Educational Policy Development as a Leadership Experience: Inclusive Institutional Change

Abstract

Medical students have a unique opportunity to advocate for educational policies that promote best practices in undergraduate medical education. At the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, students play a crucial role in the development of medical education policies. This article describes two innovative, inclusive, and effective approaches to increase student engagement: (1) restructuring Medical Education Subcommittees to diversify student perspectives and (2) including students in a values-based design thinking approach to the development of new academic advancement and promotion and conduct policies. Through deliberate participation, medical students gain valuable skills that can be applied as future educators and academic leaders.

Keywords: Academic advancement; Leadership development; Medical Education Committee; Medical education; Policy development; Student engagement; Undergraduate medical education.

Fig. 1

Increase in student positions after MEC restructure. MEC Medical Education Committee, M1 first-year medical student, M2 second-year medical student, M3 third-year medical student, M4 fourth-year medical student, MD/PhD MD/PhD student. ^θMEC members who concurrently serve on the Geisel Assessment Oversight Committee (GAOC) as part of the selection process. *The M3 representative on the P2CC during their third year will join the P3CC during their fourth year

Fig. 2

Timeline of policy creation for academic promotion and conduct. MEC Medical Education Committee, UME undergraduate medical education, SG student government, CSPC Committee on Student Performance and Conduct (CSPC)