AAMC Statement on Medical Education of Minority Group Students
The findings and recommendations of the 1970 AAMC Task Force on
Minority Student Opportunities in Medical Education, combined with
federal and private philanthropy support, provided the first impetus
for the academic medical community to address the issue of access
to the profession of medicine for individuals of underrepresented
minority groups in our society.
The following decade witnessed significant progress as total enrollment
of underrepresented minorities surged from 3.12 percent in 1969
to 8.0 percent in 1979. Whereas in 1969 Howard and Meharry accounted
for 75 percent of all black medical students, by 1979 they accounted
for only 20 percent.
Minority enrollments in U.S. medical schools reached their peak
in 1975, when minorities represented 8.1 percent of the total student
body. Since then, however, a leveling-off effect has dominated,
and no significant increase in the number of underrepresented minorities
entering medical school has occurred.
This long-term plateau indicates that if the progress achieved
in providing access for more minorities to pursue careers in medicine
is to continue, educational institutions, the federal government,
and philanthropic organizations must reaffirm their commitment to
the education of underrepresented minorities for careers in medicine
as a national goal.
The AAMC and its constituent members are directing an earnest effort
toward the goal of increasing opportunities for underrepresented
minorities who wish to pursue careers in medical service, teaching,
and research. These goals are described in detail in the 1970 "Report
of the AAMC Task Force to the Inter-Association Committee on Expanding
Educational Opportunities in Medicine for Blacks and Other Minority
Students." These goals were also reaffirmed in the 1978 "Report
of the AAMC Task Force on Minority Student Opportunities in Medicine."
Medical schools, working with cooperating undergraduate institutions,
the AAMC, other agencies and interested entities, are urged to help
increase minority student awareness of the opportunities for professional
education and specific preparation necessary for medical school.
Minority students, thus motivated, prepared and recruited, should
be provided with the necessary encouragement and support to ensure
their retention in and graduation from medical schools. To strengthen
these efforts, medical schools are encouraged to continue to identify
a faculty member or administrator who can be specifically charged
with responsibility for minority student affairs. The person designated
for this role should be a member of a minority group and should
work closely with the AAMC Group on Student Affairs to represent
the medical school in the activities of the Group on Student Affairs'
Minority Affairs Section.
Medical schools are encouraged to pursue actively the expansion
of minority student support funds from local, state and federal
levels. The AAMC is making known to the American public and to the
federal government these needs to increase financial aid for minority
students and for all students.
The AAMC-AMA Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) is
strongly encouraged to review critically the degree of individual
opportunity provided to minority students. The LCME should continue
to include in its membership and accreditation teams representatives
from minority group members who have experience and knowledge in
the education of minority group students.
The AAMC and its constituent members reaffirm their commitment
to these efforts. Many current trends point to the urgency and timeliness
of this affirmation: a perceived physician surplus in the face of
an underrepresentation of minority physicians, the continuing physician
maldistribution vis-a-vis minority and other underserved areas,
the lack of opportunity for minorities in graduate medical programs,
the underrepresentation of both minority medical students and faculty
members in medical education, and the increasing cost of medical
education to minorities and other low-income individuals. The AAMC
and its member schools urge that, in any deliberations regarding
physician manpower, the recruitment and graduation of individuals
from underrepresented minorities in medical education be considered
with particular care.
Approved by the AAMC Executive Council
June 1987
|
