Abstract:

The final class in a five semester, twenty-month curriculum for medical students studying for their Basic Sciences USMLE Step 1 exam, is a 240-hour course that reviews material from previous subject specific courses, in order to help students achieve a passing score or better in the review course’s four exams leading up to the national board assessment.

The previous schedule for this course was a reflection of faculty availability and expertise and was loosely synchronized to the content of the course’s four exams. The pass rate of this course averaged 46% for the previous eight semesters, indicating that modifications to the presentation of course material may be required to improve this metric of success.

Analysis of previous exams in this course provided data on nearly two thousand individual study topics, which was utilized to determine a relative value for each of 295 academic study areas based on previous student performance and content area. These values were then correlated with the class calendar to provide a sequence and schedule that was more beneficial to teaching and learning.

Early results data indicate that these changes have been successful and have improved overall pass rates in course assessments, with the greatest improvements being seen in students with a medium level of academic performance. Students with lower academic performance may benefit from additional modifications to the learning environment.

Keywords:

Medical, review, schedule.