Holistic Student Support

Promoting Success for All Medical Students: Explore the Holistic Student Support Resource Bundle

This Holistic Student Support (HSS) Resource Bundle brings together tools, strategies, and real-world examples to help you foster inclusive, responsive, and student-centered environments in medical education. Whether you're rethinking advising, strengthening wellness initiatives, or supporting students through detours and transitions, this curated collection is designed to meet you where you are. Dive in to discover practical resources, promising practices, and reflection tools that can help your institution go beyond one-size-fits-all support—and create a system where every student can thrive.

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The Medical School Journey Map

This video introduces the Medical School Journey Map, a visual framework designed to highlight key milestones (Critical Junctures) and the continuous areas of growth (Developmental Pathways) that shape a student’s academic, professional, and personal development. We developed this explainer video in response to thoughtful questions and feedback we received about how Critical Junctures and Developmental Pathways were depicted during the Holistic Student Support Webinar Series.

While every student's journey is unique, the map can help us understand the shared experiences and potential challenges they face.

This video demonstrates one example of a Medical School Journey Map. We encourage you to use it as a starting point for conversations about what the map would look like at your institution.

Follow this link to access a customizable template you can use to create your own map.

What is a Critical Junctures Map?

Navigation of the medical school journey requires clear coordination, collaboration, and information sharing across departments, academic units, curricular phases, and institutions. This ongoing collaborative approach is necessary to provide targeted support and advice to help students thrive in medical school.

The graphic on the right illustrates one possible medical school journey, including the critical junctures and developmental pathways that all medical students navigate. It is important to note that the sequence and timing of these junctures and pathways vary by institution and individual. For example, the timing of USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 exams is determined by each institution and may not fall where shown here. Similarly, detours and offramps can occur at any point along the journey even though they are shown in one place here.

Critical Junctures Map

The Critical Junctures Explained and
Selected Resources

Matriculation and Orientation Juncture: Students are recruited, officially enrolled, and transition to the role of medical student. This includes acclimation to the learning (where, how, when they learn and study) and social environments (including the development networks as well as where they live). It includes the establishment of community and a support system.

Case Study: UT Tyler School of Medicine: Using Admission Student Characteristics to Map Resources

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Academic Performance and Progression Pathway: Students adopt learning strategies that are aligned with the design of the curriculum and successful performance towards achieving competencies. These strategies include a metacognitive approach to learning in the context of the school’s learning community (which includes other learners, faculty, staff, etc.).

Case Study: Keck School of Medicine of USC Learning Support Intake and Tracking Process

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Professional Opportunities and Experiences Pathway: Students engage in career planning to define their specialty interests and seek professional development experiences to maximize their competitiveness for residency.

Case Study: University of Central Florida “Branding” Student Services to Improve Uptake: The Compass Program

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USMLE Exam Junctures: Students utilize available resources to develop and execute an exam preparation strategy.

Modified Error Analysis Process

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Transition to Clerkship Juncture: Students enter the clinical phase of their training.

Feedback Template: Pre-Clerkship Feedback Templates from Penn State College of Medicine

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Residency Application and Interview Preparation Juncture: Students engage in activities to distinguish themselves as competitive applicants for residency.

Email Template: Career Services Weekly Email Template from University of Missouri- Kansas City

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Transition to Residency Juncture: Students match to a program and begin their transition to residency.

Case Study: The Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine’s UME to GME Individualized Learning Plan

Holistic Student Support in Practice: Conference Highlights

Members of our community are leading the way in advancing Holistic Student Support! At the SGEA/SGSA/SOSR Regional Meetings, colleagues shared innovative approaches to fostering student well-being, equity, and success—each grounded in the principles of HSS. We’re proud to feature their work, Practice and Effective Approaches for Today's Medical Students: Navigating the Step 1 Critical Juncture, in the HSS Resource Bundle, showcasing how HSS is shaping the future of medical education.

In addition to tools and strategies, this bundle also highlights conference proposals that bring the principles of Holistic Student Support (HSS) to life. These sessions showcase how faculty, staff, and students are applying HSS in real contexts—from advising and wellness to curricular innovation and equity-focused interventions. By sharing these scholarly contributions, we hope to spark ideas, encourage collaboration, and inspire others to translate HSS principles into meaningful change at their own institutions.

Critical Juncture Podcast: Transition to Clerkship

This podcast is from a webinar where speakers dived headfirst into the wild, exhilarating, and sometimes bewildering world of the transition to clerkship. One speaker likened the transition to trading a travel guide for navigating a foreign city during rush hour—at night—with no cell service. Sound intense? It is. But don't worry—this webinar shared real stories that helped student affairs professionals guide their learners through one of the final stages of the medical school journey.

(Note: We are excited to pilot the use of AI-generated audio summaries for our webinars, designed for those who were unable to attend live sessions. These summaries offer a convenient way to stay informed about key discussions and insights. Please note that the audio is generated using AI technology based on the webinar transcript, and while we strive for accuracy, there may be minor discrepancies. For the most complete and accurate information, we encourage you to refer to the original webinar recording or transcript.)

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Considerations for Holistic Student Support

This document outlines the core principles of holistic student support, defines critical junctures and developmental pathways, and offers a curated set of strategies to promote student success and well-being. You can use this document to identify actionable strategies, focus on specific junctures for targeted improvements, or track progress and opportunities for change. Whether you’re new to student support or a seasoned professional, this resource can help you align your work with a more integrated, student-centered approach.

Iceberg Analysis

An iceberg analysis, also known as an iceberg model, is a tool used to understand the different levels of a problem or situation. The concept of an iceberg model is based on the idea that just like an iceberg, which only shows a small portion of its total size above the waterline while the majority of it is hidden beneath the surface, many issues and problems have underlying factors that are not immediately visible. It is a useful tool for problem-solving, decision-making, and identifying areas for improvement.

This facilitator guide was created by REOS and will provide you with instructions for conducting an iceberg analysis at your institution.