Chronicle of Higher Education Article
This article appeared recently in The Chronicle of Higher Education
Enrollment of First-Year Medical Students Reaches a New High
By KATHERINE MANGAN
The number of first-year students enrolled in the nation’s medical schools reached an all-time high this year, according to figures released on Tuesday by the Association of American Medical Colleges.
That’s welcome news to medical educators who have been sounding an alarm about the potential for a serious shortage of physicians over the next decade as baby boomers age and thousands of doctors retire.
First-year enrollments in the nation’s 126 accredited medical schools climbed 2.3 percent this year, to 17,759. The number of black and Hispanic male applicants each increased by more than 9 percent. The number of black males who were accepted and enrolled was up 5.3 percent, while enrollment among Hispanic men remained about the same as in 2006.
Although applications were up among both black and Hispanic women, their first-year enrollments declined by 5.6 percent and 1.2 percent, respectively.
“With our nation expected to face a serious shortage of physicians in the future, we are pleased to see interest in medicine as a career continuing to increase,” said Darrell G. Kirch, president of the medical-colleges’ association. “We are especially encouraged by the growing interest among students from groups historically underrepresented in medicine.”
Still, only 6 percent of the nation’s practicing physicians are black, Hispanic, or Native American, even though those groups represented 29 percent of the nation’s population in 2006, according to the report. “We would be the first to admit that we have a long way to go to truly reflect the diversity of our nation,” Dr. Kirch added.
The association has set up a Web site, AspiringDocs.org, to help recruit minority applicants (The Chronicle, November 16, 2006).
Two years ago, the association urged medical schools to increase their enrollments by 30 percent by 2015 (The Chronicle, November 7, 2005). Less than a decade before, educators had been worrying about a glut of doctors.
This year, 11 medical schools increased their class sizes by at least 10 percent. Those schools, starting with the one with the highest increase, are affiliated with Michigan State University, Texas A&M University, the University of Arizona, Florida State University, Emory University, New York University, the University of California at Davis, Marshall University, Drexel University, Howard University, and the University of Minnesota.
In recent years, several medical schools have added programs or campuses, and at least six new medical schools are in the pipeline, with many more in the early planning stages (The Chronicle, January 12).
The high cost of medical education remains a barrier to future increases, especially among low-income and minority students. In 2006 the average medical-school graduate owed more than $130,000 in educational loans. The average annual tuition at public medical schools is $21,000, and at private schools, it’s $38,000.
Schools that expanded their enrollments this year apparently did not have to lower their admissions standards; the 2007 first-year students had the highest grade-point averages and scores on the Medical College Admission Test on record. There has also been a steady increase in recent years in the amount of research and community service medical-school applicants have performed.
First-Year Enrollees in U.S. Medical Schools, 2002-7
2002: 16,488
2003: 16,541
2004: 16,648
2005: 17,003
2006: 17,361
2007: 17,759
