A comparison of match outcomes between traditional medical degree and dual-degree applicants

Dual degrees combining and MD with another professional degree (MPH, MBA, or PhD) are becoming more common in an attempt to increase an applicant's competitivity for a residency. This study was designed to assess differences in MD-only and dual degree MD applicants with respect to applicant cha...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2020-12, Vol.15 (12), p.e0244147-e0244147
Main Authors: Christensen, Bryce R, Becnel, Chad M, Chan, Leland P, Minetos, Paul D, Clarke, John F, Kahn, Marc J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bachelor of arts degree
Bachelor of science degree
Bone surgery
Career Mobility
Chi-square test
Comparative analysis
Dermatology
Education, Medical, Graduate - standards
Emergency medical care
Graduate students
Gynecology
Humans
Internal medicine
Interprofessional Education
Licensing examinations
Medical students
Medicine
Medicine and Health Sciences
Neurology
Obstetrics
Orthopedics
Pediatrics
Primary care
Schools
Social Sciences
Specialties and specialists
Statistical tests
Students
Students, Medical - statistics & numerical data
Thoracic surgery
Vascular surgery
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Summary:Dual degrees combining and MD with another professional degree (MPH, MBA, or PhD) are becoming more common in an attempt to increase an applicant's competitivity for a residency. This study was designed to assess differences in MD-only and dual degree MD applicants with respect to applicant characteristics and match outcomes. Utilizing the voluntarily-reported publicly available 2017-2019 Texas STAR database, we assessed applicants from 115 medical schools. Texas STAR indicates that over this time period, there were 18,224 responses for a response rate of 43.8%. Comparisons were made between groups using student's t-test and chi-squared analysis. Compared to MD only students, MD/MPH applicants had a higher propensity towards primary care specialties. MD/PhD applicants did not differ versus MD only applicants in their selection of primary care specialties, or of competitive specialties. MD/MBA applicants chose more competitive specialties and less primary care specialties. Despite all these differences, match rates were not different comparing MD only and dual-degree students. Despite the growing popularity of combined MD programs, such programs do not appear to increase applicant match competitivity.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0244147