More medical students are joining dual programs to earn a master’s in public health or business administration degree or a PhD alongside their MD, according to an Association of American Medical Colleges report.
Here is what to know:
1. The AAMC found about 9% of medical students are pursuing dual degrees and medical schools have reported an increase in enrollment. Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine reported about 16% of its students are in the dual program, and Los Angeles-based Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California found a 434% increase in the number of students pursuing dual MD-MPH degrees from 2010 to 2018.
2. The most common dual programs are MD-MPH, MD-PhD and MD-MBA. However, some schools offer dual degrees in medicine and health informatics, artificial intelligence, healthcare administration, mass communication, international administration and sciences like biomedicine.
3. In most programs, medical students take a year off from medical school to complete their selected master’s degree before returning for their final year at medical school. In many cases, the master’s degree shares credits with medical degrees to allow students to finish their master’s in that single year.
4. The reasons students pick dual degrees vary by program. For PhD students, they often want to become researchers or teachers. For MPH students, often it is a desire to understand systemic inequities and work on system and policy changes. And MBA students typically want to improve how health systems run, the report said.
5. Some students pursue a second degree with hopes of getting their preferred residency match. However, a comparison between traditional and dual medical degree applicants found that the dual degrees do not appear to increase applicant match competitiveness.
6. Enough universities have expanded their dual degree programs that they formed the Medical Education Dual Degree Consortium. The consortium aims to create a summary of existing programs, study the impact of the dual degree programs and explore ways to better support students.
