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Review
. 2024 Feb 8;9(3):e176146.
doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.176146.

Sociodemographic factors and research experience impact MD-PhD program acceptance

Darnell K Adrian Williams  1   2   3 , Briana Christophers  3   4 , Timothy Keyes  3   5 , Rachit Kumar  3   6 , Michael C Granovetter  3   7 , Alexandria Adigun  3   6 , Justin Olivera  2   3 , Jehron Pura-Bryant  2   3 , Chynna Smith  1   2   3 , Chiemeka Okafor  3   8 , Mahlet Shibre  2 , Dania Daye  3   9   10 , Myles H Akabas  1   2   11
Affiliations
Review

Sociodemographic factors and research experience impact MD-PhD program acceptance

Darnell K Adrian Williams et al. JCI Insight. .

Abstract

The 2014 NIH Physician-Scientist Workforce Working Group predicted a future shortage of physician-scientists. Subsequent studies have highlighted disparities in MD-PhD admissions based on race, income, and education. Our analysis of data from the Association of American Medical Colleges covering 2014-2021 (15,156 applicants and 6,840 acceptees) revealed that acceptance into US MD-PhD programs correlates with research experience, family income, and research publications. The number of research experiences associated with parental education and family income. Applicants were more likely to be accepted with a family income greater than $50,000 or with one or more publications or presentations. Applicants were less likely to be accepted if they had parents without a graduate degree, were Black/African American, were first-generation college students, or were reapplicants, irrespective of the number of research experiences, publications, or presentations. These findings underscore an admissions bias that favors candidates from affluent and highly educated families, while disadvantaging underrepresented minorities.

Keywords: Clinical Trials; Medical statistics.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Acceptance rate as a function of demographic group by year of application.
(A) Acceptance rate by sex. (B) Acceptance rate by URM status. (C) Acceptance rate in relation to parental degree type. (D) Acceptance rate based on family income quintile. (E) Acceptance rate based on reapplicant status.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Research achievements of MD-PhD program applicants.
(A) Mean number of research experiences over the study period. (B) Mean number of research experiences by demographic group over the study period. (C) Mean number of publications over the study period. (D) Mean number of publications by demographic group over the study period. (E) Mean number of presentations over the study period. (F) Mean number of presentations by demographic group over the study period. **P < 0.01 by ANOVA.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Multivariate model for MD-PhD acceptance.
*P < 0.001 by Wald’s test.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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