Topics for our times: affirmative action and women's health

The entry of underrepresented minority students into US medical schools: an evaluation of recent trends

OBJECTIVES

Recent challenges to affirmative action suggest the need to reassess the status of the admission of underrepresented minority students to US medical schools.

METHODS

The Association of American medical colleges provided US medical school enrollment data and characteristics. Five measures of underrepresented minority enrolled and an overall performance scale were constructed for each school. Multivariate regression identified significant overall performance predictors. Predicted and observed values were compared.

RESULTS

Underrepresented minority enrollment increased by 43% after 1986, peaked at 2014 in 1994, did not increase in 1995, and decreased by 5% in 1996. Enrollment was associated with increasing federal research funding and with percentage of underrepresented minorities in the sources population P < .001). The 1996 decline was almost entirely limited to public medical schools. Those in California, Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana accounted for 18% of 1995 enrollment but 44% of the 1996 decline.

CONCLUSIONS

Recent gains in medical school enrollment of underrepresented minorities are being reversed, particularly at public institutions. Implications exist for the health of poor, minority, and underserved communities, which are most likely to be cared for by underrepresented minority physicians.

The entry of African-American students into US medical schools: an evaluation of recent trends

A need to reassess US medical schools' admission of African-American students exists based on recent challenges to affirmative action. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AMMC) provided US medical school enrollment data and characteristics. Measures of enrollment were constructed for each medical school and aggregated by ownership type and state. After peaking at 1311 students in 1994, African-American medical school matriculation decreased by 8.7% by 1996. This decline was disproportionately generated by public medical schools. However, it was not limited to institutions that are located in states where anti-affirmative action policies have been implemented. Several schools were consistently successful (e.g., UCLA, Case Western, and Robert Wood Johnson) or unsuccessful (e.g., Texas Tech and Texas A&M) in enrolling African-American students. Recent gains in the enrollment of African-American students are being reversed, particularly at public institutions. Implications exist, particularly for the health of poor and underserved communities that are more likely to be cared for by such students during their careers as physicians.