The number of African-American men who applied to medical school last year is less than the number who applied in 1978 — a “discouraging trend” spawned by factors that range from substandard education and stereotypes to the lack of role models and the high cost of medical school.
Such are some of the key points raised in “Altering the Course: Black Males in Medicine,” a new report released Monday by the Association of American Medical Colleges.
The report — which found that only 1,337 Black men applied to medical school in 2014, less than the 1,410 who applied in 1978 — calls on institutions of higher education to be more proactive about recruiting a diverse class of future physicians in order to serve an increasingly diverse population.
“Unless somebody comes to that [admissions] committee at the level of the institutional leader and says, ‘You know what? I want to see a good, diverse group that you bring into this class. I want it to be diverse across all levels: ethnically, socioeconomic[ally]’ … they’re not going to do it,” said Forrester A. Lee, a professor of medicine who specializes in cardiology and associate dean for multicultural affairs at the Yale School of Medicine.
The report says that the lack of Black men in medicine poses a significant challenge to the diversity of the future physician workforce — and that lack of diversity among America’s doctors has ramifications for the poor.
“Increased physician diversity is often associated with greater access to care for patients with low incomes, racial and ethnic minorities, non–English-speaking patients, and individuals with Medicaid,” the report states.
However, action to reverse the trend must begin long before students become pre–med majors, Black leaders in the medical profession say.
