Fact Sheet: Minorities in Medical Education
African-Americans, Native Americans, and Latinos currently make up about 25% of the U.S. population, and in 2035 they are projected to constitute 36% of the U.S. population. But these underrepresented minorities make up only about 14% of all medical school enrollees. Instead of improvements being made, there is a disturbing downward trend - between 1995 and 2000, minority matriculation at medical schools dropped by fifteen percent.
The Need for a Diverse Physician Workforce
Quality health care includes cultural competency; a diverse medical student body allows students of different backgrounds to learn about each other's values and beliefs. Importantly, a number of studies have shown that URM physicians are more likely than their non-minority counterparts to locate their practices in under-served areas. Having a diverse physician workforce is a critical component in making health care available to the people who need it the most.
Under-Represented Minorities
There are four racial and ethnic groups defined by AAMC as under-represented minorities (URM) in medicine: African Americans, Mexican Americans, mainland Puerto Ricans, and Native Americans. In 2001, however, AAMC appointed an advisory committee to examine their definition of URM. The results of a revision of the definition could have serious repercussions for scholarship programs, recruitment efforts and academic enrichment programs. The committee plans to issue its final report to the AAMC executive council in June 2002. For more information on the possible revision of the URM definition, check out the AAMC website.
Historical Background
As late as 1969, minority matriculation in medical schools nationwide totaled 292, or three percent of the total number of enrollees. In 1970, the AAMC recommended that the number of medical school matriculants from URM increase to 12 percent of the total by 1975 and that a central loan program be created for URM students. By 1976, these goals had not been reached, however, enrollment of URM students had increased to nine percent. Low minority representation was perceived as an issue of equal opportunity. New minority representation issues surfaced in the 1980s. Research now showed that minority physicians were more likely than were their non-minority colleagues to practice in under-served areas. Attempts to increase minority representation in medical school now had two motivations: 1) equal access to education, and 2) improving health care in medically under-served areas.
Affirmative Action under Assault
In the 1978 landmark case Bakke vs. University of California-Davis School of Medicine, the Supreme Court ruled that race quotas were unconstitutional but that race may be used as a "plus-factor" in admissions as long as the policy serves a "compelling state interest" and is "narrowly tailored" to achieve that goal. But beginning in the mid-1990s, a series of lawsuits have challenged affirmative action policies and have posed a new threat to achieving diversity in medicine. In the same period, URM enrollment in medical school has seen significant decreases. Now more than ever, it is crucial to make minority enrollment in medicine a priority.