设计、设置和参与者：一项使用探索性顺序混合方法设计的调查研究于 2021 年 1 月 4 日至 8 月 3 日进行。对美国全科学和骨科学医学院多样性途径项目的途径项目管理人员和学术领导人进行半结构化访谈，确定了自大流行开始以来与前几年相比途径项目的变化主题和模式。这些主题被用于向医学院校发送调查，以评估 COVID-19 与他们的项目之间的关联。
通过访谈和调查数据评估受访者特征，探讨 COVID-19 大流行与医学院校多样性途径项目之间的关联；2020 年与前几年相比，项目范围、规模和资金的变化；以及受访者对未来途径项目需求的看法。
对 12 名项目管理人员和学术领导人进行了访谈。访谈揭示了虚拟编程在吸引和接触学生和演讲者方面的挑战和益处、社区伙伴关系对维持项目的价值、以及社会心理支持在缓解学生因 COVID-19 和远程学习而产生的心理健康挑战方面的重要性。在定量阶段调查的 198 所学校中，有 112 所（56.6%）做出了回应，其中 106 所（94.6%）在 COVID-19 大流行期间一直在赞助或协助途径项目。与前一年相比，自 COVID-19 大流行开始以来，有 42 名（39.6%）受访者减少了途径项目。与年龄较大的群体相比，小学年龄组（编程减少 50.0%；P = .01）和中学年龄组（编程减少 32.6%；P = .02）更有可能取消项目。
在这项调查研究中，学校表示途径项目受到 COVID-19 的干扰。可能需要持续和灵活的支持来维持这些项目。鉴于最近对以公平为重点的项目进行了投资，以实现医疗保健队伍的多样化，这些发现是及时的。
