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Table 4 Student Experience—Scholarly Projects

From: The long-term impact of a comprehensive scholarly concentration program in biomedical ethics and medical humanities

Students were empowered from the financial support and protected time they had to pursue personal interests

 This was in the Medical Scholars Program before they had the SC, but the support that I enjoyed...was unparalleled…financially which was important for me, but also access to other parts of the university and other faculty...and the general acknowledgement of the importance of arts and humanities within medicine. (I-11)

Projects provided opportunities for reflective and self-care practices

 [My scholarly project] required me to think … critically about myself and think about the forces and the influences on my life in a very structured format, but then also thinking about the impact I might have on the people around me…. It almost left me in a very centered place that I feel in many ways increased my resiliency to the challenges of the clinical years of medical school. (I-6)

 I remember on one particular rotation...I actually had six of the patients that I was following pass away…. I realized that I didn’t really know what it felt like to be in the patient’s shoes and so wanted to explore that component…that’s how I came to the idea of creating a play set to music that we could basically perform…and invite people to come and experience. (I-4)

Students received encouragement and personalized guidance from mentors on projects

 [My mentors] were all really supportive, and it’s just pretty fun to do like, “Yeah, I kind of want to make this comic book,” and then people would take you seriously and support you. I think they’re really great mentors, and we’re all lucky to have them. (I-3)

 I feel like it’s hard…for me to emphasize…how wonderful [my mentor] was...I feel like she really made an incredible effort to try to understand what I was trying to say and then help me to see ways where I could try to make my writing stronger.... She did an amazing job of …connecting us with each other and with other faculty mentors who could help us. (I-6)

Students achieved scholarly products (e.g., manuscripts, speaking engagements) through their projects

 My MedScholars project was a novel, it was…a medical thriller, a medical mystery novel that was then bought by [a publishing house]…I got a two book deal, so my MedScholars project was a pretty significant one…. It was a novel. (I-11)

Students developed scholarly skills through their projects

 I had to both propose and apply for the funding and then the body of the research itself, I had to become…familiar with methods of photographic research and narrative medicine and audio, like taking oral histories, so doing that and then actually creating a project. (I-18)

 Even just writing a proposal up of my own idea...how do I convince this group that they want to sponsor me to do this…figuring out what you want to do and seeking out a mentor, all of those...skills apply moving forward for any project. (I-17)

  1. Illustrative quotes from participants on the perceived impact of the BEMH SC on student experience, related to scholarly projects