2025 Southern GEA/GSA/OSR Conference

Educational programs are, at the core, about change; therefore, effective program evaluation should focus on identifying and understanding planned and unplanned changes and connecting this new understanding to future iterations of the program (Fry & Hemmer, 2012). It is no surprise then that LCME Standard 1.1 calls for medical education programs to measure outcomes of both short and long-term programmatic goals and use these findings to improve educational program quality, or in other words engage in program (PE) and continuous educational quality improvement (CQI). However, knowing how to connect program evaluation with continuous quality improvement in a thoughtful, sustainable way can be daunting, especially to those in new roles or when programs have undergone major curriculum revisions. In addition, resources typically focus on either starting PE or CQI, but in reality, it is vital to have strong skills in each to tell the story of a medical school’s unique learning environment and student experience.