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

<h4>Background</h4>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.<h4>Objective</h4>This study was designed to assess differences in MD-only and dual degree MD applicants with respect to applicant characteristics and match outcomes.<h4>Methods</h4>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.<h4>Results</h4>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.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Despite the growing popularity of combined MD programs, such programs do not appear to increase applicant match competitivity.

Abstract licence: CC BY

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