The Impact of a Novel Outdoor Orientation Program on Incoming Medical Students

Background: Undergraduate outdoor orientation programs facilitate students’ transition into college. Research has yet to be conducted on the few programs at medical schools, which may have unique benefits given the specific challenges of transitioning to medical school and high rates of burnout among medical students. Purpose: This mixed methods study examines the impact of one medical school's outdoor orientation program on its participants. Methodology/Approach: A survey was administered immediately following the 2018 trip ( N = 56 responses). Follow-up focus groups were conducted with a sample of the same participants ( N = 18) in 2019. Responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Findings/Conclusions: Participants felt that the program helped ease their transition into medical school, establish a support system, and hone personal development and wellness skills. Many of these effects persisted up to one year later. Implications: These findings are of particular interest to the medical and experiential education communities because many outcomes persisted for at least one year after the original trip and aligned with factors believed to protect against medical student burnout. There is opportunity for additional research as well as expansion of similar programs to other medical schools.

Aiding Transition to University Through an Outdoor Orientation Program: Accelerated Friendships

Outdoor orientation programs are used to provide experiences which aid transition to university. We investigated how an outdoor orientation program for first-year university students in England, UK accelerates social group development, which in turn aids transition and adaptation to university. We employed mixed methods data collection, including the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ) (Baker & Siryk, 1989) and semi-structured interviews. The questionnaire indicated that the outdoor orientation program significantly aided adaptation to university. The benefits of accelerated social group formation for transitioning young adults are explored through thematic analysis and explained through psychological theory.

An Outdoor Orientation Program in its Infancy, Student Perception Influencing Best Practice

Outdoor orientation programs (OOP) use adventure experience to aid transition to university. Transition processes are achieved by helping students develop constructive social support systems as well as providing them with feelings of belonging, trust, and connection to a group of peers. These peer relationships provide both critical emotional support and strengthen educational gains (Bell, Gass, Nafziger, & Starbuck, 2014). Important markers of success at university are academic attainment, retention, and student development (Bell et al., 2014). All of these are important for both the finances and reputation of universities. Programs vary in length, content, and objectives. Further outcome- and evidence-based studies are needed to examine outdoor orientation program elements to better understand how and what elements support student retention (Cortez, 2014). The aim of the research is to investigate student perceptions of the university’s first OOP for its sports-based first-year undergraduates. The university created an evaluation questionnaire to receive feedback on the OOP from students in order to have more informed input in future OOPs. The evaluation questionnaire was analyzed using content analysis. The questionnaire also included eight scale-scored questions. The study had 84 first-year undergraduate participants. The evaluation from students will form specific recommendations that will improve provision for its own students and possibly provide recommendations applicable to other academic institutions with limited experience in facilitating an OOP.