D. Buchanan1, R. Ozuna-Harrison1, B. Ellsworth2, D. Tubbs1, J. Evans1, N. Matusko1, G. Sandhu1 1University Of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA 2Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
Introduction: To increase the diversity of medical school students in the US, holistic application processes have been developed. One holistic review mechanism is an applicant’s distance traveled, a personal narrative statement of their educational journey. The AAMC defines distance traveled as, “any obstacles or hardships a student has overcome to get to this point in their education or any life challenges faced and conquered.” Prior research has found that prospective medical students are wary of sharing hardships related to race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status during the admissions process. To gain a better understanding of applicant concerns about these narratives, our study aims to identify the factors that influence an applicant’s decision to share their distance traveled.
Methods: Purposive sampling was used to identify US medical students to participate in this exploratory qualitative study. Participants were recruited from seven US medical schools. Data were collected from March – May 2021 using individual semi-structured interviews. Fourteen questions comprised the interview guide and focused on perceptions of distance traveled, decision-making surrounding sharing of personal distance traveled experiences in medical school applications, and the role of distance traveled in the medical school application process. Interpretive description was used to qualitatively analyze the transcripts.
Results:
Thirty-one medical students participated in individual interviews. Four major themes were identified that describe factors medical students considered when deciding if and how they would address distance traveled in their medical school applications:
1. Cliché – Respondents referred to their distance traveled as being “cliche”, “generic”, or “heard of”, meaning that they believed their experiences lacked originality and individuality.
2. Undesirable – Respondents associated medical schools with desiring particular characteristics in their students, and believed that their distance traveled could be seen as “red flags” if they differed from the standard.
3. Unjustifiable – Some applicants compared their distance traveled to those of other applicants, and they felt their own challenges were not challenging enough.
4. Inciting sympathy – Participants reported being reluctant to share their distance traveled so as not to appear as a “sob story“, and to avoid being pitied.
Conclusion: Findings in our study indicate that medical students work through a dilemma regarding whether or not to share their distance traveled experiences. The concerns caused medical students to hesitate and temper how they include distance traveled in their applications. Our research suggests that medical schools may have an opportunity to enhance how they provide instructions and present the application process, how applications are reviewed, and how distance traveled fits into the application review.