Career intentions of MD/PhD program graduates

The combined medical/PhD degree: a global survey of physician-scientist training programmes

Typically lasting 7-9 years, medical-scientist training programmes (MSTPs) allow students a unique opportunity to simultaneously intercalate medical (MBBS, MBChB or MD) and research (PhD) degrees. The nature of both degrees means that the combined programme is arduous, and selection is often restricted to a few highly motivated students. Despite the many successes of MSTPs, enthusiasm about MSTPs and the number of intercalating students, at least in some countries, appear to be diminishing. In this review, I shed light on MSTPs around the world, highlight the plethora of successes such programmes have had and provide insights on the setbacks experienced and solutions offered, with the aim of reigniting interest in these programmes.

Validity of the Medical College Admission Test for predicting MD-PhD student outcomes

The Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) is a quantitative metric used by MD and MD-PhD programs to evaluate applicants for admission. This study assessed the validity of the MCAT in predicting training performance measures and career outcomes for MD-PhD students at a single institution. The study population consisted of 153 graduates of the Vanderbilt Medical Scientist Training Program (combined MD-PhD program) who matriculated between 1963 and 2003 and completed dual-degree training. This population was divided into three cohorts corresponding to the version of the MCAT taken at the time of application. Multivariable regression (logistic for binary outcomes and linear for continuous outcomes) was used to analyze factors associated with outcome measures. The MCAT score and undergraduate GPA (uGPA) were treated as independent variables; medical and graduate school grades, time-to-PhD defense, USMLE scores, publication number, and career outcome were dependent variables. For cohort 1 (1963-1977), MCAT score was not associated with any assessed outcome, although uGPA was associated with medical school preclinical GPA and graduate school GPA (gsGPA). For cohort 2 (1978-1991), MCAT score was associated with USMLE Step II score and inversely correlated with publication number, and uGPA was associated with preclinical GPA (mspGPA) and clinical GPA (mscGPA). For cohort 3 (1992-2003), the MCAT score was associated with mscGPA, and uGPA was associated with gsGPA. Overall, MCAT score and uGPA were inconsistent or weak predictors of training metrics and career outcomes for this population of MD-PhD students.