Open AccessA comparison of match outcomes between traditional medical degree and dual-degree applicants
Author(s) -
Bryce Christensen,
Chad Becnel,
Leland P. Chan,
Paul D. Minetos,
J. F. Clarke,
Marc J. Kahn
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0244147
Subject(s) - degree (music) , family medicine , popularity , primary care , medicine , test (biology) , medical school , united states medical licensing examination , psychology , medical education , social psychology , biology , paleontology , physics , acoustics
Background 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. Objective This study was designed to assess differences in MD-only and dual degree MD applicants with respect to applicant characteristics and match outcomes. Methods 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. Results 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. Conclusions Despite the growing popularity of combined MD programs, such programs do not appear to increase applicant match competitivity.