non-TTUHSC ESP Features
Welcome to a special version of the ESP at Texas Tech designed for the benefit of students and faculty at other institutions. To be clear, this program is free of charge with easy online access to all materials except for some in-house copyright protected case questions used in Block 3: Step 1 Prep. Other institutions will need to identify comparable materials to fit their needs. There are three major Blocks of activity in the ESP, with the primary differences in the two programs occurring in the last two blocks that are conducted on each individual campus.
We consider the first part of the ESP, the Block 1: Self-Study Activities, to be an essential beginning point for all entering medical students regardless of institution because:
- It scaffolds the concepts essential to individualized application of DP to learning skills.
- It preserves the students individuality.
- It leads to a consistent expert professional outcome.
- It prepares the student for any curriculum.
In order to take advantage of a motivational moment, the TTUHSC SOM offers the invitation to begin as soon as we receive confirmation that the student has accepted our offer of admission. The design of Block 1 also permits it to be adapted to academic advising interventions. We expect that, as the ESP at Texas Tech becomes improved through experience, academic interventions will no longer be necessary except in the case of personal issues.
Differences in TTUHSC and non-TTUHSC Expert Skills Programs
Block 1: Self-Study Activities - A discovery activity
- Likely differences in start dates
- Also effective with newly matched residents
- Independent use by individual students at nonparticipating institutions
- Institutional collection and evaluation of academic performance and professionalism data
Block 2: Orientation Week Training Workshops - A skill development activity
- Possible alternative introduction to Deliberate Practice in medical school
- The video and slide notes used at TTUHSC SOM are available at this website as a resource for other institutions
- Possible alternative workshop examples for topics that appear within the first week of the curriculum
- A motivational advantage is gained by using material that will be learned immediately; this makes the workshops equivalent to “study time.”
- Possible different practices or approaches that are specific to a unique curriculum.
Block 3: Step 1 Prep - A skill development activity
- Use of resources for weekly review sessions must match topics in current week of the curriculum.
- Coverage of topics will vary by individual curriculum.
- Administration of the study groups will vary according to interest (remember that this doesn’t work if it is compulsory).
- An estimation of "Institutional Resource Requirements" is provided below for individual institutions to evaluate.
- Careful examination will reveal the lack of commitment of faculty resources or curriculum time.
Institutional Resource Requirements
Human resources needed
Program Director
- Oversight and day-to-day implementation of program components.
- Potential chair of ESP steering committee
- Normal responsibilities overlap with academic support services
- Possible collaboration with admissions office;
Staff assistant
- Communication of initial program invitation
- Maintains communication information for announcements, research surveys
- Normal responsibilities in student affairs or admissions
Faculty
- Course director time required to select and/or approve questions for review
- One time only except for minor revisions when course schedule changes
- Question only evaluated for relevance of answer choices to concepts eligible for course exams.
- Questions re-used each year if course content remains stable.
- No other faculty are needed!
Peer mentors
- Optional but possible research activity
- Possibility for year 3 and year 4 mentors to observe and motivate
- Function of mentors similar to PBL tutors; only active when needed
- No preparation, but brief training may be helpful
Physical resources needed
- Small group meeting rooms
- Used for USMLE Step 1 Prep sessions
- Normal scheduling at 5pm
- White boards, 8ft wide (for year 2 groups)