Altering the Course: Black Males in Medicine
(an Urgent Report from the AAMC)
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A new report has been published by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), Altering the Course: Black Males in Medicine, which explores the reasons for the decline in black males applying to and attending medical school since 1978. The report captures major themes from interviews with black premedical students, physicians, researchers, and leaders, and highlights research and data from various sources that help explain the factors that may contribute to this trend.
Despite an overall increase in the number of black male college graduates over the past three decades, the number of black male applicants to medical school has dropped to 1,337 in 2014 from 1,410 in 1978.
The hope is that this report will prompt leaders in academic medicine to redouble their efforts to improve opportunities for minorities, with specific attention to black males. They may rethink and renew their existing initiatives, including reviewing and updating current admissions policies and practices, thinking creatively about formal and informal efforts to engage black men and their communities, conducting community outreach, and more.
