Using Predictive Analytics to Improve Retention in Pre-Med Special Master’s Programs

As competition for medical school admissions intensifies, aspiring doctors who want to strengthen their academic profiles increasingly seek out special master’s degree programs (SMPs). However, with their demanding curriculum, the risk of student attrition from SMPs is real.

For university administrators, the stakes are just as high. Student dropouts represent not only a loss of tuition revenue but also a setback in institutional performance metrics and student satisfaction. Fortunately, there’s a powerful solution: predictive analytics-powered education.

When we began designing our Master of Science in Medical Sciences (MSMS) curriculum, we knew that building a robust predictive analytics model wouldn’t just provide medical school applicants with detailed information about their performance to show medical schools – it could also help program faculty better support students right from the start of the program.

Predictive Analytics – A Quick Refresher

Predictive analytics refers to machine-learning based computer programs that use historical data and statistical models to forecast future student behaviors. Our MSMS curriculum generates a USMLE Step 1 pass/fail prediction, but it can also flag up signs of disengagement or risk of withdrawal as soon as student performance begins to decline.

Identifying At-Risk Students Early

By analyzing key data points—such as attendance records, LMS (Learning Management System) activity, assignment submission patterns, course grades, and even engagement in student services, predictive models can identify students whose behavior patterns resemble those who have previously withdrawn or struggled.

For example, a student who begins skipping in-person class sessions, submits assignments late, and shows a sudden drop in quiz performance might be flagged by the system as “at-risk.” With this insight, faculty advisors or student support teams can proactively intervene, offering tutoring, mental health support, or time management coaching.

Customized Support Interventions

Once at-risk students are identified, interventions can be tailored based on specific needs. Predictive analytics doesn’t just flag a problem—it often indicates the why behind it. Whether the issue is academic performance, financial stress, or burnout, SMPs can implement timely, personalized support.

A 2023 study by Britain’s Open University, for example, found that students who received motivational interventions from student support teams after being flagged up by predictive learning analytics were significantly more likely to complete their program than students who did not receive the interventions.

Our University Partners can access real-time performance reports on students that offer granular detail, identifying which topic areas they struggle with most. This allows for targeted academic advising and helps re-focus career advising (e.g., whether the student should pursue a DO or MD program after graduating).

Institutional Benefits

For administrators, the return on partnering with a predictive analytics-powered MSMS like ours goes beyond improved retention:

• Better resource allocation: Direct limited support resources toward students who need them most.
• Enhanced program reputation: Higher completion and med school matriculation rates make the program more attractive to future applicants.
• Data-driven decision making: Aggregate data can guide curricular changes, advising strategies, and policy updates.

Predictive analytics can also provide crucial support to first-generation students and students from underserved backgrounds. Georgia State University, for example, has reported stronger performance and improved graduation rates among all demographics, but especially for students from diverse backgrounds. Six-year graduation rates for all undergraduates, for example, rose by 7 percent between 2011 and 2018, and graduation rates for African-American men rose 37 percent in the same period.

See What’s Possible for Your Institution

As SMPs continue to serve as a critical pipeline into medicine, supporting student success is more important than ever. Predictive analytics offers a proactive, data-informed approach to identifying and addressing student risk. For administrators, it’s a strategic tool to ensure the institution achieves performance goals – because more students have been able to achieve their goals.

Start exploring the Tiber Health MSMS curriculum today to see what your university could achieve.

The Physician Shortage in the U.S.: A Growing Crisis and Who It Affects Most

The United States is facing a critical physician shortage, a problem that threatens the accessibility and quality of healthcare for millions of Americans. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the country could experience a shortfall of up to 86,000 doctors by 2036.

This shortage is fueled by several factors, including an aging population, an aging physician workforce, and insufficient residency program capacity. While the impact of this shortage is widespread, certain populations and regions are disproportionately affected. Here are three groups most impacted by the lack of doctors.

Rural Communities

Rural areas in the U.S. have long struggled with physician shortages, and the problem is worsening. Many rural counties lack sufficient primary care providers and specialists, forcing residents to travel long distances for basic healthcare services.

According to a 2025 STAT News article, rural areas are expected to have 56% fewer physicians than they need by 2037, compared with a 6% shortage in urban areas. This disparity leads to delayed diagnoses, untreated chronic conditions, and increased reliance on emergency care.

Underserved Urban Areas

While urban centers may have a higher concentration of medical facilities, low-income and underserved communities within cities often face significant healthcare access challenges. For example, a 2020 Cureus article on physician shortages reported that while the city of Philadelphia has no net shortage of primary care physicians, the reality varies from neighborhood to neighborhood. “Low physician-access census tracts were more likely to be in a neighborhood with a higher proportion of African Americans, even after adjusting for socioeconomic and insurance status,” the report notes.

Research conducted by the University of Michigan in 2018 shows that urban physicians are more likely to practice in affluent neighborhoods or private institutions, leaving inner-city hospitals and clinics understaffed. As a result, patients in these communities experience long wait times, inadequate preventive care, and difficulties managing chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension.

Geriatric and Aging Populations

The aging U.S. population is another major factor contributing to the physician shortage. The number of Americans aged 65 and older is expected to nearly double by 2060, increasing the demand for healthcare services. At the same time, a significant portion of the current physician workforce is approaching retirement, further exacerbating the shortage.

Geriatricians, who specialize in elderly care, are particularly scarce, leaving many older adults without the specialized care they need to manage complex health conditions. According the National Resident Matching Program, 71% of residency spots in geriatric medicine went unfilled in 2025 (p. 51). This is likely due to the lower salary potential for geriatricians: a 2025 Business Insider article notes that in New York City, for example, a cardiologist earns more than double what a geriatrician earns.

Addressing the Crisis

Solving the physician shortage requires a multi-faceted approach. There are steps regulatory bodies and Congress can take, such as increasing funding for residency programs, creating specialized immigration pathways to attract foreign physicians, and encouraging current doctors to practice in underserved areas through loan forgiveness programs and financial incentives. Changes to medical practice may also help alleviate some of the strain by optimizing existing resources, such as telemedicine and team-based care models.

Education, however, is crucial. At Tiber Health, we believe that helping talented students enhance their academic qualifications for medical school can create a pipeline of physicians who are not just ready to meet the rising need for physicians, but to help address historic gaps in service.

Decades of research have shown that physicians from underrepresented backgrounds are more likely to practice in underserved areas – for example, this 2022 study which found that students who are under-represented in medicine (URiM) were more likely to plan careers serving underserved populations. Our one-year Master of Science in Medical Sciences curriculum offers students an innovative pathway toward medical school admission, combining coursework that mirrors the first year of pre-clinical classes at an LCME-accredited medical school with a predictive analytics suite that helps students understand how they’re performing, address strengths and weaknesses, and explore the best health professional paths to match their skills. Learn more about the MSMS curriculum here.

Why Supporting Latino Pre-Med Students Is a Public Health Imperative

In the evolving landscape of American healthcare, one truth has become impossible to ignore: our physician workforce does not reflect the communities it serves. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Latino community. Despite making up nearly 20% of the U.S. population, Latinos account for only 6% of practicing physicians, according to 2023 data from the Association of American Medical Colleges.

For university administrators, this gap presents both a challenge—and a powerful opportunity.

The Stakes Are High

Latino communities experience some of the nation’s most pressing health disparities: higher rates of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease, lower rates of insurance coverage, and reduced access to culturally competent care. Ethnic and socioeconomic health disparities are one of the most pressing problems in U.S. healthcare. A 2023 report from the National Institutes of Health reported that the total burden of those disparities was $451 billion in 2018, the most recent statistical year available. Hispanic and Latino people bore 21% of that burden, paying an additional $94 billion in healthcare costs.

Research shows that diversity in the physician workforce leads to better health outcomes, especially for underserved populations. When patients see themselves in their healthcare providers—through language, culture, and shared lived experiences—trust increases, communication improves, and health outcomes follow. That means increasing the number of Latino physicians isn’t just about equity; it’s about quality, efficiency, and impact.

The Role of Universities: Creating a Stronger Pre-Med Pipeline

University-led pre-medical pipeline programs are uniquely positioned to address the Latino physician shortage. At Tiber Health, we know this because we’ve seen it in action. Our MSMS curriculum was first implemented at Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU) in Puerto Rico beginning in the 2015–2016 academic year.

In 2023, we published a study in Academic Medicine showing that students who completed the MSMS program and were admitted to medical school performed about as well on the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam Step 1 as did their directly admitted peers. This was in spite of the fact that the MSMS students had lower MCAT scores and undergraduate GPAs when admitted.

The Path Forward

The Latino physician shortage is not a distant issue—it is a current and growing threat to public health. By investing in robust, equity-driven pre-med pipeline programs like the Tiber Health MSMS curriculum, universities have the chance to make a measurable difference in the lives of students and the communities they will one day serve.

Universities that invest in Latino pre-medical talent are not only helping address a national crisis—they’re strengthening their academic communities. These students bring resilience, bilingual skills, and a deep understanding of the populations that future healthcare systems will increasingly serve. To explore how your university can make an impact by partnering with a proven MSMS pipeline provider, learn more about Tiber Health now.

Predictive Analytics-Powered Pre-Medical Education: Advantages for Faculty

The Tiber Health Master of Science in Medical Sciences (MSMS) helps students prepare for medical and health professional school admission with a curriculum that covers the same courses found in the first year of medical school. However, ensuring student success requires more than just rigorous coursework.

Students also need proactive support from faculty and administrators. Our predictive analytics-powered, data-driven approach provides Tiber Health University Partners with a powerful tool to enhance faculty support and improve student outcomes.

Identifying At-Risk Students Early

Research shows that predictive analytics can help boost student retention by flagging students for early intervention. A 2023 paper published in Scientific Reports found that while demographic and academic data, such as test scores and socioeconomic background, can be predictive, so can engagement statistics gathered from apps.

One of the most significant benefits of the Tiber Health Analytics Suite is its real-time updating of student performance metrics. By analyzing historical performance data, attendance records, and engagement metrics, our predictive models can spot when a student shows signs of needing additional support.

For example, if a student’s quiz scores, engagement with online content, and participation in class discussions are all declining, the analytics dashboard will alert faculty members to intervene. This enables instructors and advisors to offer targeted support well before a student comes to a crisis point where they’re considering dropping out.

Optimizing Curriculum and Instructional Strategies

We constantly work with our University Partners to refine the MSMS curriculum. The data from our analytics dashboard makes that constant improvement possible. By assessing which topics or assignments consistently challenge students, instructors can feed back to us about how to adjust the curriculum, offer additional resources, or implement alternative teaching methods to improve comprehension.

For instance, if analytics reveal that a significant percentage of students struggle with a specific concept in the medical biochemistry class, faculty might introduce supplemental workshops, add a video to an online module, or encourage students to break out into study groups led by high-performing peers. These data-driven adjustments ensure that the MSMS coursework remains effective and aligned with specific student needs.

Enhancing Personalized Advising and Mentorship

Advising and mentorship are crucial components of pre-medical master’s programs. Predictive analytics can enhance our University Partners’ efforts by providing faculty advisors with deeper insights into each individual student’s progress, strengths, and challenges.

By integrating predictive models with student advising platforms, advisors can receive customized recommendations on how to best support each student. The Tiber Health Analytics dashboard provides insight into student performance across USMLE Step 1 content areas compared to past MSMS and MD students, so advisors can offer personalized guidance.

That advice includes matching students with best-fit health professional programs after graduation. The MSMS is primarily focused on preparing students for success in MD programs, but graduates are also prepared for a range of other options, from dentistry and veterinary school to medical research and beyond.

Empower Your Faculty to Help Pre-Med Students Thrive

As the demand for skilled healthcare professionals continues to grow, institutions that embrace predictive analytics-powered education will be better equipped to produce competitive, well-prepared candidates for medical school. The integration of predictive analytics into our pre-medical special master’s curriculum offers our University Partners a transformative approach to student support. Find out how your university can take advantage of this opportunity – contact Tiber Health today about partnerin

Why Your University Should Offer a Master of Science in Medical Sciences Program

The 21^st century has been one of disruption for higher education institutions – the Great Recession of 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns of 2020-21 are both still impacting enrollment and operations to this day. Careful consideration of how to expand your programs is one part of navigating this challenging time. For universities looking to enhance their graduate programs and provide students with a qualification that can lead to rewarding careers, partnering with Tiber Health to offer a Master of Science in Medical Sciences (MSMS) program can be a strategic and impactful decision.

Our analytics-driven MSMS program serves as a bridge for students seeking advanced biomedical education, preparing them for medical, dental, and other professional health programs. Here’s why your university should consider the MSMS.

Meet Growing Demand for Medical School Preparation

With medical and health professional school admissions becoming increasingly competitive, more students are seeking post-baccalaureate education to strengthen their applications.

Unlike pre-med certificate programs, which cover undergraduate-level material, the Tiber Health MSMS curriculum mirrors the first year of pre-clinical education at an LCME-accredited medical school. It presents material in a tech-enhanced, flipped-classroom format, ensuring students engage in active learning . Plus, they can track their progress via our analytics dashboard, which includes a projection of their likelihood to pass the USMLE Step 1, as well as detailed information about their performance across a range of topics.

Taking graduate-level courses can help students demonstrate to admissions committees that they can succeed in medical school – and help them develop confidence in their own abilities.

Improve Academic Outcomes for Students

The Tiber Health MSMS curriculum and methodology has led to student success. 77% of MSMS graduates have received admission into their desired professional program, and 65% of students received admission into medical school after completing the program. What’s more, our research shows that MSMS graduates who go on to medical school attain similar success to their traditionally admitted peers. Our 2023 study, “Increasing Diversity in the Physician Workforce: Pathway Programs and Predictive Analytics” shows that MSMS graduates obtained a similar score to directly admitted MD students on the USMLE Step 1. This was in spite of the fact that the MSMS students had lower MCAT scores and undergraduate GPAs than their directly admitted counterparts.

Build a Pipeline of Qualified, De-Risked Applicants for Your Existing Programs

Our MSMS program attracts students with diverse interests, including pre-medical, pre-dental, and pre-health applicants who need to enhance their academic records. By offering the MSMS, universities can develop a pathway for graduates to enroll in their existing medical (MD or DO), dental, or physician assistant programs.

These graduates will be known quantities to your graduate health admissions officers, thanks to their existing track record at your school via the MSMS. In addition, you’ll have enhanced insight into their potential to succeed in graduate medical or health education thanks to the data provided by the Tiber Analytics Suite.

Contribute to a More Diverse Healthcare Workforce

For years, research has indicated that socioeconomic and cultural diversity in the healthcare workforce contributes to better outcomes for patients. At Tiber Health, improving access to healthcare education opportunities for students of all backgrounds is part of our mission. As a Tiber Health University Partner, you’ll contribute to helping increase the proportion of healthcare professionals from traditionally underserved communities. 83.68% of the current MSMS student body across all Tiber Partner universities is diverse.

Strengthen Your University’s Reputation in Health Education

Finally, universities with strong pre-health pipelines may be more attractive to undergraduate students interested in medical careers. Prospective undergraduates who are aware of the MSMS pathway option may be more likely to choose your institution for their bachelor’s degree as well as their master’s degree.

If your institution is looking to grow its graduate programs while making a tangible impact on the healthcare workforce, becoming a Tiber Health MSMS University Partner is a step in the right direction.

What Is Curriculum as a Service (CaaS), and What Can It Do for You?

In an era of rapid technological advancements, shifting student needs, and funding constraints, universities face increasing pressure to adapt their offerings to remain competitive and relevant. Amidst these challenges, Curriculum as a Service (CaaS) has emerged as a transformative approach to addressing program expansion and student retention.

Let’s explore what CaaS is, how it works, and why working with a provider like Tiber Health could be a game-changer for your institution.

What Is Curriculum as a Service (CaaS)?

CaaS is an innovative educational delivery model where external providers design, develop, and manage specialized academic programs, courses, or components in collaboration with universities. Think of it as outsourcing elements of your curriculum to trusted experts, ensuring high-quality, up-to-date, and scalable content without overburdening internal resources.

These services can include:

• Turnkey solutions for new degree programs.
• Modular courses that integrate into existing curricula.
• Industry-aligned certifications or micro-credentials.
• Tools for blended or fully online delivery.

CaaS providers leverage expertise in instructional design, technology integration, and industry alignment to create engaging, outcomes-focused learning experiences.

CaaS has been slowly developing over the last 15 years, empowered by growth in cloud and mobile computing. A 2017 article in eSchool News offered a description of CaaS that still largely holds true eight years on:

“CaaS combines:

• A cloud-based platform that enables [institutions] to edit, author, curate and publish dynamic and adaptive instructional materials and track their impact
• Digital content that provides districts with a starting point of high-quality materials
• Professional services that provide guidance on how to strategically manage classrooms, guide student learning, and track impact”

How CaaS Supports Program Expansion

Traditional program development is often slow and resource intensive.  With CaaS, institutions can rapidly roll out programs for in-demand fields (such as technology, healthcare, or data science) by partnering with providers who provide pre-designed, market-ready curricula. For universities looking to scale online or hybrid offerings, CaaS can also provide fully developed courses, freeing faculty to focus on student engagement and advising rather than content creation.

Working with a CaaS provider like Tiber Health also mitigates the risks of program expansion. That’s because we’ve conducted extensive research and refinement of our curriculum over the last 10 years to support better outcomes for students. In the case of our Master of Science in Medical Sciences (MSMS), we’ve seen hundreds of graduates achieve their goals. For example:

• 77 percent of MSMS graduates received admission into their desired professional program
• 65 percent of students received admission into medical school after completing the program

Boosting Student Retention with CaaS

A 2024 survey about student retention by loan provider Sallie Mae looked into reasons why students left college without a credential. 42 percent of students cited motivation or life changes as an issue, while 26 percent said academic challenges drove them to leave. CaaS has the potential to support more personalized, engaging, and relevant education that helps students persist.

Our MSMS program, for instance, utilizes a flipped classroom model where students engage with course content online as well as in the classroom. Engagement statistics allow students to spend more time with concepts they’ve struggled to master and less time re-learning what they know.

Additionally, the cloud-based nature of CaaS means that when new standards or concepts arise, we can quickly push changes to the materials to keep them relevant. When students feel they’re progressing, receive personalized feedback, and see the latest ideas reflected in their courses, they’re more likely to be motivated to continue.

Another benefit of working with Tiber Health? Our proprietary, machine-learning driven student analytics suite helps your faculty members identify struggling students early and provide targeted interventions. Students can also access their USMLE Step 1 performance prediction, providing an additional motivator.

Common Concerns about CaaS

Partnering with any outside agency to deliver courses raises concerns. Key among these are issues of quality control, academic integrity, and cost management. In terms of quality control, our MSMS program aligns with the first year of pre-clinical courses taught at Ponce Health Sciences University, an LCME-accredited medical school. It’s designed to enhance your offerings, not take control of them. The goal is to allow you to retain ownership of your academic identity while leveraging our external expertise.

Finally, while there is an upfront cost, CaaS can lead to longer-term savings. Working with a CaaS provider, you can reduce internal development costs and offer high-demand programs that can lead to higher enrollments.

CaaS: Partnering for Success

As competition intensifies, universities must innovate to remain relevant and attractive to students. Curriculum as a Service providers like Tiber Health offer a strategic pathway to expand program offerings, maintain content relevance, and improve student outcomes without overextending internal resources.

By embracing CaaS, your institution can deliver urgently needed education that meets the needs of today’s learners. It’s not just a service—it’s a partnership in shaping the future of education.

Interested in adding a technologically advanced pre-medical master’s degree program to your offerings? We can help. Contact Tiber Health today to learn how we can help you empower your students for success in medical and professional health careers.

Transforming Medical and Healthcare Education with the Flipped Classroom Model

When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down college campuses, higher education administrators accelerated their use of virtual learning technologies. As students returned to in-person learning, faculty and deans noticed that lecture attendance had dropped. This was especially true in medical schools, where, according to a 2023 article for NPR’s “Shots”, lecture attendance during the pre-clerkship years was usually low to begin with. Now that students had regular access to recordings of lectures, why turn up to class?

In-person education is still critical to educating clinicians, but today’s students clearly need something else. That something may just be the “flipped classroom,” formally described for the first time by Jonathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams in 2012. Implemented correctly, flipped classrooms can reignite student engagement and foster deeper learning. For university leaders, understanding and supporting this pedagogical transformation is vital to staying at the forefront of medical education.

What is the Flipped Classroom?

In professional healthcare education, students must not only absorb vast amounts of knowledge but also apply it critically in dynamic environments. Traditional, lecture-based learning models don’t really support either of these goals. In “The Flipped Classroom: Abandon the Sage on the Stage, and Embrace the Guide on the Side,” an article for the American College of Surgeons’ journal Resources in Surgical Education, Dr. Catherine E. Lewis of UCLA cites evidence that students typically begin losing focus on a lecture after 10 minutes, and that most are only able to recall about 20 percent of material covered during that lecture immediately afterward.

The flipped classroom inverts this conventional teaching model. Instead of delivering foundational materials through in-class lectures that students passively consume, they’re instead provided to students before class in the form of videos, readings, or interactive modules. Class time is then repurposed for active learning activities, such as case-based discussions, group problem-solving, simulations, or hands-on practice.

Benefits of the Flipped Classroom

Active learning lies at the heart of the flipped classroom. For example, a medical class might focus on diagnosing a simulated patient’s condition during class, leveraging prior study of pathophysiology from online videos and conventional texts. This approach moves students from passive recipients of knowledge to active participants in their education, challenging them to think critically and apply concepts in practice.

Flipped classrooms also promote the development of collaboration skills alongside clinical knowledge. Healthcare is inherently collaborative and problem focused. By incorporating team-based learning and problem-solving exercises, the flipped classroom helps students develop communication, leadership, and decision-making skills essential for interdisciplinary teamwork in their future careers.

Research shows that medical students who learn in flipped classrooms are actually more likely to demonstrate signs of deeper learning. A 2024 meta-analysis of 12 studies that examined flipped classrooms in clinical education, published online in Frontiers in Education, reported that students in flipped classrooms had better test scores and skill scores than students in traditional classrooms. A 2024 study in BMC Medical Educationthat focused on nursing students found that “that the flipped classroom model is conducive to improving learning outcomes and promoting the effective integration of theory and practice.”

As an added bonus? A 2019 study suggests that students who learn in flipped classrooms report increased satisfaction with their learning experiences compared to students in traditional lectures.

Overcoming Challenges

Flipping your classrooms, of course, isn’t simple, as a 2022 meta-analysis of 88 studies by Dutch researchers showed. Adopting the flipped classroom model may require investments in faculty training, technology, and curriculum redesign. Faculty need guidance on creating high-quality pre-class materials and facilitating in-class activities effectively. Furthermore, access to online platforms and simulation tools is essential to support this model.

However, these challenges are outweighed by the long-term benefits. In addition to evidence that learning outcomes are improved in flipped classrooms, supporting this learning model can send a clear message that your institution is committed to innovative, student-centered education. Moreover, this approach aligns with accreditation standards that emphasize competency-based learning and outcomes assessment.

Innovators in Flipped-Classroom Healthcare Education

At Tiber Health, we’ve helped implement flipped classroom learning for our Master of Science in Medical Sciences, a one-year pre-medical master’s degree curriculum. We’ve also found ways to build on the flipped classroom model’s reliance on technology to add even more value. In addition to utilizing a virtual learning environment for class pre-work, we also leverage our proprietary analytics platform to generate real-time insights into student performance.

These insights can be used to keep students motivated, inform faculty about where to intervene, and demonstrate to medical school admissions committees that our graduates are ready for the rigors of medical school. Now is the time to flip the script on traditional teaching and empower the next generation of healthcare professionals. If you’re interested in joining us as a university partner for the MSMS, contact Tiber Health today.

Analytics: The Missing Ingredient in Healthcare Pipeline Programs Aimed at Underrepresented Students

Healthcare disparities—differences in health outcomes driven by socioeconomic status, gender, race, or ethnic and cultural background—are one of the most pressing issues in U.S. and global healthcare. A 2024 report from the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions estimates that, if left unaddressed, medical costs associated with health inequities could exceed $1 trillion by 2040.

Decades of research into health disparities have shown that a more diverse, culturally competent healthcare workforce leads to better care for patients from diverse backgrounds. A 2024 Associated Press article on healthcare workforce diversity quoted Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, as saying: “Inequities are baked into our health care system, and if we address them, everyone benefits.”  

A Diverse Healthcare Workforce Matters

Improving the diversity of the healthcare workforce, therefore, is not just about meeting a moral imperative; it’s about improving the overall quality of healthcare. In a post-affirmative action world, one strategy for diversifying the healthcare workforce is the development and support of healthcare pipeline programs, such as the Tiber Health Master of Science in Medical Sciences (MSMS) complete digital curriculum.

Pipeline programs can play a transformative role in increasing medical school diversity by providing underrepresented and disadvantaged students with the tools, experiences, and confidence to pursue careers in medicine.

What Are Healthcare Pipeline Programs?

Pipeline programs are initiatives designed to guide students from diverse or underprivileged backgrounds into healthcare careers. These programs can target various stages of the educational journey, from middle school and high school to college and beyond. They often include:

• Mentorship and Networking: Connecting students with medical professionals who can provide guidance, inspiration, and opportunities.
• Clinical Exposure: Shadowing opportunities, internships, and summer programs to give students firsthand experience in healthcare settings.
• Financial Support: Scholarships, stipends, and resources to alleviate the financial burden of pursuing medical education.
• Academic Record Enhancement: Courses, tutoring, and workshops that strengthen foundational skills for medical careers, or post-baccalaureate programs aimed at boosting graduates’ medical-school readiness.

Our MSMS curriculum falls into this fourth category. In 2023, a team of researchers from Tiber Health and Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU), led by Dr. Michael Mayrath, published a paper in Academic Medicine demonstrating how our pipeline program helped improve outcomes for students from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine.

Pathway + Predictive Analytics: A Formula for Success?

Our paper described how we developed a one-year MSMS curriculum based on the first year of MD classes at PHSU, an LCME-accredited U.S. school of medicine. While many pre-medical special master’s programs take this approach, the PHSU program had one other feature: a predictive analytics model based on student performance data.

Our analytics model draws on student exam performance and categorizes their answers based on LCME standards, U.S. Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) systems and disciplines, and other criteria. The output of the model is the Tiber Performance Value (TPV), which estimates a student’s pass/fail result on the USMLE Step 1 compared to past PHSU medical school graduates. Our study looked at how well the TPV modeled actual achievement for MSMS students who went on to medical school.

Statistically Significant Improvement for MSMS Students

In our study, we compared medical students who completed the MSMS pipeline program to students who were directly admitted to the PHSU MD program. The MSMS students had lower GPAs and MCAT scores, on average, when they entered the program: 3.46 GPA and 490.2 MCAT for pipeline students versus 3.68 GPA and 498.7 MCAT for directly admitted students.

However, once they were in medical school, the pipeline graduates achieved average USMLE Step 1 scores (as calculated before the pass-fail transition in 2022) comparable to the directly admitted MD students: 217.4 for MSMS grads, 217.8 for direct-admit MD students.

What’s more, our study showed that the TPV’s pass/fail value was a strong predictor of whether an MSMS student who moved on to medical school actually would succeed on the USMLE Step 1. (Fig. 3)

Analytics Offer Benefits for Students, Instructors, and Admissions Committees

The predictive analytics data provided as part of our MSMS curriculum offers multiple benefits. First, it provides program faculty and staff with insights into student performance in real-time, allowing for early intervention that’s targeted to a student’s individual needs. Next, it provides students with motivational feedback that assures them they’re on track—or shows them where they need to improve to get back on track.

Finally, the TPV’s USMLE pass/fail prediction provides medical school admissions committees with a supplemental metric for evaluating a student’s potential for success—one that’s based on a longitudinal assessment, rather than a one-day exam performance such as the MCAT.

Invest in Data-Driven Pre-Health Education

A diverse medical workforce is not just an ideal, it’s a necessity. The success of our innovative MSMS curriculum shows how universities can leverage predictive analytics to help empower underrepresented students who would make excellent physicians, leading to a healthcare workforce that meets every patient where they are.

Interested in learning more? Contact Tiber Health to find out how you can join our group of university partners.

Ponce Health Sciences University is Tiber’s flagship university in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Within 18 months of implementing Tiber’s methodology & curriculum delivery platform, the school experienced a transformation. It went from a struggling university to a thriving example of success.