Improving Medical Student Success

Team DHA-24 came to solve a practical problem: the Medical Education and Training Campus (METC) lacked standardized curriculum development and data-driven insights into why students were failing their programs.

What's At Stake

Student failure rates at METC represented more than academic statistics—they indicated gaps in military medical training that needed systematic solutions. Without standardized learning objectives and failure analysis, the institution couldn't turn individual challenges into institutional improvements.

Getting Inside the Learning Environment

Led by Sara Schaa under instructor David Riley, Team DHA-24 committed to understanding the problem from the ground up. Their sponsor, Everett Ybarra at METC, facilitated on-campus access that virtual interviews couldn't provide.

The team's approach was direct: interview students from different programs, interview instructors from various disciplines, observe 1:1 support sessions, and experience a full day as a student—from early morning training through classes.

Operators of Another Kind

Sara Schaa, leading the effort from Carnegie Mellon, brought systematic analysis to educational challenges. Working alongside teammates Prina Doshi, Kimi Wu, and E.J. Ezuma Eguwa, she assembled a team capable of identifying failure patterns and translating them into actionable insights.

Under instructor David Riley's guidance, they treated student data as intelligence to be understood systematically.

What Comes Next

The team is focusing on standardized curriculum development and data-driven failure analysis that works within METC's existing structure. Their goal: transform how the institution approaches student success through better visibility into why students struggle and what interventions work.

They didn't just study failure rates. They made the invisible patterns visible.