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Supreme Court Ruling Supports Greater Diversity in Medicine

For Immediate Release

Press Release

Contact: Retha Sherrod
202-828-0975
rsherrod@aamc.org

Washington, D.C., June 23, 2003 - Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) President Jordan J. Cohen, M.D., issued the following statement today, on the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the University of Michigan cases:

"Today's momentous Supreme Court decision will not only affect higher education, it will help ensure better health care for all Americans, now and in the future. By upholding affirmative action, the Court will permit the nation's medical schools to continue developing a physician workforce that truly mirrors our society.

A more diverse physician workforce will benefit every aspect of health care in this country. It will help tomorrow's doctors acquire the cultural competence they will need to treat our increasingly diverse society; it will provide underserved populations with greater access to physicians who share their ethnic heritage; and it will encourage more researchers to seek solutions to racial disparities in health care.

Bridging the medical profession's diversity gap is essential, and AAMC believes that affirmative action is the most effective way to achieve that goal in the near term. Although the court ruled against the University of Michigan's undergraduate scoring system, its validation of affirmative action supplies the support needed to significantly increase the number of underrepresented minorities enrolled in U.S. medical schools.

The Supreme Court has provided medical schools with the power to fulfill one of our most solemn societal obligations. The AAMC applauds today's decision and will continue to work to promote diversity throughout the medical profession."

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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.