Evaluation of Student Performance in Combined Baccalaureate-MD Degree Programs

• Published in: Teaching and learning in medicine 1997-01, Vol.9 (4), p.248-253
• Main Authors: Loftus, Loretta S., Willoughby, T. Lee, Connolly, Adela
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1040-1334; 1532-8015
• DOI: 10.1207/s15328015tlm0904_1

Background: Among the innovations in medical education during the 1960s and early 1970s was the emergence of combined baccalaureate-MD degree programs. Viewed as educational experiments, an evaluation of performance outcomes for these programs is needed. Summary: Performance outcomes of students in combined-degree programs, reported in the literature 1966-1996, are reviewed. Attrition rates are lower for combined-degree students than for traditional premedical students, and there are usually no differences in attrition between combined-degree and traditional students in the medical phase of their education. All measures of performance indicate that students in combined-degree programs achieve a level of competency comparable to traditional medical students. Conclusions: The support systems of the Baccalaureate-MD degree programs facilitate retention in a medical career. The educational experiment of the combined-degree programs has demonstrated that future physicians can be successfully selected from high school.