Uplifting Medical School Students: ZotUnity Delivers on Tutoring, Advising and Wellness

When most people think of medical school, a trampoline park isn’t what comes to mind. Yet that’s where 353 UC Irvine School of Medicine students enjoyed a day of fun during the fourth annual ZotUnity Day on Aug. 21, 2026.

More than just fun and games, the outing served as a bonding experience, building community among MD students facing a firehose of information, grueling exams and demanding clinical rotations.

It is the signature event for ZotUnity, a comprehensive program launched in 2023 to boost student success through wellness activities, academic tutoring and career advising.

“ZotUnity has quickly garnered national and international attention from medical schools, as our team has led over 40 conference presentations in the past four years,” says Lauren Stokes, who serves as director of ZotUnity and of academic support services for the School of Medicine.

Stokes developed the ZotUnity program in collaboration with five students: 2024 alumni Michael Head, MD, and Aaron Frank, MD; 2025 alumnus Konnor Davis, MD; and current MD/PhD students Nolan Huck and Celina Yang.

“ZotUnity would not exist without these amazing students,” says Stokes. “They approached me in 2022 with an interest in providing new services, and we identified areas where we could close gaps in student satisfaction.”

Building a Sense of Community

“I got involved with ZotUnity after recognizing a critical gap while directing the Collaborative Learning Communities program during the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Yang, who joined the Medical Scientist Training Program in 2020 and is pursuing an MD and PhD in neuroscience. “Students were academically supported but socially isolated, with wellness and advising resources very separated and sometimes difficult to obtain.”

To address this, the team of students worked with Stokes on a proposal to restructure the MD student support system into one cohesive platform. They approached the dean’s cabinet and were extremely grateful to receive resources and administrative support to launch a pilot program.

The ZotUnity platform resembles a “Harry Potter Hogwarts” model, grouping students into “houses” to create a sense of community in support of personal, academic and professional success.

“Built around six houses named after health-related mythical figures, ZotUnity serves all 500 School of Medicine MD students through free monthly socials, career advising dinners, general and personalized academic tutoring, as well as wellness programming,” says Yang.

Each house — Apollo, Artemis, Lonopuha, Panacea, Sekhmet and Vulcan — has a faculty career advisor, a student house director and 60 to 80 medical students of all class standings.

The student director plans schoolwide events, such as the annual ping-pong and volleyball tournaments, as well as more intimate and frequent events, such as coffee meetups and dinners with the faculty advisor.

“This experience has reinforced my belief that community is a foundational aspect of physicians and their success,” says Yang. “What I love most is witnessing students from diverse backgrounds — who might otherwise feel invisible in an overwhelming system — find genuine belonging, support and connection.”

Huck, also an MD/PhD student in neuroscience, says ZotUnity has been one of the most rewarding parts of his time at UC Irvine.

“Medical school can be incredibly demanding, and creating opportunities for students across all class years to connect, support one another, and celebrate together has been tremendously meaningful,” says Huck. “Whether it’s first-year students finding mentors, upperclassmen giving back through advising and tutoring, or classmates connecting through house events, it’s been amazing to watch ZotUnity create a culture where collaboration is valued over competition.”

Other schools are now looking to the program UC Irvine has built, hoping to replicate ZotUnity’s success.

“ZotUnity has been presented at medical education conferences as a replicable model for other institutions,” says Yang, “and it has been very well received.”

A Model for Success

The team’s conference presentation, “Balancing Brilliance and Building Bridges: A House-Structured Approach to Medical School Tutoring, Advising and Wellness,” outlines the program’s success in improving community and well-being, increasing access to academic and advising support, and developing peer leadership and mentorship opportunities.

“Presenting about ZotUnity provides an important opportunity to offer other medical institutions a practical framework for integrating student-centered support services into a unified model,” says Stokes. “As we’ve shared our findings at medical education conferences around the country, other schools have expressed an interest in modeling our approach.”

Since the program’s inception, 97% of first-year students have participated in resources associated with ZotUnity. “More than half of the medical school community [roughly 300 students] continues to participate in ZotUnity schoolwide events,” says Stokes.

A ZotUnity survey in 2024 found that 95% of first-year medical students agreed that the peer tutoring sessions were valuable, enhanced their learning and positively impacted their exam confidence.

“In addition to supporting learning outcomes for students, our program also provides an invaluable opportunity for students to participate as a medical student teacher,” says Stokes. “As a highly sought-after position, ZotUnity receives nearly 200 student applications per year, which equates to about 60% of the eligible student body expressing interest in serving on the team.” Those selected gain leadership experience in academic medicine and continuously publish and present research.

“The experience profoundly benefited me by strengthening my leadership, organizational and creative skills,” says Yang, “and by deepening my network across class years.”

After the pilot program, a mixed-methods analysis of the peer tutors’ experiences revealed that 100% were overall satisfied with their positions. The analysis also showed that 85% learned new skills, 88% felt they were stronger teachers, and 88% felt they had a stronger grasp of the medical curriculum.

“More than half of our tutors included this position on their residency application as their most meaningful activity in medical school,” says Stokes. “We also found a strong, positive and statistically significant correlation between serving as a tutor and an increased commitment to a career in academic medicine.”

After the pilot year of ZotUnity, additional metrics comparing 2023 to 2024 showed increases in:

• satisfaction with academic support services,
• feeling acknowledged during times of difficulty,
• an ability to identify faculty to connect with during academic struggles,
• interclass feelings of connectedness and community, and
• feeling that ZotUnity contributed to student wellness.

“The best aspect of the program is seeing how quickly a sense of community was built through ZotUnity,” says Stokes, who was pleased to see how seamlessly ZotUnity integrated itself into the school culture.

With another ZotUnity Day in the books, she looks forward to continued student success. “ZotUnity Day is my favorite event of the year,” says Stokes. “I always joke that it feels like planning a wedding, but the payoff is tremendous.”

She loves seeing medical students come together in friendly competition, supporting one another’s mental well-being and forging bonds that will carry them through the demanding year ahead.

“In addition to the prestige of a medical school in terms of match rate, university resources, etc., it is essential to select an institution that is truly invested in combining student wellness with academic excellence,” says Stokes. “These two entities should not exist as dichotomies. We have found a way to balance both elements of student success.”

— Shani Murray