Using data from a survey of 75 parents and high school students who were eligible for a college access program, this article examines parents’ and students’ college aspirations and their confidence in fulfilling that goal. The authors argue that pre-college preparation programs can benefit from the non-economic forms of capital that these families undoubtedly have. Moreover, students’ and their parents’ confidence in college aspirations are often situated in deeply-rooted beliefs in the ultimate benefits of education for individual, familial, and communal uplift. Understanding the valuable role of social and cultural capital in the college goals of first-generation and low-income youth will help college preparation programs build stronger partnerships with their students and families as they help them move from college aspirations to attainment.

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Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic led to many changes in healthcare including graduate medical education (GME). Residency and fellowship programs halted in-person recruitment and pivoted to virtual models. Residency selection and recruitment were practices ripe for redesign, as they relied on in-person interviewing as the major point of contact prior to match list creation. In this commentary, we review the state of virtual interviewing and propose a future state where virtual interactions are commonplace and integrated into a comprehensive recruitment process. Discussion Virtual recruitment has led to a reduction of expenses, improved time efficiency for all parties and a reduced carbon footprint. Residency match outcomes have not changed substantially with the advent of virtual interviewing. Hybrid approaches, including virtual and in-person options have significant drawbacks and pitfalls which may limit adoption. Given the upheaval in GME recruitment caused by the pandemic, and the limitations of current methods for candidate assessment and interactions with programs, further innovation is needed to achieve an optimal state for all stakeholders. Multiple technology innovations are on the horizon which may improve the ability to interact virtually. Adoption of new technology along with expanding the timeline for residency recruitment may further optimize the process for both applicants and programs. Conclusions The GME community was able to adopt technology for the recruitment interview rapidly due to the pandemic. As more opportunities for technology-based interactions grow, the opportunity exists to reimagine recruitment beyond the interview. While resources are constrained, some of the efficiencies gained by adopting virtual interviewing can be leveraged to expand the interactions between programs and applicants. Incorporation of in-person interaction may still be needed. Models will need to be developed to build upon the best characteristics of the virtual and in-person environments to optimize GME recruitment. KEY MESSAGES: Virtual communication methods have substantially changed residency recruitment during the COVID -19 pandemic. COVID -19 related changes in residency recruitment, including wide adoption of virtual methods, should be maintained and strengthened. Efforts should be made to advance the gains in residency recruitment strategy during the pandemic by use of technologies that expand virtual interactions beyond the interview.

Health disparities and social determinants of health are directly linked to access, quality of healthcare, and increase in morbidity and mortality in minority and diverse communities. It is accepted that physicians lead healthcare teams; therefore, academic medical centers must assume the responsibility to provide training to reduce health disparities. The nation's academic medical centers and teaching hospitals have a responsibility to provide education on how healthcare disparities impacts diverse patient populations. This chapter provides a detailed overview of the curriculum development process and design of two asynchronous learning modules on health disparities and social determinants of health for graduate medical learners enrolled in multiple clinical specialty areas throughout one academic medical center's three geographic regional campuses. Formative and summative evaluation processes allowed the curriculum design team to revise the module design process, in situ and throughout the creation of the modules as well as evaluate learner growth and satisfaction.