Retention of traditional premedical students in a medical career pathway compared with students in a combined baccalaureate-medical degree program.

This study compared the retention in medical career pathways of students enrolled in a combined baccalaureate-medical degree program to traditional premedical students at Brown University. Whereas 84% of the combined-degree students went on to medical school, only 36% of the traditional premedical students did. Among underrepresented minority students, the proportions were 74% and 39%, respectively. Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores accounted for some of the difference, yet even when SAT scores were controlled using a multiple logistic regression model, students enrolled in the combined-degree program were more than eight times as likely to continue in a medical career pathway.