Performance report for a 10-year-old MD/PhD Program: A survey of trainees at the University of Ottawa

Abstract

Purpose: Integrated MD/PhD programs are relatively new in Canada and represent a platform to train the next generation of clinician-scientists. However, MD/PhD programs vary substantially by structure, funding and mentorship opportunities, and there exists a paucity of data on the overall students' successes and challenges. The purpose of this study is to assess objective and subjective metrics of the MD/PhD Program at the University of Ottawa. Methods: Students in all years of the program were invited to complete a 58-question survey, and the resulting data were analyzed by descriptive statistics. Results: Our survey had an 88.5% (23/26) participation rate. The program has been gaining interest and the number of applications increased by 178% between 2013 and 2018. Tuition support was considered an essential element in accepting the admission offer, as 47.8% of students would have declined admission without full tuition coverage. The MD/PhD students were heavily engaged in scholarly activities, with an average of 8.3 presentations/ publications per respondent. Respondents indicated low satisfaction with formal career planning advice (28.6% satisfied/very satisfied) and program transition guidance (22.2%). When delivered informally by peers, both career planning advice and program transition guidance were experienced as more satisfying (65.2% and 63.6%, respectively). Only 34.8% of survey respondents identified as female, highlighting the challenge of achieving diversity in clinician-scientist training programs. Conclusion: Our report contributes to the body of knowledge on concrete obstacles experienced by students within MD/PhD programs and key areas that can be improved upon-locally, provincially and nationally-to further advance student success.