Evaluation of student performance in combined Baccalaureate-MD degree programs

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.