AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Alpha omega alpha honor medical society1/12/2024 ![]() ![]() The task force was charged “with exploring the criteria for selection into AΩA and making recommendations to ensure that this process is both fair and inclusive.” The task force set out to identify disparities in AΩA selection, discover the source of this disparity, analyze the effect AΩA had on residency selection, and recommend a new selection process.Īnalysis of AΩA selection data from the most recent 5-year period showed that UiM students at Pritzker were less frequently selected to AΩA. To begin our process, the dean for Medical Education assembled a task force, made up of faculty and residents who were recent graduates of the medical school. These metrics were those most easily measured and those that made up the sole admission criteria a generation or more ago. However, our assessment system in the clinical clerkships continued to assess only a small number of standard metrics. 12 Over the years, we have succeeded in developing a student body with diverse backgrounds, skill sets, and career goals without sacrificing promise and proven success. ![]() Our admissions decisions recognize emotional quotient as much as intelligence quotient. In addition to standard metrics (Medical College Admission Test score, grade point average, exposure to advanced sciences, research activities), the admissions committee considers experiences (leadership roles, clinical exposure, community service, “distance traveled”) and personal attributes (interpersonal effectiveness, motivation for medicine, resilience). Pritzker, like many medical schools, assesses its applicants in a holistic review. ![]() While the means we use to select students for admission to the medical school, and in fact what we value most in future doctors, had changed, the way we assess them in the clerkships had not. This committee chose students “not only for their high academic standing, but as well for leadership among their peers, professionalism and a firm sense of ethics, promise of future success in medicine, and a commitment to service in the school and community.” 11Īs we began reconsidering our AΩA selection process, our primary concern was that our student assessments had become outdated. 7 At our medical school, the top quarter of the class, previously defined almost entirely by clinical clerkship grades, were designated as “AΩA eligible.” From this top quartile, an AΩA selection committee-constituted primarily by clerkship directors-selected one-sixth of the graduating class to the honor society. Historically, the selection of students to AΩA at Pritzker has adhered to the general guidelines as written in the AΩA constitution. We set out to address these concerns by revising our AΩA selection with the goal of creating a process to equitably choose students who fulfill our school’s mission to “inspire diverse students of exceptional promise to become leaders and innovators in science and medicine for the betterment of humanity.” 10 We believe it is informative to share the details of our school’s efforts. 4 A review of our data showed that UiM students were underrepresented among our AΩA inductees. 9Īt the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine, both the national conversation and institutional experience led students and faculty to express concerns about our own AΩA chapter. 5–8 In light of these issues, some medical schools are reexamining their AΩA selection process while others have decided to discontinue student inductions. 2–4 These data come to light as researchers have used tools, both old and new, to show that bias is widespread in assessment in medical education. To complicate matters, recent data suggest that students from groups that have been underrepresented in medicine (UiM) are disproportionately excluded from admission into AΩA. 1 While hard to find fault in this mission, the true value of AΩA in the 21st century is debatable, as many in medicine view AΩA membership as little more than an honorific. The stated mission of Alpha Omega Alpha (AΩA), the national medical honor society, is to improve care by recognizing high educational achievement, honor gifted teaching, encourage the development of leaders in academia and the community, support the ideals of humanism, and promote service to others.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |