Getting Ready for Residency: A Qualitative Analysis of Fourth-Year Medical Student Learning Plans Mapped to...

Undergraduate medical education (UME) to graduate medical education (GME) transition gaps may limit opportunities for learner improvement along each individual's learning trajectory. Additional information regarding learner perspectives on skill-based learning goals in preparation for the residency transition is needed. The authors hypothesized that fourth-year medical student (MS4) learning plans may provide information to fill the gap in understanding learner perspectives on the knowledge, skills, and opportunities they consider important in supporting their residency readiness.

Directed thematic analysis informed by a constructivist analytical approach was used to review readiness for residency reflections as part of a portfolio assessment system at a large, urban, research-intensive medical school during academic years 2021 and 2022. The authors identified student-selected Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) competencies and subcompetencies, iteratively identified non-subcompetency-based themes, refined the codes, and achieved consensus. They then analyzed the frequency of competencies and subcompetencies within learner reflections and explored additional themes.

In the final set of 291 reflections, the ACGME competencies selected for MS4 learning plans were patient care (227 learning plans), medical knowledge (144 learning plans), interpersonal and communication skills (94 learning plans), practice-based learning and improvement (79 learning plans), system-based practice (67 learning plans), and professionalism (63 learning plans). The top 3 ACGME subcompetencies identified as growth areas by MS4s were practice-based learning and improvement: evidence-based and informed practice, patient care: clinical reasoning, and interpersonal and communication skills: interprofessional and team communication. Teaching was the most common learning goal outside the ACGME subcompetencies.

The MS4 readiness for residency reflections offered important insight into student perspectives on UME to GME transition preparation. Learners' reflections yielded a diverse set of learning goals for the fourth year of medical school, highlighting the importance of individualized approaches in addition to standardized curricula at the time of transition.