United States: Pre-vocational medical education is commonly believed to take four years after college to complete the medical course.
However, the same doctors may be able to complete their medical training in 10 years and still be very effective with patients, a new study shows, as reported by HealthDay.
Advantages of the Fast-Track Program
Students who completed three years of medical school did as well as their counterparts who spent four years in an accredited program on tests of clinical competencies and knowledge, according to a study published October 14 in Academic Medicine.
“Our findings suggest that accelerated curriculums offer an efficient, cost-effective way to prepare medical students for the next stage of training without compromising on the quality,” said senior researcher Dr. Joan Cangiarella, a professor of pathology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City.
Research Overview and Performance Comparisons
For this study, the following samples were collected: Students who graduated from NYU’s accelerated program between 2016 and 2022 and students who graduated from the conventional four-year program between 2017 and 2023, inclusive.
More specifically, the authors analyzed the performance of a three-year accelerated group comprising 136 students with that of four-year medical graduation students, which was 681 in number.
The three-year students scored an average of 84% in examinations testing their mastery of areas of study that include anatomy, cell biology, and biochemistry, among others.
As for the four-year counterparts, they achieved 83 percent.
Both groups were also comparable in the assessment of knowledge achieved in medical examination, clinical skills, problem-solving, and interpersonal skills.
A tangible study by medical students takes most of their final year with electives, such that they engage in specific fields such as surgery, orthopedics, and otolaryngology.
The fast-track option has been designed for those students who have already determined the area of their future profession and who need a more business-like approach, Cangiarella said.
She said these accelerated students are taught the same basic courses as the four-year students and get research assignments and one-on-one tutorial sessions with professors in their area of concentration.
If they succeed, the three-year students are guaranteed a spot in an NYU Langone Health residency or another medical school with an equivalent early advancement program.
Cost and Career Benefits for Students
“Accelerated medical-school paths not only benefit students by saving a year of tuition and by enabling an extra year of earnings, but they also provide residencies with trainees who are tailor-made for them,” researcher Dr. Steven Abramson, chair of medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, said in a news release.

These have contributed to a shift in the NYU medical curriculum, says researcher Dr Elisabeth Cohen, an ophthalmologist and the vice chair for academic affairs in ophthalmology, in a news release.
“As of 2023, we now enable all students to graduate in three years if they choose, whether they proceed directly to a residency here or get matched elsewhere,” Cohen said.
Exam Performance Insights
Researchers found that graduates of the accelerated program did do worse on certain sections of the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam that was administered during medical school. This is probably because they had less time to study and were able to go straight to a residency, as reported by HealthDay.
On the portion of the exam administered at the conclusion of the first year of residency, however, the three-year graduates outperformed their four-year counterparts.
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