Graduates of Accelerated MD Programs: A Five-Year Look at the National Landscape

BackgroundAccelerated-MD (ACC-MD) degree programs, which take three years to complete instead of the typical duration of four years, have historically been offered at few medical schools in the U.S. and Canada.In the current medical education era, interest in ACC-MD programs in the U.S. has steadily increased since the creation of the Consortium of Accelerated Medical Pathway Programs (CAMPP) in 2015.With a Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation grant to NYU Grossman School of Medicine, CAMPP was created by a group of medical educators at eight schools with a shared interest in ACC-MD programs; over 30 schools are now part of the consortium. 1 1 All ACC-MD programs offered at U.S. medical schools similarly aim to shorten the typical four-year duration of the MD program.ACC-MD programs must meet all Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME®) accreditation standards for MD programs (including at least 130 weeks of instruction).To deliver the MD curriculum over a three-year period, ACC-MD programs substantially decrease vacation time and time blocks for unstructured or elective curricula: The vacation time that typically occurs between the first and second year of medical school is often replaced with curricular activities, and the first academic year may start early.At some schools, students enter the ACC-MD program at matriculation.At most schools, interested students who are enrolled in the nonaccelerated MD program must apply and be selected to enroll in the ACC-MD program.At one recently founded medical school, all students in a given class are enrolled in the ACC-MD program.Other aspects of ACC-MD programs vary widely among schools on a program-specific basis; as two examples, many of them offer directed pathways for students who complete the ACC-MD program to enter graduate medical education (GME) at a residency program affiliated with the medical school, and numerous ACC-MD programs focus on preparing students to enter GME in specific primary care specialties (e.g., family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics).2,3 2,4 2,4