Two historically Black schools lead the pack. Xavier University continues to dominate, with 60 of its alumni graduating from medical schools around the country last year. Howard University is next, with 43. Xavier has been number one for two decades or longer, and Howard consistently hangs close to the top.
The next school on the list is a bit of a surprise. The majority White university that produced the largest number of Black undergraduates who earned MDs in 2011, with 26, is the University of Florida, edging out Harvard, Yale, Duke and Stanford universities.
“I’m excited to hear that,” says Dr. Donna Parker, associate dean for diversity and health equity at Florida’s College of Medicine, who plays a role in advising minority undergraduates interested in becoming physicians.
Nationally, the state flagship in Gainesville is known for producing professional football players like Tim Tebow and Emmitt Smith. But the University of Florida is actually better at preparing Black students for careers in medicine. Last season, 35 former students of all races and ages played in the National Football League; more Black graduates, 41, finished medical school in the last two years alone.
“I think it reflects just a strong commitment of the undergraduate admissions process in actively recruiting academically highly-qualified individuals from various ethnic and racial groups, and that there’s a large population of both African-American and Hispanic individuals in the state of Florida,” says Dr. Joseph Fantone, senior associate dean for educational affairs at the University of Florida College of Medicine.
In the state of Florida, which is 16 percent Black, and in the Southeast, the university already has a reputation beyond football.
For a decade, about 40 percent of freshmen have declared an interest in medicine or another health profession, according to Dr. Albert Metheny, director of academic advising in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
