EFFECT OF UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGE MAJOR ON PERFORMANCE IN MEDICAL-SCHOOL

Purpose. To determine whether choice of college major has any effect o n performance in medical school. Method. The author analyzed data for 406 students enrolled in a combined baccalaureate-MD program at Brown University School of Medicine who had matriculated in medical school f rom 1989 to 1997, determining their undergraduate majors and their med ical education performances (as measured by course grades, USMLE, scor es and residency program evaluation). Results. Slightly over half of t he students had majored in science or mathematics, about a third had m ajored in the humanities or social sciences, and about a tenth had had double majors or had been independent concentrators. The author found no statistically significant difference between the medical school pe rformances of students who had majored in the sciences or mathematics and those who had majored in the humanities or the social sciences. Co nclusion. Although preselection bias may influence medical school perf ormance, this study affirms previous findings that choice of undergrad uate major has little, if any, statistically significant effect.