An Analysis of Curricular Structures in MD-PhD Programs in the United States

This study describes the structure and timing of the clinical education components of MD-PhD programs to illustrate how variations in preclerkship curriculum correlate with the opportunity for early clinical exposure and other key program characteristics.

A survey was disseminated to U.S. MD-PhD programs on May 25, 2022, asking about the preclerkship curriculum length (long [> 18 months], medium [13-18 months], or short [12 months]), United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 timing (relative to the PhD training and clerkships), and opportunity for clerkships before the PhD phase. This survey was supplemented with data from publicly available sources to include 92 MD-PhD programs.

This study found a wide range of MD-PhD clinical curricula. A strong association was found between shorter preclerkship curriculum length and the opportunity for clerkships before the PhD (10 of 50 programs [20%] with long preclerkship curriculum, 19 of 35 programs [54%] with medium preclerkship curriculum, and 7 of 7 programs [100%] with short preclerkship curriculum; P < .001). Variations in United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 timing also exist based on preclerkship curriculum length and the opportunity for clerkships before the PhD. Shorter preclerkship curriculum length was associated with National Institutes of Health funding of the MD-PhD program (20 [40%] of long, 25 [69%] of medium, and 6 [86%] of short preclerkship curricula; P = .006) and larger MD-PhD program size (35 students with long, 70 with medium, and 86 with short preclerkship curricula; P < .001). Preclerkship curriculum length was not associated with public vs private medical schools, although the West had shorter preclerkship curricula.

This study underscores the need for collaborative efforts to gain insights into the effectiveness and implications of educational interventions in MD-PhD programs, ultimately informing future training strategies and policies.