More Black Students Accepted into Medical Schools

The number of first-year African Americans enrolled in Medical Schools in the US is up – 21 percentto be exact.

Of the 22,000 students who started medical school last fall, those who identified as Black or African American jumped 21% from 2020 to 21, based on new data from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The nonprofit association disclosed that the first-year class from last year is the largest and most diverse than any previously, per GBH News.

The rise comes after AAMC data revealed last June that the United States could see estimated shortages of “between 37,800 and 124,000 physicians by 2034.” It pointed out that it could contain shortfalls in primary and specialty care.

Applicants to medical school soared by a record-setting 17.8% for the 2021-22 school year, led by historical increases among underrepresented minorities, according to new data from the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges).

The number of accepted students and new enrollments into medical school also reached new highs, making the first-year class of 2021 larger and more diverse than any before it. Among the 22,000-plus students who began medical school this fall, those self-identified as Black or African American rose by 21.0% from 2020-21, followed by increases of 8.3% among Asian students and 7.1% among those of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin, the AAMC found.

“We are especially encouraged by the growth in applications and new enrollments by students in racial and ethnic groups that are underrepresented in medicine,” said Geoffrey Young, PhD, the AAMC’s senior director of transforming the health care workforce.

No one can pin down one dominant force behind the boom. “I don’t think anybody knows why,” said Kevin Holcomb, MD, associate dean of admissions at Weill Cornell Medicine Medical College in New York City, where applications rose 15%.

Instead, admissions leaders believe an unprecedented mix of developments compelled many medical school aspirants to leap from “someday” to “now”: pandemic-related shutdowns that cut off other opportunities and accelerated medical career plans; increased awareness of how doctors can help to alleviate social injustices; and changes that reduced fees for some students and eliminated travel costs associated with applying.

“Most of the people who applied had been thinking about it for years” and got nudged by societal events, said Sandra Quezada, MD, associate dean for admissions at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) in Baltimore, where applications increased by almost 28%.

While most of those aspiring doctors probably never read the oft-quoted observation that “an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty,” many adopted that outlook in the face of adversities that struck the country in 2020-21. READ MORE

Racial, ethnic diversity expands

For the first time since the AAMC has tracked this figure, most of the 2021-22 applicants were not White. (Applicants could choose more than one racial/ethnic category.) Here are the figures for the largest categories:

• White: 49.7%.
• Asian: 25.0%.
• Black or African American: 11.7%.
• Hispanic, Latino, or of Spanish origin: 11.7%.

The class that started in 2021 (matriculants) is more diverse than in past years, with noticeable gains among those identifying as Black or African American and Hispanic, Latino, or of Spanish origin. The largest racial/ethnic categories are:

• White: 51.5%.
• Asian: 26.5%.
• Hispanic, Latino, or of Spanish origin: 12.7%, up from 12.0% in 2020.
• Black or African American: 11.3%, up from 9.5% in 2020. READ MORE