MSTP graduates smiling in front of a lake

MSTP Outcomes

Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) graduates can be found making meaningful contributions in medicine, in research, in government and in industries across the country.

Demographics

Demographics	Current UW MSTP Students	UW MSTP Graduates (2005-23)	National MD-PhD Programs*
Number of Students	80	137	unknown or N/A
Female	52%	39%	35%
Male	48%	61%	65%
Race/ethnicity underrepresented in medicine	25%	12%	10%
First generation college students	15%	10%	unknown or N/A

*National data available in Akabas, 2019, Figure 1

Current MSTP Student Statistics

Students in the current class

25%

Underrepresented in medicine

15%

First generation college students

Career Outcomes

Career Outcomes	UW MSTP Graduates (2005-23)	National MD-PhD Program Graduates*
Graduates Who Have Completed Postgraduate Training	81	8,441
Academia Full-time	53%	57.2%
Academia Part-time	18.5%	2.5%
Industry	3.7%	6.9%
NIH, Federal Agency, Other Institute	3.7%	4.5%
Other & Consulting/Law/Finance	1.2%	4.6%
Private Practice	19.9%	24.3%

*National data in Brass, 2019, Figure 1

National MD-PhD program outcomes study

MSTP Training Snapshot

100%

Graduates entered residency training

8.1

Average years to degree

Average publications; 4.1 first-author

*Data from 2017-23 UW MSTP graduates

Areas of Graduate Study

With so many programs to choose from in our Graduate School, students specialize in areas as diverse as epidemiology, computer sciences, the history of science, and psychology; however, most tend to focus on the biological sciences.

*Data is for 2017-23 UW MSTP graduates; N=58

Number of Students	Specialty
22	Cellular and Molecular Biology
9	Neuroscience
6	Cellular and Molecular Pathology
4	Biomedical Engineering
4	Biochemistry
3	Epidemiology
1	Microbiology
2	Population Health Sciences
1	Biomedical Science (OxCam)
1	Chemistry
1	Clinical Investigation
1	Comparative Biomedical Sciences
1	History of Science, Medicine & Technology
1	Physiology
1	Psychology
1	Molecular & Environmental Toxicology

Fellowship Success Rates

MSTP graduates who applied for external fellowship funding have a 56% funding success rate.

MSTP students have been awarded a total of 64 external fellowships since we started tracking in 2006:

F30 Ruth L. Kirschstein Individual Predoctoral NRSA for MD/ PhD and other Dual Degree Fellowships (48)
F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (6)
American Heart Association (5)
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Grants for Health Services Research Dissertation Program (R36) (2)
Fulbright U.S. Student program fellowship (1)
United Negro College Fund and Merck (UNCF-Merck) (1)
U.S. Department of Defense (1)

Residencies

From 2017-23, all 58 graduates entered residency training.

Research During Residency

88% of our students do research during their residency programs.

Physician-scientist training programs: 15
Research track, research-in-residency: 24
Elective research during residency: 12

Team Publications

Our trainees are encouraged to think critically about their own experiences in our program, and share their insights and findings with the broader field. They have initiated and driven several program evaluation projects. Published in peer-reviewed journals, these publications share our efforts and best practices with the national MD-PhD training community.

Gender Study

Our MSTP team of students, directors and administrators published study data in 2020 regarding gender influences in MD-PhD training using our MSTP as a case study in the Journal of Women’s Health.

Heffron AS, Braun KM, Allen-Savietta C, Filut A, Hanewall C, Huttenlocher A, Handelsman J, Carnes M. Gender Can Influence Student Experiences in MD-PhD Training. Journal of Women’s Health. 2021 Jan;30(1):90-102. PMID: 32349608; PMCID: PMC7826439.

Physician-Scientist Preceptorship

Our MSTP team of students, directors and administrators published outcomes data in 2019 in BMC Medical Education.

Stefely JA, Theisen E, Hanewall C, Scholl L, Burkard ME, Huttenlocher A, Yu JJ. A physician-scientist preceptorship in clinical and translational research enhances training and mentorship. BMC Med Educ. 2019 Mar 27;19(1):89. PMID: 30917818; PMCID: PMC6438136.