91制片厂 DO Student and Faculty Members Receive Prestigious Scholarships for Extraordinary Research
After two years of hard work and research, Bersabel Woldemariam can take solace knowing her efforts paid off.
Woldemariam, DO20, was given the $1,500 Travel Award by the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) for her research entitled, 鈥淢aster students鈥� GPA is a better predictor of success in medical school when compared to MCAT scores.鈥�
The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores are test scores designed to determine a medical school applicant鈥檚 understanding of basic science concepts as well as their strengths in problem-solving and writing.
Woldemariam bested nearly 30 other applicants from around the world, including a faculty member from the Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine and a fourth-year student from Harvard Medical School.
鈥淚 come from a family where no one went to college, so I was really surprised when I found out I won,鈥� she said.
With her mentor, Dr. Amina Sadik, Associate Professor from the College of Osteopathic Medicine, and the statistical expertise of Xia Wang, Research Assistant from the College of Osteopathic Medicine, Woldemariam compiled immense research, including Medical Health Science students from 2010鈥�2014 who became Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine students from 2014-16.
She analyzed the grades from students enrolled in Touro鈥檚 Medical Health Science program and compared their future success based on two variables: MCAT scores and GPA.
鈥淥ur findings indicated that there is a strong correlation between the MHS GPA and the cumulative GPA in the preclinical years in medical school, as well as the scores of board exam steps 1 and 2. We concluded that MHS GPA could be used to predict success in medical school and should be an additional admission criterion,鈥� she said. 鈥淪ince some of the MHS students admitted to the College of Osteopathic Medicine were still going through classes or taking board exams, we had to wait to see how they performed before finalizing the results.鈥�
Woldemariam鈥檚 research was recently published in the American Medical Education Journal.
Having previously presented her unpublished data during the 2016 American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) conference, she will present her published presentation during the annual IAMSE conference in June.
At AACOM, where podium presentations are usually 10-20 minutes, Woldemariam was given 60 minutes to present and discuss her findings with a large audience, a reflection that medical schools are continuing to pursue better predictors for success.
鈥淭he fact that she won in an international competition confirms a worldwide interest in this type of research,鈥� Sadik said.
鈥淚 just want to show my research to other faculty because even though there has been a lot of research done in this category, not much has been predicted with Master鈥檚 students in medical school,鈥� Woldemariam said.
After two years of collecting data, writing results, completing applications and creating poster presentations, Woldemariam is excited to present her findings to another interested audience.
鈥淎 lot of people have questions about it, so it鈥檚 really cool that I get to present and listen to their thoughts,鈥� she said.
Woldemariam is Sadik鈥檚 second Master鈥檚 student to win the award. Leticia Rojas, now a fourth-year medical student, previously won the award in 2012.
Touro Faculty Members Secure IAMSE Grant
In addition to Woldemariam鈥檚 first-place win, three Touro faculty members were awarded a grant of nearly $5,000 by IAMSE for their research on assessment in medical education.
Drs. Terrence Miller and Derek Meeks from COM, and Kristina Lindquist from OASIS were awarded the IAMSE Educational Scholarship Grant and will present their work during a future IAMSE meeting. The grant will help them pursue their research over the next year.
鈥淚t always makes you feel good when you can land a competitive grant,鈥� Miller said. 鈥淯ltimately, it could impact board exams and how they are written.鈥�
For Meeks, it was his first time pursuing an academic research grant.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really exciting,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think it can really represent a paradigm shift as to how we give board questions. We hope that eventually, from our study, the boards will change.鈥�
鈥淕etting a grant from the International Association of Medical Science Educators validates the research that we鈥檙e doing and pushes me to ask further questions related to this area,鈥� Lindquist said. 鈥淚 am very excited to receive this grant.鈥�
IAMSE will host its 2018 conference here in Southern Nevada. Touro is co-hosting the event together with Roseman University and UNLV鈥檚 medical school.
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