The number of new black and Hispanic students enrolled at UCSD School of Medicine rose in 2004 for the second year in a row, according to the school’s Associate Dean of Diversity Sandra Daley and Associate Dean of Admissions Carolyn Kelly.
The trend has matched similar numbers in data released by the Association of American Medical Colleges, which show an increase in total applicants and indicate that more ethnic minorities are applying to and attending medical schools nationwide.
“If the application rate is going up, our enrollment is going up simultaneously,” Daley said. “If the pool is enlarging, we are fishing in the same big pool.”
At the medical school, the number of total applicants rose 6 percent, while the number of black and Hispanic applicants jumped 12 percent and 9 percent, respectively, according to Kelly.
In medical schools across the country, the number of Hispanic applicants rose 2.5 percent, while the number of black applicants rose 2.3 percent, according to the AAMC national data. In addition, the annual survey showed an 8-percent increase in Hispanic enrollment in medical schools, while black enrollment rose 2.5 percent.
The organization noted that in 2003, national Hispanic and black enrollment dropped by 6 and 4 percent, respectively.
AAMC attributed the rise in minority applicants and enrollees to a 2003 Supreme Court decision on affirmative action, which sanctioned a limited use of race in university admissions for the purpose of achieving diversity.
“AAMC believes the increases in black and Hispanic enrollment indicate that medical schools view the court’s decision as providing support for their efforts to assemble a diverse medical school class,” the group stated in a press release.
However, UCSD School of Medicine operates under Proposition 209, which California voters passed in 1996, prohibiting ethnic consideration as a factor in university admissions processes. After the proposition’s passage, the medical school’s Hispanic enrollment dropped from 82 in 1997 to 49 in 1998, according to Daley.
“Minorities weren’t applying after the [proposition passed] because they didn’t feel that they were welcomed by the professional schools,” she said. “So they felt, ‘Why even try?’”
However, since 2000, Hispanic enrollment has seen a small but steady incremental increase, Daley said. Forty-four Hispanic students are currently enrolled at UCSD School of Medicine, as opposed to 32 in 2000.
Kelly attributed the gradual increase to outreach efforts by the campus.
“[The medical school] has put a lot of work into outreach activities and building the pipeline in the community to make minority students better aware of the opportunities available for them and to better prepare them to successfully compete with other applicants for admission,” she said.
The medical school currently works with Sweetwater Union High School and National City High School in providing a year-round academic enrichment program that includes on-campus summer research activities for approximately 80 students, according to Daley. The school also provides services for community colleges, including a summer residential program for transfer students, and visits the college campuses to work with students on skills for taking standardized tests.
“We spend a lot of time trying to inform advisers in the undergraduate and community college setting on how to prepare a competitive student and how to advise a student in the application as well as the interview process,” Daley said.
The school’s applicants go through several screening processes, according to Kelly. The first stage is the American Medical College Application Service, which applicants use to submit transcripts, Medical College Admission Test scores, information about extracurricular activities and a personal essay. After evaluation of those factors, the university sends qualified applicants a campus-specific application, which requests letters of recommendation and an autobiographical statement.
“The statement allows the student to tell us if they are of a disadvantaged socioeconomic background,” Kelly said.
The campus’ efforts to reach disadvantaged students through academic enrichment programs have built a competitive and diverse group of applicants, according to Daley.
While the increasing minority enrollment is encouraging, more progress is needed, according to AAMC President Jordan J. Cohen.
“Our nation must find ways to strengthen the pipeline of academically qualified minority students so that the education of tomorrow’s doctors, and ultimately the health care of all Americans, will reap the benefits of diversity,” he stated.
Berkeley professor of ethnic studies Carlos Munoz said he also believes that, while AAMC’s statistics are promising, they still do not accurately reflect proportional minority representation.
“I’m happy there has been improvement, but in the final analysis, this is a drop in the bucket,” he said. “It doesn’t come close to the representation of the population at large. AAMC still has a lot to do to reach out to minorities.”