Aim: The primary aim of the study was to compare the practice outcomes of doctors who graduated from a non-traditional, problem-based medical school (University of Newcastle) with those of graduates from a traditional programme (University of Sydney), matched randomly on the background characteristics of graduation year, age, gender, and rural primary and secondary school education. Our secondary aim was to differentiate admission from curricular influences by comparing the outcomes of Newcastle and Sydney graduates who entered medical school under similar admission criteria ('traditional academic' entry).
Design: Nested case-control analysis in a retrospective cohort study.
Methods: A validated mail-out survey was distributed to all Newcastle and Sydney graduates registered to practise in the state of New South Wales, Australia.
Outcome measures: Current main occupation (clinician or other), clinical career choice (family medicine and psychiatry or other specialties), practice location (urban or rural) and employment sector (public or private).
Results: A total of 513 Newcastle respondents (68% of the original, eligible Newcastle sample) were each matched randomly with a Sydney respondent according to the four background characteristics. Medical school background was not related to main occupation; over 90% of all graduates were employed in clinician positions. A greater proportion of Newcastle than Sydney graduates were either training or qualified in family medicine or psychiatry rather than in other specialties. The school of graduation was not related to practice environment; fewer than 20% of all graduates were working in rural locations and around 25% were employed in the public sector. There were no differences in outcome between Newcastle and Sydney graduates who had entered medical school under similar academic criteria.
Conclusion: Our study suggests that initial selection procedures of medical school candidates with particular background characteristics and attributes may influence practice outcomes. Further research is required to confirm these findings.