Brown Medical School: Class of 2003

Medicine and Health Rhode Island, Sep 2003 by Smith, Stephen R, Sweigart, Hilary, Viticonte, Janice

On May 26, 2003, 83 men and women received the Doctor of Medicine degree from Brown University, representing the 29th class of physicians graduated from that institution since 1975. Of the 2142 physician graduates of previous classes, approximately 359 (17%) are licensed to practice in Rhode Island.

The purpose of this article is to introduce the graduates of the MD Class of 2003 to the physician community in Rhode Island, because many will be your future professional colleagues.

A PORTRAIT OF THE CLASS OF '03

Forty-two graduates were men (51%) and 41 were women (49%). The racial/ethnic composition of the class, as shown in Table 1, shows a higher proportion of students from Caucasian American backgrounds (52%) than the previous year (48%). Thirteen percent of the graduates are members of minority groups underrepresented in medicine (eight African Americans, two Native Americans, and one Mexican American) as defined by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). This number is higher than the 11% underrepresented minorities (URM) reported for last year's graduates. The proportion of URM students among all four years of Brown medical students is 19%.

Ten graduates are residents of Rhode Island. The Rhode Island students in this year's graduating class came from five different communities in the state, with six students from Providence, and one student each from Cranston, E. Greenwich, North Smithfield, and West Greenwich. The high schools from which the students graduated also reflect this diversity: Classical H.S., Cranston East H.S., Exeter-W. Greenwich H.S., LaSalle Academy, Moses Brown School, N. Smithfield Sr. H.S., and Wheeler School.

The largest proportion of students in the MD Class of 2003 came from the Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME): 44 graduates (53%). The second largest cohort of students (15 graduates) came through the combined Brown-Dartmouth Medical Education Program in which students spend their first two years of medical school at Dartmouth, then transfer to Brown for the final two years.

The medical school entered into special agreements with postbaccalaureate premedical programs at Bryn Mawr College and Columbia University shortly after the PLME was inaugurated. Students from these programs decided upon a career in medicine only after completing college. Typically, they have engaged in other careers for several years following college. The goals in establishing this new route of admission were to maintain a rich diversity in the student body by admitting students who were older and who had different academic and life experiences as well as rounding out the total class size to compensate for the expected attrition from the PLME. Fourteen members (17%) of the class were postbaccalaureate students, seven each from Bryn Mawr College and Columbia University.

Among the remainder of the class, two students were part of the Early Identification Program (EIP), one each from the University of Rhode Island and Tougaloo College. EIP students are offered provisional admission to the medical school during their sophomore year at their respective undergraduate colleges. Of the remaining graduates, one entered medical school through the MD/PhD program, two through the Brown Avenue (current or former Brown students who were not in the PLME), and five through advanced transfer.

Brown University was the most common undergraduate college among the graduates accounting for 50 graduates. Dartmouth College came second with three members from the Class of 2003.

The most common undergraduate major among the class members was biology (including subdisciplines such as biochemistry, neural sciences, and microbiology), with 46% of the class selecting that as their undergraduate field of study. Science majors taken together (including psychology) accounted for 59% of all majors, while 17% majored in the humanities and 24% majored in the social sciences. Among the humanities majors, history was the most common choice, while economics was the most popular choice among those majoring in the social sciences. Twelve students double majored.

WHERE THEY ARE GOING

Internal medicine remained the most frequently selected specialty, with 18 students selecting that specialty, and pediatrics and family medicine drew for second place with 11 graduates choosing each of those specialties. (Table 2)

The proportion of the class entering specialties in primary care is 57% which is down slightly from the 60% of the previous year. This includes the fields of internal medicine, pediatrics, family practice, medicine/pediatrics, and obstetrics and gynecology. Figure 1 illustrates the specialty choices of the Class of 2003.

The actual number of graduates who will eventually practice primary care after completing their graduate medical education will be smaller than the 57% reported here. Based on previous data from the AAMC that tracked graduates, approximately 35 graduates (42%) will actually practice primary care.

At the national level, family practice experienced 115 fewer matches than last year. U.S. seniors filled 42% of family practice positions offered, down from 47.2% in 2002. Similarly, internal medicine saw a decrease in the proportion of its positions filled by U.S. seniors, falling to 55.2% this year from 58.7% in 2002, although the overall fill rate was up slightly. On the other hand, nonprimary care specialties saw increases in overall fill rates and the proportion of U.S. seniors filling those positions.1