A day in the life of a dermatologist: A guided experiential learning workshop as a modulator of medical career self efficacy among community college premedical students

Summary: Abstract Body: Equitable representation in medicine is important, yet dermatology remains one of the least diverse fields. The community college to medicine pathway can help bridge this gap. Using participatory design methods, we piloted a two-hour workshop for community college premedical students modeled after a dermatology encounter. Participants explored five medical careers, learned the ABCDE’s of melanoma, and learned biopsy, suturing, and knot tying skills. A convergent parallel mixed methods approach, using pre-/post-surveys and semi-structured interviews, was adopted. Qualitative data was analyzed using a grounded theory approach, with open, axial, and selective coding. 28 students attended 4 workshop sessions. 22 completed pre- and post-surveys and 8 participated in post-workshop interviews. 77% of participants identified as female and 73% as Hispanic. 69% were employed, and 36% reported annual household income below $35,000. Pre-workshop surveys revealed high interest in the five medical careers explored, but low knowledge of their educational paths and low likelihood of pursuing them. 8 participants (29%) had low baseline medical career self-efficacy. Post-workshop surveys showed increased knowledge of educational paths and higher likelihood of pursuing a medical career among all participants, and an increase in medical career self-efficacy among low baseline participants. Qualitative data elucidated four themes: 1) an unmet need for medical extracurricular opportunities, 2) scaffolded learning and individualized guidance as workshop strengths, 3) systemic barriers such as financial constraints and inequitable MCAT accommodations as obstacles, and 4) a change in participants' perceptions of dermatology from a cosmetic field to a medical career that treats skin cancer and other medical skin conditions. Four-year universities can strengthen the pathways to medicine for minoritized groups by partnering with community colleges to allow students to experientially explore a career in medicine. Charbel bou khalil¹, Gun Min Youn¹, Dawn H. Siegel¹ 1. Department of Dermatology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States. Minoritized Populations and Health Disparities Research