Recognising the social causes of student underperformance in medical education: a scoping review

Abstract

The social aspects of underperformance in medical education can be perceived as an uncomfortable topic in some contexts. Vaughn’s [1]evergreen description of underperformance: the state where a student’s academic performance is significantly below that which isexpected of them – because of a ‘specific affective, cognitive, structural, or interpersonal difficulty’ was used in this study. With up to15% of medical students experiencing significant difficulties during medical training [2], the session mandate is to explore social causes of underperformance towards best practice approaches for student’s support, discomfort notwithstanding. A scoping review was conducted using the JBI framework [3] to explore social issues surrounding medical student underperformance. A PubMed search using ‘medical underperformance’ and ‘remediation’ was used as an expansive template to find papers that described key concepts. Forty-six papers were identified and in papers that the titles dealt with the topic, 20 full texts were reviewed. Framework analysis [4] was used to identify themes from key papers. A key social reason for medical students’ underperformance was cultural clashes. An evidence-based process of management can be used to deduce root causes of underperformance and assist the affected student back on track with their self-regulated learning. Aims• Critically analyse the social difficulties faced by underperformingstudents.• Practice the creation of evidence-based tailored remediation plans. Engagement: I intend to use a case study and questions to engage attendees.