Washington, D.C., September 20, 2004 - The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), issued the following statement today on the Sullivan Commission on Diversity in the Healthcare Workforce's report, "Missing Persons: Minorities in the Health Professions":

"The AAMC commends the Sullivan Commission for focusing attention on this critical challenge facing our nation. Increasing diversity in the healthcare workforce is essential if we are to reduce the health care disparities that affect minority groups.

Closing the diversity gap in the physician workforce has been a goal of medical educators for more than three decades. Every year admissions officers of the 125 medical schools the AAMC represents work hard to assemble a promising and diverse class of medical students. And every year that task becomes increasingly difficult because of the relatively small number of academically well-prepared minority students who apply. This pipeline issue must be addressed if we are to attain the racial and ethnic diversity necessary in the next generation of doctors. Consequently, we fervently hope that the major improvements in K-12 education called for by the commission can be achieved.

The AAMC is concerned that the commission's call for medical schools to reduce their dependence on standardized tests during the admissions process may perpetuate a misunderstanding about the way in which the results of these tests are used. The fact is admissions officers have for decades sought students with diverse perspectives and backgrounds who exhibit not only academic potential, but a variety of qualities, such as compassion, sensitivity, empathy, an ability to overcome adversity, and a willingness to serve. Long experience has convinced medical educators that the attributes prized in doctors extend far beyond those identified by test scores and grade point averages. Indeed, test scores and grade point averages play a much smaller role in admission decisions for students from academically disadvantaged backgrounds than for others. Pursuing this policy has enabled medical schools to prevent the diversity gap among physicians from being even larger than it is and has provided society with many more qualified minority doctors than would otherwise be available."

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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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