Charting a successful course: The academic and clinical success committee's impact on student success.

BACKGROUND: The road from prematriculation to graduation looks different for each student at each institution. To successfully complete the curriculum, students must often overcome difficulties, both academic and nonacademic. Up to 15% of 3rd-year medical students in the United States are still struggling on the major components of their clerkships and 11% in their 4th year. While there is an established need for medical school remediation, there is little evidence supporting what specifically works across the board. These deficiencies often do not go away on their own and with the need to educate all students, the guidance provided by multiple stakeholders (i.e., administration, staff, faculty, and clinicians) would be necessary to chart a course of success for these students. METHODS: The Academic and Clinical Success Committee (ACSC) at the Texas A and M University College of Medicine provides a venue to review individual students and provide input, resources, and support on a timely basis. This is a necessary ingredient in guiding the students facing academic and clinical challenges toward successful completion of graduation requirements. RESULTS: Since its incorporation, the work of the ACSC has contributed to a decrease in failures on consecutive block examinations, a decreased failure rate on Step 2 clinical skills (CS), and increased capacity to help students at risk of failing Step 1 to not do so. DISCUSSION: In this brief report, we illustrate how we developed the ACSC, the impact and levels of success it has had on students, and challenges we have faced.