Washington, D.C., March 19, 2003 - Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Vice President Charles Terrell, Ed.D., presented the following remarks today at the Congressional Black Caucus Press Conference on the Importance of Affirmative Action to the Health Professions:

WHY AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IS NEEDED IN MEDICAL SCHOOL ADMISSIONS

"The AAMC represents the nation's 126 accredited medical schools, nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health-care systems, 98 academic and scientific societies representing more than 105,000 faculty members, and the nation's 164,000 medical students and residents. Our association has a longstanding commitment to increasing diversity within the medical profession. Affirmative action has proven itself to be an extremely effective mechanism for promoting diversity. For this reason, I am pleased to have this opportunity to speak to you today on behalf of the association to discuss how a Supreme Court ruling that upholds the right of the University of Michigan to practice affirmative action in its admissions is critically important to the medical education community-and to the nation's health now and in the future.

For more than thirty years, medical schools have made a concerted effort to increase the racial and ethnic diversity of their institutions. Affirmative action has served as a successful mechanism for increasing diversity, enabling large numbers of minority students to enroll in medical school. There is still a great deal of work to be done, however, if medical school classes are to accurately reflect our society. Today 1 in 4 Americans is either Black, Hispanic, or Native American; however in medical school these groups comprise only:

· 1 in 10 medical students,
· 3 in 100 faculty members, and
· 1 in 100 full professors.

Diversity is essential in medical education because medical schools have a societal obligation to select and educate the physician workforce of the future. During this process, medical schools must be ever mindful of protecting and improving the health of the public. From the standpoint of medicine, there are four major practical reasons why diversity is vitally important:

1. It shapes the quality of medical education for all students. Creating a diverse medical class has a positive impact on physician skills and knowledge in understanding how culturally determined factors affect health. "Culturally competent" physicians possess skills and attitudes that help them treat people from a wide range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

2. It helps increase access to medical care. Ethnic and racial minority populations are growing rapidly, and serious health disparities exist among these populations. In order to address this issue the physician workforce of the future will have to rely even more on minority populations to ensure that all Americans receive adequate health care.

3. Diversity in the medical research workforce leads to an acceleration of advances in medical and public health research. Diversity in the research workforce will lead to investigations of problems that historically have not received a great deal of attention. These are problems that are often rooted in social, cultural, and behavioral determinants.

4. And finally, diversity in the health-care industry makes good business sense. A managerial staff that mirrors the racial and ethnic makeup of a health-care organization's clientele will be more capable of dealing with the needs of individuals from diverse backgrounds.

In addition to these practical reasons, there is also a more principled, ethical argument for increasing diversity in medical education. A just society must ensure that an equality of opportunity exists for those interested in a medical career. There are still a great deal of barriers that exist for many racial and ethnic minorities. Some of these barriers include poorly equipped schools serving areas that are home to large numbers of minorities, financial barriers to higher education, and lower levels of academic achievement among parents of minority students.

Programs have been proposed to serve as alternatives to affirmative action. One such "race neutral" alternative is the "percentage plan" adopted by Texas and California, in which a fixed percentage of a high school's top graduates are guaranteed admission to a state institution of higher education. Other race-neutral surrogates that have been proposed to replace affirmative action include giving applicants preference if they live in low-income zip code, come from a disadvantaged family background, or express a willingness to serve the underserved. These plans are designed to produce the same effect as affirmative action, yet they do so in an inefficient, impractical manner. Moreover, they are unproven, and prone to further legal challenges.

If the Supreme Court rules against the University of Michigan's use of race in its admission's policies, and by default bans the use of affirmative action, there will be serious consequences. Clearly, the health of the nation will be imperiled. The Supreme Court, if it is provided with all the relevant facts about the need for affirmative action, can make only one honorable decision, and that is to uphold the right of the University of Michigan to practice affirmative action in its admissions policies. Thank you."

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The Association of American Medical Colleges is a not-for-profit association representing all 129 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 68 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and 94 academic and scientific societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC represents 109,000 faculty members, 67,000 medical students, and 104,000 resident physicians. Additional information about the AAMC and U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals is available at www.aamc.org/newsroom.

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