Formative rather than performative: enduring impact of an alternate pathway (QuARMS) to medicine

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36834/cmej.81514

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

GM Spencer, Queen’s University

Gina M. Spencer is a graduate of the QuARMS pathway.

References

1. Suart T, Hastings A, Katsoulas E, Stockley D, MacKenzie J. Creating a formal service-oriented curriculum in pre-medical education - the QuARMS experience. J Serv-Learn High Educ. 2017 July 24;6. Available from: https://journals.sfu.ca/jslhe/index.php/jslhe/article/view/150. [Accessed on Jun 27, 2024]

2. Tempski P, Bellodi PL, Paro HB, et al. What do medical students think about their quality of life? A qualitative study. BMC Med Educ. 2012 Nov 5;12(1):106. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6920-12-106

3. Ho C, Hu W, Griffin B. Cultures of success: how elite students develop and realise aspirations to study medicine. Aust Educ Res. 2023 Sept 1;50(4):1127-47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-022-00548-x

4. Hojat M, Vergare MJ, Maxwell K, et al. The devil is in the third year: a longitudinal study of erosion of empathy in medical school. Acad Med. 2009 Sept;84(9):1182. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0b013e3181b17e55

5. Ruiz-Moral R, Monge Martin D, Garcia de Leonardo C, et al. Medical students' attitudes towards communication skills training: a longitudinal study with one cohort. GMS J Med Educ. 2021;38(6):Doc107.

6. Licciardone JC, Tran Y, Ngo K, et al. Physician empathy and chronic pain outcomes. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 Apr 11;7(4):e246026. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.6026

7. Heath I, Montori VM. Responding to the crisis of care. BMJ. 2023 Feb 24;380:p464. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.p464

8. Tavakoly Sany SB, Behzhad F, Ferns G, Peyman N. Communication skills training for physicians improves health literacy and medical outcomes among patients with hypertension: a randomized controlled trial. BMC Health Serv Res. 2020 Jan 23;20(1):60. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-020-4901-8

9. Steinhausen S, Ommen O, Thüm S, et al. Physician empathy and subjective evaluation of medical treatment outcome in trauma surgery patients. Patient Educ Couns. 2014 Apr;95(1):53-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2013.12.007

10. Lelorain S,Gehenne L, Christophe V, Duprez C. The association of physician empathy with cancer patient outcomes: a meta‐analysis. Psycho-Oncology. Wiley Online Library. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.6108.

11. Jarvis-Selinger S, Pratt DD, Regehr G. Competency is not enough: integrating identity formation into the medical education discourse. Acad Med J Assoc Am Med Coll. 2012 Sept;87(9):1185-90. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0b013e3182604968

12. Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. CanMEDS Framework. Available from: https://www.royalcollege.ca/en/standards-and-accreditation/canmeds.html [Accessed on 2025 Feb 2].

13. Cruess RL, Cruess SR, Boudreau JD, Snell L, Steinert Y. Reframing medical education to support professional identity formation. Acad Med. 2014 Nov;89(11):1446. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0000000000000427

14. Sternszus R, Steinert Y, Razack S, et al. Being, becoming, and belonging: reconceptualizing professional identity formation in medicine. Front Med. 2024 Aug 27;11:1438082. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2024.1438082

15. Satriale F, Winchester A, Partin M. Voices of the accelerated: key themes when considering implementation of an accelerated medical school program. Med Educ Online. 2024 Dec 31;29(1):2385666. https://doi.org/10.1080/10872981.2024.2385666

16. MacKenzie JJ, Stockley D, Hastings-Truelove A, et al. Student reflections on the Queen's accelerated route to medical school programme. J Med Educ Curric Dev. 2019 Dec;6. https://doi.org/10.1177/2382120519836789

17. Collier R. The MD express lane. Can Med Assoc J. 2012 Nov 6;184(16):E845-6. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.109-4301

18. Queen’s University: Faculty of Health Sciences. New admissions process improves equitable access to the Queen's MD Program. Available from: https://healthsci.queensu.ca/stories/news-announcements/new-admissions-process-improves-equitable-access-queens-md-program. [Accessed on Jun 26, 2024].

19. Eysenbach G. Improving the quality of web surveys: the checklist for reporting results of internet e-surveys (CHERRIES). J Med Internet Res. 2004 Sept 29;6(3):e34. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.6.3.e34

20. Qualtrics. Data protection & privacy. Available from: https://www.qualtrics.com/support/survey-platform/getting-started/data-protection-privacy/. [Accessed on 2024 Nov 16].

21. Qualtrics. Security statement. Available from: https://www.qualtrics.com/security-statement/ [Accessed on 2024 Nov 16].

22. Byrne D. A worked example of Braun and Clarke's approach to reflexive thematic analysis. Qual Quant. 2022 June 1;56(3):1391-412. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-021-01182-y

23. Pigart CJ, Mohammed TF, Acuña T, et al. Premed pressure: examining whether premed students experience more academic stress compared to non-premeds. Adv Physiol Educ. 2025 June;49(2):280-90. https://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00168.2024

24. National Academies of Sciences E, Division H and M, Education D of B and SS and, Board on Children Y, Applications C on the N and S behavioral S of AD and I, Backes EP, et al. Adolescent development. In: The Promise of Adolescence: Realizing Opportunity for All Youth. National Academies Press (US); 2019 Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK545476/ [Accessed on Oct 1, 2025].

25. Weingartner LA, Sawning S, Shaw MA, Klein JB. Compassion cultivation training promotes medical student wellness and enhanced clinical care. BMC Med Educ. 2019 May 10;19(1):139. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-019-1546-6

26. Graven M, Lerman S. Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning and identity. J Math Teach Educ. 2003 June 1;6:185-94. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023947624004

27. Jones H, Hammond L. Threshold concepts in medical education: a scoping review. Med Educ. 2022 Oct;56(10):983-93. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.14864

28. Valestrand EA, Hokstad LM, Schei E, et al. The liminal landscape of mentoring-Stories of physicians becoming mentors. Med Educ. 2023;57(11):1020-7. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.15117

29. Jones H, Hammond L. Threshold concepts in medical education: a scoping review. Med Educ. 2022;56(10):983-93. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.14864

30. Arnold PJ, Romary DJ. Compassion fatigue: a medical student experience. Acad Psychiatry. 2023;47(2):219-20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-022-01666-5

31. Zlotnick C, Manor-Lavon I, Srulovici E. Resilience in late adolescence/young adulthood: Rising to the occasion? Mil Psychol. 34(5):530-40. https://doi.org/10.1080/08995605.2021.2017190

32. Halimi SN, Rowett D, Luetsch K. A realist review of programs fostering the resilience of healthcare students: What works, for whom and why? Res Soc Adm Pharm. 2025 Jan 1;21(1):22-31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2024.10.006

33. Cangiarella J, Cohen E. The importance of advising in an accelerated pathway program. Med Educ Online. 29(1):2430053. https://doi.org/10.1080/10872981.2024.2430053

34. Raymond JR, Kerschner JE, Hueston WJ, Maurana CA. The merits and challenges of three-year medical school curricula: time for an evidence-based discussion. Acad Med. 2015 Oct;90(10):1318-23. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0000000000000862

35. Lockyer J, Violato C, Wright B, Fidler H, Chan R. Long-term outcomes for surgeons from 3- and 4-year medical school curricula. Can J Surg. 2012 Aug;55(4 Suppl 2):S163-70. https://doi.org/10.1503/cjs.037610

36. Chen F, Jordan KA, Li W, et al. Academic performance of students in an accelerated medical pathway. Med Educ Online. 29(1):2345444. https://doi.org/10.1080/10872981.2024.2345444

37. Burr WH, Everitt JG, Johnson JM. "The debt is suffocating to be honest": student loan debt, prospective sensemaking, and the social psychology of precarity in an allopathic medical school. SSM - Qual Res Health. 2023 Dec 1;4:100304. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmqr.2023.100304

Downloads

Published

2025-10-21

How to Cite

1.
Spencer G, Phillips S. Formative rather than performative: enduring impact of an alternate pathway (QuARMS) to medicine . Can. Med. Ed. J [Internet]. 2025 Oct. 21 [cited 2025 Dec. 4];16(5):39-50. Available from: https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/cmej/article/view/81514

Issue

Section

Scientific Reports