This newsletter concludes our ten-part review of the role that the Success Coach plays in our Student Success Coaching Model. This process is meant to teach students how to teach themselves, so that they can cope with immediate academic struggles while developing skills that will improve their results in future classes and their future careers. The process doesn’t function without the Success Coach, who is the facilitator to ensure that students get the assistance they need with positivity and empathy, that no student falls through the cracks, and that any student motivated to succeed has every chance to do so.  

I’d like to summarize the points of this proven alternative to remediation, built upon 25 years of remediation experience.

• Student Success Coaching is a holistic system. It considers not just study, test-taking skills, and review of the material a student finds difficult, but the entire person of the student, including their schedules, personal learning styles, and personal situations. With the assistance of a Success Coach, students are given dignity, agency, and accountability in the process.

• Success coaching starts pre-matriculation and continues all the way through graduation and beyond. The skills learned never stop returning benefits.

• If incorporated in its totality, there will be immediate improvement in student outcomes.

• The system must have both statistical risk modeling and systematic skill intervention.

• Success coaching involves regimented processes and protocols, and coaches who can direct students to the best processes and protocols for their needs.

• Success Coaching deploys before the point of no return, improving student performance and decreasing attrition.

• Buy-in from the entire faculty is necessary. We find that resistant faculty are usually concerned that the model will lead to increased work for them, but they soon learn that the methodology, employed correctly, decreases their workload and results in happier, more engaged students.

Coaching to facilitate self-directed learning and self-assessment

A fundamental part of PA education is to develop the skills necessary to become a self-directed learner to adapt to the continuously changing practice of medicine. This includes professionalism, knowledge, interpersonal skills, and psychomotor skills. Any of these areas could lack development and result in poor performance. Self-directed learning encompasses the process of individuals taking the initiative to identify knowledge gaps, generate learning goals, act on learning goals, and ensure future learning preparedness – but self-directed learning must also be learned, and this is where the Success Coach makes a big difference.

Many PA students have been highly successful in their academic careers to this point, yet they are still ill-equipped to handle the fast-paced acquisition of skill development and knowledge acquisition expected in the field of medicine. 

Nevertheless, most students can, and do, incorporate positive changes in their study habits. Many can manage it on their own. We do not merely strive to help those who cannot, but to smooth the process of self-directed learning for all students with the help of coaches specifically trained for this competitive learning environment. Graduate medical education is difficult enough as it is- and self-directed learning and self-assessment are skills that stay vital and important throughout careers.

Our Student Success Workshop

If you would like more information on the Student Success Coaching Model, Massey & Martin, LLC provides our Student Success Workshop. The workshop includes several basic, proven intervention methods  to ensure student success during their time in the PA program. This workshop is guided by relevant theoretical frameworks, including principles of self-directed learning, reflective practice, and situated learning. Its goals are to:

• Provide formational skills to ensure appropriate student remediation

• Incorporate structure, policies, and procedures to ensure a protocol-based approach to all students

• Implement appropriate interventions to ensure students are provided appropriate referrals in cases of high-level emotional stress.

• Conduct personal reflections to ensure past experiences will not impact effectiveness when intervening with students at risk for failure or deceleration.

As always, we welcome you to contact Dr. Scott Massey, LLC for a free consultation for information on the value we can bring to your PA program.

In our next newsletter, we look forward to beginning a new topic PA programs directors. Please join us again!