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AAMC Report Shows Physician Workforce Fails to Mirror Ethnically and Culturally Diverse U.S. Population

AAMC database is first of its kind to track minority physicians

Washington, D.C., September 6, 2000 — The number of minorities-blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans-graduating from U.S. medical schools remains far behind their representation in the overall population, according to a new report from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The report, "Minority Graduates of U.S. Medical Schools: Trends, 1950-1998", presents information gathered from the AAMC's Minority Physician Database, which was developed with support from The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts.

In the early 1950's, blacks, Native Americans and Hispanics comprised just under 3 percent of all U.S. graduates. By 1998, the proportion of graduates from these three groups had increased to nearly 15 percent while comprising approximately 25 percent of the U.S. population. The report estimates that black, Native American and Hispanic graduates of U.S. medical schools represent approximately 6 percent of practicing physicians in the U.S.

The largest gain in minority graduates has occurred among Asian Americans, increasing from under 1 percent in 1950 to over 18 percent in 1998. In contrast, Asians represented about 4 percent of the U.S. population in 1998.

"As the data in this report demonstrate, strides have been made in the number of minorities graduating from U.S. medical schools over the last 50 years but we have a long, long way to go," said AAMC President Jordan J. Cohen, M.D. "The stark disparity between the number of practicing minority physicians and the increasingly diverse U.S. population is becoming more acute and presents unique challenges for the future delivery of quality health care."

The AAMC report marks the first time detailed data about minority physicians who graduated from U.S. medical schools over the last half century - from rankings of the institutions most responsible for the training of minority physicians to practice patterns - are presented in a single, comprehensive document.

The data for the Minority Physician Database, the basis of the report, were gathered from the archives of U.S. medical schools, AAMC's extensive databases and the American Medical Association. The database identifies minority physicians as Asian/Pacific Islanders, African Americans, Hispanics and American Indian/Alaska Natives. Because of the way in which the data were collected, especially in the past, it was not possible to gather detailed information on ethnic subgroups.

Between 1950 and 1998, 76,079 minority physicians graduated from U.S. medical schools, representing nearly 14 percent of all graduates during this time. Nearly three quarters of the total number of minority physicians graduated after 1979 and almost half graduated since 1990. Over two-thirds of all black physicians and 80 percent of Hispanic physicians have graduated since 1980.

Other findings in the AAMC report, include:

• Out of the 125 U.S. medical schools, 12 have graduated 30 percent of all minority physicians since 1950;
• Medical schools at Howard, Meharry and the University of Illinois have graduated the most black physicians;
• Medical schools at Hawaii, Loma Linda and UCLA have graduated the most Asian physicians;
• The University of Puerto Rico, Ponce and Caribe schools of medicine have graduated the most Hispanic physicians;
• The University of Oklahoma College of Medicine has graduated the largest number of American Indian/Alaska Native physicians;
• Minority physicians practice in states with large minority populations: California, New York and Texas. Over one third of all minority graduates of U.S. medical schools practice in these three states;
• Nearly 27 percent of Asian graduates, 13 percent of black graduates, 15 percent of Hispanic graduates and 13 percent of Native American graduates practice in California;
• Over 18 percent of Hispanic graduates practice in Puerto Rico;
• Internal Medicine is the leading practice specialty for Asian, Black and Hispanic graduates, while the leading practice specialty for Native Americans is Family Medicine; and
• Native American and black graduates are 1.5 times more likely to be in one of the primary care practice specialties (general internal medicine, pediatrics and family medicine) than the total physician population.

"This new report is a unique and invaluable resource for medical educators, policymakers and anyone else interested in accessing detailed information about minority physicians in the U.S.," said AAMC Vice President for Minority and Community Programs Vanessa Northington Gamble, M.D., Ph.D. "Our continuing efforts to diversify the physician workforce in the U.S. will be greatly enhanced through the clearer understanding of the trends in medical education and minority physician practice patterns that this report provides."

For a copy of the report, please contact Stephanie Pearson, AAMC Office of Communications, (202) 862-6209.

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The Association of American Medical Colleges represents the 125 accredited U.S. medical schools; the 16 accredited Canadian medical schools; some 400 major teaching hospitals, including 74 Veterans Administration medical centers; 87 academic and professional societies representing nearly 88,000 faculty members; and the nation's 67,000 medical students and 102,000 residents.