The Solution

The integration of Osmosis’ medical education platform, which gives access to over 1,600 short, illustrated videos into the Academy for Success. 

The academy, created to set the foundation for UTRGV’s PA school, became rooted in Osmosis content. Faculty could assign playlists each week for students to watch and have peace of mind that the content is reliably accurate and designed to engage students by utilizing evidence based learning science principles. “By using this we know that we’re reaching out, giving students what they need; the short information, informative, with the correct data and information without having to pick and choose or check for validity.”

Faculty can easily access the videos associated with their courses through the platform navigation. Dr. Julie Garza says this was a major reason she thought Osmosis would be a good fit for the program. “The ease, and the playlist, and organization of it was very user friendly, so that I felt our faculty would not be overwhelmed by it.”

Many other features became equally important. Transcripts allow them to read quickly through the content to see what the students would learn in each video so they can prepare any of their own questions or assign Osmosis questions associated with the video. Faculty can also track student progress through the analytics dashboard to ensure students are watching assigned playlists and assess student’s knowledge throughout the course. “Being able to track [students] was really important for us to keep them engaged.”

The Challenge

Finding quality, trusted video content that tech-savvy students will engage with.

UTRGV’s PA faculty recognize the dramatic shifts in medical education over the past decade with the increasing number of students who often prefer digital mediums. Dr. Juliann Garza says the faculty began to realize, “We needed a platform or additional resource, besides reading from a textbook or article for those types of learners. We needed something that was more catching to more of our visual learners and their attention span.”

The pandemic further highlighted the student need for information in digital formats that were accurate, engaging, and concise. Faculty at UTRGV challenged themselves, “How can we really reach out to that student population that relies on that modality of learning now?”

Faculty sought engaging, accurate digital resources for pre-work, so that faculty could spend more time on application based activities with students. They spent hours searching the internet and Youtube to find high quality videos that aligned with their class content. One challenge in doing so, they discovered, is that many videos were inaccurate or did not address the topic the way faculty wanted to teach it.

The Result

Expanded usage throughout the PA program from the Academy of Success to graduation day.

Dr. Garza said, after completing the Academy for Success, students are “so fluent with [Osmosis], they become reliant.” Osmosis videos help them develop a good overview before beginning a course and to be more prepared to engage during classes. Students started asking for and expecting Osmosis videos tied to every course.

Osmosis quickly became crucial, not only as a starting point for the curriculum, but also an integral part of student remediation plans. With the program’s focus on self-evaluation, any student who is struggling creates an individualized remediation plan. Leveraging Osmosis videos into this program helped engage students and allowed faculty to assess student’s mastery of the material. After completing a remediation program using Osmosis, students consistently say, “I wish I had taken advantage of this from the get-go.”

And, it wasn’t just students who enjoyed using Osmosis. Once faculty learned about Osmosis playlist features, they were hooked. “We kinda got a little addicted to making playlists and it was fun, “ says Dr. Garza, “As faculty became more reliant on it, then they are like, ‘actually I want to use the quizzes and I want to see the analytics of who's watching and how in detail.’” Dr. Garza shared that faculty had fun exploring the library of videos and the ease of access saved hours of time combing through the internet for reliable, high-quality content.

When asked if she would recommend Osmosis to other PA programs, Dr. Garza was emphatically positive. “Take that leap, it is definitely worth it. The user-friendliness and really being able to get to the students on their level, and the animations, it definitely will be worth it for you.”