Women on Top at Medical School

After a 6-year decline, the number of applicants to US medical schools is on the rise. The main reason for the increase was an almost 7% rise in the number of women applicants over last year. Women made up the majority of medical school applicants for the first time ever, according to the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC ). Comment: We think that this represents real progress for women in medicine. However, there are still serious problems. The number of black and Hispanic applicants increased, too, but those who were admitted to medical school last year declined by 6% and almost 4%, respectively. Quote: These latest figures contain both good and bad news for the medical profession. The decrease in minorities entering medical school underscores the need for redoubled efforts to attract a critical mass of students from diverse backgrounds in order to enhance the education of all future physicians. (Jordan J. Cohen MD, President of the AAMC).

 

One
of the things that I like about MedicineNet is the editorial comments at the top of
the story. You can read the full
story here. It would be easy for the stats about black and Hispanic applicants
to get lost with the headline on women without the editorial. They're right,
the news is decidedly mixed. And it sadly echos the discussion that's been
happening about technology.

Comments

• Anonymous
  May 08, 2004
  At least the news got out... there's a lot of progess that just isn't noted particularly with regard to ethnic minorities.