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Increasing Underrepresented Minority Students in Medical School: a Single-Institution Experience

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Abstract

Purpose

Underrepresented minority student recruitment initiatives from medical school admissions and diversity offices can bring equity for those learners underrepresented in medicine. Measuring growth of the applicant pool helps determine the impact of such initiatives in helping diversify the healthcare workforce.

Aim

The authors evaluated underrepresented minority applicant pool growth at the Brody School of Medicine to determine whether predominantly White institutions or historically Black colleges and universities have accounted for the most growth in minority applicants in recent years.

Methods

Outreach outcomes across the state were obtained by comparing applicant and matriculant demographics. Data on all applicants and matriculants were retrieved from the school’s institutional records and classified according to student self-identification as underrepresented minority. Using Chi-square tests, authors aimed to determine whether the proportion of minority students increased among applicants and matriculants since 2016, the year of restructuring outreach. In further analysis, the number of graduates from historically Black colleges and universities as compared to minority graduates from predominantly White schools was evaluated.

Results

The authors identified 7,848 applicants and 654 matriculants over the evaluation period. The proportion of learners identifying as underrepresented minority increased from 17% before 2016 (622/3,672) to 20% after 2016 (835/4,176; p = 0.001). The proportion of applicants who did not graduate from a historically Black college or university increased slightly after 2016 (89% of underrepresented minority applicants before 2016 vs. 92% of underrepresented minority applicants after 2016), but this increase was not statistically significant (p = 0.097).

Conclusion

Applicant growth has been more significant for underrepresented minority applicants from predominantly White institutions. Graduates of targeted historically Black colleges and universities who applied to Brody School of Medicine were better prepared, resulting in increased chances of admission.

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Data availability

Data on all applicants and matriculants to Brody School of Medicine were retrieved from the school’s institutional records.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, 77555, USA

    Kendall M. Campbell

  2. Department of Medicine, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, 27858, USA

    Cedric M. Bright

  3. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, 27858, USA

    Irma Corral

  4. Department of Pediatrics, Assistant Dean of Clinical and Educational Scholarship, Division of Academic Affairs, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, 27858, USA

    Dmitry Tumin

  5. Office of Data Analysis and Strategy, Division of Academic Affairs, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, 27858, USA

    Jhojana L. Infante Linares

Authors
  1. Kendall M. Campbell
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  2. Cedric M. Bright
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  3. Irma Corral
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  4. Dmitry Tumin
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  5. Jhojana L. Infante Linares
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Contributions

Kendall M. Campbell MD conceptualized the manuscript, wrote the initial draft, and reviewed and edited the manuscript.

Cedric M. Bright MD reviewed and edited the manuscript.

Irma Corral PhD MPH assisted with data analysis and reviewed and edited the manuscript.

Dmitry Tumin PhD analyzed the data and reviewed and edited the manuscript.

Jhojana Infante Linares MS assisted with data collection and analysis and reviewed and edited the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kendall M. Campbell.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval

This evaluation was exempted from review as a quality improvement project by the Institutional Review Board of East Carolina University.

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The authors affirm that no human subjects were involved in the preparation of this manuscript.

Competing interests

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

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Campbell, K., Bright, C., Corral, I. et al. Increasing Underrepresented Minority Students in Medical School: a Single-Institution Experience. J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities 10, 521–525 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-022-01241-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-022-01241-6

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