Kann Michael R, Chen David, Huang Grace W, Pugazenthi Sangami, Zehnder Nichole G
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA USA.
Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO USA.
Med Sci Educ. 2024 Nov 18;35(1):425-436. doi: 10.1007/s40670-024-02214-6. eCollection 2025 Feb.
Reddit is a public discussion website parsed into "subreddits" centered around specific topics. Medical students often utilize the Step 1 subreddit to seek peer counsel regarding exam preparation. The aim of this study is to utilize the Step 1 subreddit to (1) qualitatively explore how students utilize this subreddit and (2) to capture the evolving landscape of thoughts and strategies employed since Step 1 score reporting shifted to pass/fail.
The Reddit Application Programming Interface (API) was employed to collect Step 1 subreddit posts between January 26, 2022, and April 10, 2023. The top 500 ranked posts were analyzed using the grounded theory method for comprehensive thematic analysis.
Thematic analysis identified five themes: mental and emotional challenges, academically overwhelming, peer student advice, community support and appreciation, and navigating the pass/fail Step 1 landscape. During exam preparation, students commonly expressed emotions of stress, overwhelmed by the volume of content and the demanding preparation timeline. Students leveraged the Step 1 subreddit to gain advice from peers on selecting and effectively utilizing resources, crafting study schedules, and prioritizing content. The subreddit served as a source of support, where posters extended encouragement and empathy for which students expressed gratitude. Likewise, students were engaged in the process of assessing external guidance and adapting their study strategies to thrive in the Step 1 pass/fail environment.
The analysis of the Step 1 subreddit revealed themes that provide a better understanding of how medical students leverage this forum and insights of educators may use to optimize student support.
Reddit是一个公共讨论网站，被划分为围绕特定主题的“子版块”。医学生经常利用第一步考试子版块来寻求关于考试准备的同行建议。本研究的目的是利用第一步考试子版块：（1）定性探索学生如何使用这个子版块；（2）了解自第一步考试成绩报告改为通过/不通过以来所采用的思想和策略的演变情况。
使用Reddit应用程序编程接口（API）收集2022年1月26日至2023年4月10日期间第一步考试子版块的帖子。使用扎根理论方法对排名前500的帖子进行分析，以进行全面的主题分析。
主题分析确定了五个主题：心理和情感挑战、学业负担过重、同学建议、社区支持与感激，以及应对第一步考试通过/不通过的情况。在考试准备期间，学生们普遍表达了压力情绪，被大量的内容和苛刻的准备时间线压得喘不过气来。学生们利用第一步考试子版块从同龄人那里获得关于选择和有效利用资源、制定学习计划以及确定内容优先级的建议。这个子版块成为了一个支持来源，发帖者给予鼓励和同理心，学生们对此表示感激。同样，学生们也在评估外部指导并调整他们的学习策略，以便在第一步考试通过/不通过的环境中取得好成绩。
对第一步考试子版块的分析揭示了一些主题，这些主题有助于更好地理解医学生如何利用这个论坛，以及教育工作者可用于优化学生支持的见解。
