Accelerated MD Programs

In this episode of CLIMEcast, CLIME Associate Director Kate Mulligan speaks with Dr. Joan Cangiarella, Executive Vice President and Vice Dean of Education, Faculty, and Academic Affairs at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, and a leading figure in the national movement to reimagine medical training. Dr. Cangiarella helps lead the National Consortium of Accelerated Medical Pathway Programs (CAMP), which now spans over 40 medical schools across the country. In this conversation, they explore the evolution and growing momentum of three-year MD programs. Drawing on more than a decade of experience building and refining NYU's accelerated pathway, Dr. Cangiarella discusses what it actually takes to launch a three-year program, from securing institutional buy-in and navigating NRMP logistics, to fostering strong UME-GME relationships and individualized student mentoring. She shares compelling outcome data showing that accelerated graduates perform equivalently to their four-year peers in residency, and highlights innovative uses of technology at NYU, including AI tutors, precision advising dashboards, and a shadowing app that are transforming how students are supported throughout their training. The conversation also looks ahead. Dr. Cangiarella reflects on what surprised her most about the program's success, the role accelerated pathways can play in addressing primary care workforce shortages and student debt, and emerging models like three-plus-three college-to-medical-school pipelines and PhD-to-MD tracks. Together, she and Kate consider what a future of increasingly individualized, technology-enhanced medical education might look like and what it will take to get there.