Medical students' experience of academic review and promotions committees

Like all medical schools, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine (NEOUCOM) has an elaborate committee system for academic review and promotions (ARP). Little research exists locally or nationally on this system.

E-mail invitations to all 420 NEOUCOM currently enrolled students were sent seeking their participation in a qualitative study that involved interviewing students who had appeared before an ARP committee at any time for any reason to understand how they experienced the process.

NUD*IST software was used to analyze the data generated by the interviews.

The invitation drew 19 volunteers from the pool of 84 students who, at the time of the messages, had appeared before an ARP committee at least once. Themes were discovered surrounding students' perceptions of the committee's purpose, their experience of it, their beliefs about students' honesty when appearing before the committee, how they felt about themselves after a committee appearance, and how they would improve the process of academic review.