Table 2.
Descriptive Statistics of the Study Sample According to Pre-Medical College Admission Test Questionnaire Respondent Group, 2001–2006
| Variable | No. (%) | MD-PhD program enrollees | Other MD program enrollees | P valuea | Non-medical school matriculants | P valueb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 207,436 | 2,575 | 80,856 | 124,005 | ||
| Gender | < .001 | < .001 | ||||
| Men | 95,085 (45.8) | 1,537 (59.7) | 40,432 (50.0) | 53,116 (42.8) | ||
| Women | 112,351 (54.2) | 1,038 (40.3) | 40,424 (50.0) | 70,889 (57.2) | ||
| Race/ethnicity | < .001 | < .001 | ||||
| White | 123,017 (59.3) | 1,642 (63.8) | 50,877 (62.9) | 70,498 (56.9) | ||
| Black | 16,868 (8.1) | 137 (5.3) | 5,938 (7.3) | 10,793 (8.7) | ||
| Hispanic | 16,330 (7.9) | 141 (5.5) | 6,570 (8.1) | 9,619 (7.8) | ||
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 41,227 (19.9) | 546 (21.2) | 14,810 (18.3) | 25,871 (20.9) | ||
| Native American/Alaska Native | 720 (0.3) | 2 (0.1) | 281 (0.3) | 437 (0.4) | ||
| Other/multiple races/no response | 9,274 (4.5) | 107 (4.2) | 2,380 (2.9) | 6,787 (5.5) | ||
| High school summer laboratory research apprenticeship | < .001 | < .001 | ||||
| No | 185,858 (89.6) | 1,983 (77.0) | 71,764 (88.8) | 112,111 (90.4) | ||
| Yes | 21,578 (10.4) | 592 (23.0) | 9,092 (11.2) | 11,894 (9.6) | ||
| College laboratory research apprenticeship | < .001 | < .001 | ||||
| No | 134,695 (64.9) | 631 (24.5) | 47,299 (58.5) | 86,765 (70.0) | ||
| Yes | 72,741 (35.1) | 1,944 (75.5) | 33,557 (41.5) | 37,240 (30.0) | ||
| Most interesting area of medicine | < .001 | < .001 | ||||
| Public health aspects of disease | 23,117 (11.1) | 168 (6.5) | 7,917 (9.8) | 15,032 (12.1) | ||
| Patient management | 167,892 (80.9) | 888 (34.5) | 67,346 (83.3) | 99,658 (80.4) | ||
| Biomedical research | 16,427 (7.9) | 1,519 (59.0) | 5,593 (6.9) | 9,315 (7.5) | ||
| MCAT scores, quintiles | < .001 | < .001 | ||||
| < 19 | 37,732 (18.2) | 8 (0.3) | 2,354 (2.9) | 35,370 (28.5) | ||
| 19–23 | 45,814 (22.1) | 57 (2.2) | 8,837 (10.9) | 36,920 (29.8) | ||
| 24–26 | 35,559 (17.1) | 139 (5.4) | 12,902 (16.0) | 22,518 (18.2) | ||
| 27–30 | 45,157 (21.8) | 509 (19.8) | 25,792 (31.9) | 18,856 (15.2) | ||
| ≥ 31 | 43,174 (20.8) | 1,862 (72.3) | 30,971 (38.3) | 10,341 (8.3) | ||
| College Carnegie Classification | < .001 | < .001 | ||||
| Research universities with very high research activity | 87,670 (42.3) | 1,651 (64.1) | 45,308 (56.0) | 40,709 (32.8) | ||
| Not specified | 31,062 (15.0) | 103 (4.0) | 2,973 (3.7) | 27,985 (22.6) | ||
| Other institutions | 6,565 (3.2) | 27 (1.0) | 1,734 (2.1) | 4,804 (3.9) | ||
| BA/BS colleges | 19,038 (9.2) | 331 (12.9) | 9,572 (11.8) | 9,135 (7.4) | ||
| Master’s colleges and universities | 30,143 (14.5) | 188 (7.3) | 8,895 (11.0) | 21,060 (17.0) | ||
| Research universities with high research activity or doctoral/research universities | 32,958 (15.9) | 275 (10.7) | 12,374 (15.3) | 20,309 (16.4) | ||
| Importance of factors in decision to study medicine | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | Mean (SD) | ||
| Research/finding cures | 2.9 (0.8) | 3.5 (0.6) | 2.7 (0.8) | < .001 | 2.9 (0.8) | < .001 |
| Status | 2.2 (0.7) | 2.1 (0.7) | 2.2 (0.7) | < .001 | 2.2 (0.7) | < .001 |
| Altruism | 3.7 (0.4) | 3.6 (0.5) | 3.7 (0.4) | 3.7 (0.4) |
Abbreviations: MCAT indicates Medical College Admission Test; BA/BS, baccalaureate arts and sciences; SD, standard deviation.
a
Tests of significance were chi-square tests (for categorical variables) and one-way analysis of variance (for continuous variables) comparing MD-PhD program enrollees with other MD program enrollees.
b
Tests of significance were chi-square tests (for categorical variables) and one-way analysis of variance (for continuous variables) comparing MD-PhD program enrollees with non-medical school matriculants.