The Diversity and Success of Medical School Applicants With Scores in the Middle Third of the MCAT Score Scale

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21612366
AutoresCarol A Terregino (0000-0003-1279-3004, is professor of medicine, senior associate dean for education and academic affairs, associate dean for admissions, and chair of the admissions committee, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, New Jersey., autor de correspondencia), Aaron Saguil (was associate dean for recruitment and admissions, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, at the time this work was completed. He is associate dean, regional education, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine, San Antonio, Texas, now. He is also vice chair, Medical College Admission Test Validity Committee, Association of American Medical Colleges, Washington, DC.), Tanisha Price-Johnson (is executive director of admissions, University of Arizona College of Medicine–Tucson, Tucson, Arizona.), Ngozi F Anachebe (is associate dean of admissions and student affairs, and associate professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.), Kristen Goodell (0000-0003-1728-9501, is associate dean of admissions, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts.)
Año2020
Volumen95
Número3
Páginas344-350
Fecha de publicación2020-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAcademic Medicine (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1040-2446 • E-ISSN: 1938-808X
EditorialOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1097/acm.0000000000002941
PMID31425186
OpenAlexW2967168559
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas19
Referencias citadas21

Admissions officers assemble classes of medical students with different backgrounds and experiences who can contribute to their institutions’ service, leadership, and research goals. While schools’ local interests vary, they share a common goal: meeting the health needs of an increasingly diverse population. Despite the well-known benefits of diversity, the physician workforce does not yet reflect the nation’s diversity by socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, or other background characteristics. The authors reviewed the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores and backgrounds of 2017 applicants, accepted applicants, and matriculants to U.S. MD-granting schools to explore avenues for increasing medical school class diversity. They found that schools that accepted more applicants with midrange MCAT scores had more diverse matriculating classes. Many schools admitting the most applicants with scores in the middle of the MCAT score scale were public, community-based, and primary care-focused institutions; those admitting the fewest of these applicants tended to be research-focused institutions and to report pressure to accept applicants with high MCAT scores to maintain or improve their national rankings. The authors argue that reexamining the use of MCAT scores in admissions provides an opportunity to diversify the physician workforce. Despite evidence that most students with midrange MCAT scores succeed in medical school, there is a tendency to overlook these applicants in favor of those with higher scores. To improve the health of all, the authors call for admitting more students with midrange MCAT scores and studying the learning environments that enable students with a wide range of MCAT scores to thrive

Ethnic group · Family medicine · Health care · Higher education · Medical education · Medical school · Political science · Population · Socioeconomic status · Underrepresented Minority · Workforce · Diversity and Career in Medicine · Global Health Workforce Issues · Medical Education and Admissions · Medicine · Psychology