Online Learning Communities: Bridging the Gap among Historically Underserved Populations in Health Science

ABSTRACT Evidence suggests that there is a gap for underserved populations in health sciences. Through online education, access to learning opportunities is growing in health informatics, biotechnology, health administration, and health education. However, online education can lead to feelings of isolation and disconnection from the educational community. Morehouse School of Medicine is working to mitigate these issues through the online learning community (OLC). The OLC was established through the core foundation of the five Cs to create community support for underrepresented populations. We evaluated the core foundation using the five Cs methodology and designed an approach to address blind spots to enhance every student participating in the community. Determining the student type and general needs, as well as the resources available to be maximized for underserved populations, corresponded with the current student survey data collected. We found that the online learning community at Morehouse School of Medicine served as a tool for facilitating discourse and community-building among the online students. Through this tool, students were afforded the opportunity to enhance their education and increase engagement via collaboration and connection with their cohort.