EVALUATION OF STUDENT PERFORMANCE IN COMBINED BACCALAUREATE-MD DEGREEPROGRAMS

Background: Among the innovations in medical education during the 1960 s and early 1970s was the emergence of combined baccalaureate-MD degre e programs. Viewed as educational experiments, an evaluation of perfor mance outcomes for these programs is needed. Summary: Performance outc omes of students in combined-degree programs, reported in the literatu re 1966-1996, are reviewed. Attrition rates are lower for combined-deg ree students than for traditional premedical students, and there are u sually no differences in attrition between combined-degree and traditi onal students in the medical phase of their education. All measures of performance indicate that students in combined-degree programs achiev e a level of competency comparable to traditional medical students. Co nclusions: 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 physician s can be successfully selected from high school.