The Impacts of Pre-matriculation Programs on Incoming First Year Medical Students: A Scoping Review

Medical school provides many obstacles and stressors that can derail students' journeys. Students need support to traverse these obstacles. Many schools provide support including tutoring, remediation protocols and pre-matriculation programs. Pre-matriculation programs are support programs that students encounter before matriculating into medical school. This scoping review focuses on the possible impacts of summer pre-matriculation programs on incoming first year medical students with the goal of better understanding how these programs positively, negatively or do not impact medical students. A scoping review was performed and three databases were searched (Pubmed, Scopus, Ovid Medline) resulting in a total of 295 articles with only 12 studies included in the final review. Overall, it was found that pre-matriculation programs, through both academic and social interventions, provide positive outcomes to incoming medical students. These outcomes include increased academic performance, better understanding of the expectations of medical school, development of their own academic skills, and a sense of community. Limitations of this review include the papers were often over a decade old and may be out of date when it pertains to current medical school curriculums. Studies also only focused on first year performance rather than following these students through their medical school career. Future directions include better understanding how these programs can be used to best identify students who need help so they may receive early intervention.