aamc.org does not support this web browser.

Report on Residents

Table A1. Continuity of Specialty Preference on the Matriculating Student Questionnaire and the 2021 Graduation Questionnaire

The table below displays the number and percentage of U.S. MD students who provided a specialty preference on the 2021 Medical School Graduation Questionnaire (GQ) and also participated in the Matriculating Student Questionnaire (MSQ), which matriculants are invited to complete during the summer before the first year of medical school. Data from students who indicated their specialty preferences in the 2021 GQ are compared with their previous responses on the MSQ. For example, 12.4% of those who indicated a specialty preference of Anesthesiology on the 2021 GQ had selected the same specialty on the MSQ when they started medical school; 60.4% had selected a different specialty on the MSQ; 17.8% were undecided; and 9.4% had not responded to the question on the MSQ. Please contact residentreport@aamc.org with any comments or questions.

Selected Finding: Over the course of medical school, most medical students change their intended area of practice. Specifically, just over a quarter (27.0%) of 2021 respondents to the GQ indicated the same specialty preference as they had indicated was their intended area of practice on the MSQ.

Download Excel version

YYYY1 GQ Specialty Preference YYYY1 GQ Respondents Who Also Participated in the MSQ Same Specialty Reported on MSQ Different Specialty Reported on MSQ Reported Undecided Specialty on MSQ No MSQ
Response
Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

1. "No MSQ Response" includes counts for those who participated in the GQ and the MSQ but did not answer the specialty preference question on the MSQ.

Note: N/A indicates the response option was not available on the MSQ. Counts of individuals who responded "Undecided" on both the GQ and MSQ are displayed in the "Reported Undecided Specialty on MSQ" column. The "Different Specialty Reported on MSQ" column includes those who indicated "Allergy and Immunology" or "Colon and Rectal Surgery" on the MSQ because the response options do not correspond with the YYYY1 GQ specialty preference options displayed. The MSQ typically receives a response rate between MSQlowpart and MSQhighpart (e.g., MSQpart in YYYY2). The YYYY1 GQ had a response rate of GQpart.

Source: YYYY1 GQ as of GQdate, YYYY1, and matching MSQ data from various survey years.