Scholar 12 longitudinal outcomes: osteopathic research development application to facilitate scholarly activity during the pandemic and beyond.

Abstract

Context: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic necessitated a rapid transformation in medical education and research. Online learning became the standard to supplement in-person training and maintain accreditation requirements. Scholar 12 was constructed from the Scholar Series foundational lectures and a Master of Science in Medical Education thesis into a comprehensive research development platform accessible to all learners and institutions (https://scholar12.org).

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to involve students and faculty in a free, interactive virtual platform to address osteopathic literature deficits and scholarly activity criteria, promote new generational learning of research skills, build scholarly culture, and to employ Scholar 12 in a group-mentor research poster project to encourage osteopathic medical student participation in osteopathic-focused research.

Methods: A blinded, multi-campus, optional presurvey was digitally administered to third-year osteopathic medical students, prior to completing the Scholar 12 program, in collaboration with junior faculty mentors, during their Geriatrics/Osteopathic Principles and Practices (OPP) core rotation. Students self-reported their research skill competency relevant to each learning unit, on a 5-point Likert scale, before and after completing Scholar 12. Additional survey questions assessed the efficacy of the group mentor model and the quantity of further research presentations.

Results: Students' self-reported research skill competency scores significantly improved (p=4.53 × 10e^-8) after completion of Scholar 12, in comparison of the composite presurvey (n=1,800, 75.0 % response rate) vs. postsurvey responses (n=1,200, 50.0 % response rate), over four academic years (2020-24). Poster presentations for institutional research day grew an average of 166 % per academic year, after the introduction of Scholar 12, from 40 posters in 2019-2020 to 278 posters in 2023-2024.

Conclusions: The successful Scholar 12 implementation into a medical school curriculum demonstrated sustainable institutional scholarly activity growth through four consecutive academic years. Scholar 12 offers an accessible research learning platform relevant to undergraduate and graduate medical education objectives.