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. 2016 May 17:3:JMECD.S39420.
doi: 10.4137/JMECD.S39420. eCollection 2016 Jan-Dec.

Back to the Future: What Learning Communities Offer to Medical Education

Lars G Osterberg  1 , Erika Goldstein  2 , David S Hatem  3 , Kevin Moynahan  4 , Robert Shochet  5
Affiliations

Back to the Future: What Learning Communities Offer to Medical Education

Lars G Osterberg et al. J Med Educ Curric Dev. .

Abstract

Learning communities (LCs) have increasingly been incorporated into undergraduate medical education at a number of medical schools in the United States over the past decade. In an Association of Medical Colleges survey of 140 medical schools, 102 schools indicated that they had LC (described as colleges or mentorship groups; https://www.aamc.org/initiatives/cir/425510/19a.html). LCs share an overarching principle of establishing longitudinal relationships with students and faculty, but differ in the emphasis on specific components that may include curriculum delivery, advising/ mentoring, student wellness, and community. The creation of LCs requires institutional commitment to reorganize educational processes to become more student centered. LCs are beginning to show positive outcomes for students including benefits related to clinical skills development, advising, and student wellness, in addition to positive outcomes for LC faculty.

Keywords: advising; learning community; mentoring; professional development.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests:Authors disclose no potential conflicts of interest.

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