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Action Plan 4: Increase the Diversity of Medical School Applicants and Matriculants

Geoffrey Young, PhD; Mark Bedell, EdD; and Misty Huacuja-LaPointe, MEd, describe how the AAMC is working on three focus areas to increase the number of diverse medical school applicants and matriculants.

Recent studies have shown that diverse health care and research teams improve health outcomes and can better identify and solve complex scientific problems.  Racial and ethnic diversity in medical schools and in the health professional workforce are critical components in our nation’s response to health inequities and play important roles in the development of competencies for all physicians.

By galvanizing the expertise of its member institutions and developing strategic partnerships, this action plan endeavors to make the pathway to the health professions more accessible, equitable, attainable, and desirable for underrepresented populations and historically marginalized communities. The AAMC is uniquely positioned to drive this initiative because of its robust repository of aspirant applicant and enrollment data, extensive analysis of trends in the physician workforce, relationships with experts in higher education, health care, and policy, and proven success with facilitating critical and crucial conversations. 

Where we are now

Listening and Learning

  • Hosted a series of summits and events to hear from the community:
    • Collaborated with colleagues across the association to organize a first-of-its-kind K-12 Pathways to Health Professions Summit
    • In partnership with the National Medical Association, convened thought leaders from educational systems, medical schools, and organizations representing the sciences, health professions, higher education, health systems, and Black men and youth to develop a national action plan to address the underrepresentation of Black men in Medicine during the inaugural AC Strategy Summit. Additional AC activities and resources can be found at aamc.org/actioncollabforbmim.
  • Held focus groups and feedback sessions:

Fostering Community

Join one of our virtual communities to exchange ideas, share best practices, network with peers, and find resources and tools to support your work:

  • Holistic Student Support
    This is a space for forward-thinking student affairs and medical education professionals to engage, collaborate, and share resources and strategies.
  • Pathways Program Consortium
    This virtual community is dedicated to those working to enhance opportunities for our future generation of health professionals and scientists.
  • Action Collaborative for Black Men in Medicine
    This virtual community is a shared space for everyone who is interested in or working to support Black men as they strive to achieve success across the educational continuum.

Building Partnerships

  • Morehouse School of Medicine
    The AAMC and Morehouse School of Medicine partnered to co-administer the National Health Sciences STEM Pathway Survey.
  • The Steve Fund
    The AAMC partnered with The Steve Fund to develop resources to help medical schools deliver culturally responsive mental health support for students.
  • National Medical Association
    The AAMC and National Medical Association partnered to address the underrepresentation of Black men in medicine through the Action Collaborative for Black Men in Medicine.
  • HOSA Future Health Professionals
    The AAMC serves as the health industry sponsor of the Health Education competitive event, which aims to inspire HOSA members to be proactive future health professionals by educating others on health-related concepts.
  • National Academy Foundation (NAF)
    The AAMC collaborated with NAF to create a curriculum resource that will help students explore health care careers.
  • Baylor College of Medicine
    AAMC partnered with the Baylor College of Medicine to host the workshop, From Schools to Scrubs, designed to help educators develop and enhance pathway programs for K-12 students. 

Sharing Best Practices

Hosted webinars and coffee chats:

Developing and Disseminating Resources

  • The Holistic Student Support Virtual Community provides medical schools with systems-based resources and models that facilitate transforming the culture of medical education to support and graduate a diverse cohort of medical students in a holistic and equitable manner.
  • A committee of medical school leaders, prehealth advisors from the National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions and the National Association of Medical Minority Educators, and AAMC experts is providing consultation for the development of a premedical advising training focused on equity-minded advising approaches.

Collecting and Analyzing Data and Publishing Findings

What Happens Next

Ways to Get Involved