African Americans Still Significantly Underrepresented at U.S. Medical Schools

aamc-11The Association of American Medical Colleges reports that 49,480 individuals applied to the 2014 entering classes at U.S. medical schools. This was a 3.1 percent increase from 2013. There were 3,990 African Americans applicants to U.S. medical schools, an increase of 3.2 percent from a year ago. African Americans made up 8.1 percent of all medical school applicants in 2014.

In 2014, there were 1,412 African Americans who matriculated at U.S. medical schools. They made up 6.9 percent of the 20,343 new entrants to medical schools. In 2007, African Americans made up 7.3 percent of all new entrants to U.S. medical schools.

Related Articles

1 COMMENT

  1. If “America” and definitely Black America truly wanted produce more native born Black doctors, it would expend comparable time, money, and material resources to ensure this was the intended outcome. For example, the majority of these so-called Division I football and basketball programs will comb all across this country from the smallest hamlet, town, rural farming area, to the large metropolitan area to find the next “Blue Chip” athlete(or should I say that next big meal ticket for the university).

    Yet, these same so-called institutions will not expend similar enthusiasm recruiting Black students who didn’t score in the 90 percentile on the SES test called the ACT or SAT. For those who dissent, there’s no definitive proof in a students ACT or SAT score and their ability to be successful while in undergraduate school. For the empirical purists out there, data can not measure one’s non-cognitive skills such as perseverance and internal drive.

    In other words, until the Black community (regardless of your title, employment, place of residence, or group affiliation, etc. ) take upon themselves to create, devise, and cultivate a robust academic feeder system that will result in the production of more Black doctors, we can not blame HWCUs but ourselves. As El Haj Malik Shabazz (Malcolm X) stated, “don’t expect the man to do for you for what you’re not doing for yourself”.

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

California State University Sacramento Launches Black Honors College

Officially launching for the fall 2024 semester, the Black Honors College will support students from all backgrounds who study Black history, life, and culture by providing them with a specialized curriculum and mentoring opportunities.

Higher Education Gifts or Grants of Interest to African Americans

Here is this week’s news of grants or gifts to historically Black colleges and universities or for programs of particular interest to African Americans in higher education.

In Memoriam: Norman B. Anderson, 1955-2024

Dr. Anderson was the assistant vice president for research and academic affairs at Florida State University at the time of his death. He had an extensive career in clinical psychology, which led him to become the first African American chief executive officer of the American Psychological Association.

Georgia State University Launches Program to Support Black Women in Tech

While Black women account for roughly 29 percent of the Georgia State University undergradaute student body, they represent only 10 percent of the university's computer science majors and 18 percent of the computer information systems majors.

Featured Jobs