There is currently a marked lack of diversity among U.S. physicians. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC): Only 5% of American doctors African Americans, 5.8% are Hispanic, and only 5% of medical student families are in the lowest household income quintile. This lack of diversity and the accompanying lack of cultural competence Adverse health effects among minority and low socioeconomic status (SES) patients.
Medical school admissions boards are gatekeepers that can create a more diverse physician workforce, but there are structural impediments to such positive change. These committees have not employed accurate data tools to help recognize the potential that racially diverse and her low SES medical students have. And now the right to be used by medical schools race-conscious approach Admission procedures are threatened. However, predictive analytics that consider a wide range of factors could play an important role in increasing the diversity of medical schools, even if it is ultimately determined that race cannot be taken into account.
At Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU), of which I am president, to determine if there is a better indicator of physician competence for minority, low SES students than the MCAT, the test currently in use. devised a prediction model for As a major determinant in the admissions process for medical school.
The results so far have been surprising: our PHSU predictive model shows minority and low SES “pipeline” students score as “direct” students on the USMLE Step 1 Medical Board exam There is a strong positive relationship. more favorable background. The USMLE Step 1 exam is the primary screening tool used by hospitals to select applicants for residency interviews.
Below are two definitions that will help you expand before continuing your analysis.
- Pipeline students are students who enter PHSU after completing a Master of Medicine (MSMS) degree. MSMS is her one-year curriculum offered at various institutions designed to help students who want to improve their academic career. Participation in medical, dental, physician assistant, veterinary, or other professional health care programs. We consider MSMS to be a long-term performance assessment program because these students are required to understand and master her MD level curriculum. And according to the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, an accrediting body for medical schools in the United States, long-term performance assessments compare a student’s knowledge, skills, and skills to one-time standardized snapshots such as the MCAT. , and ability can be better measured. .
- A direct student is a student who enters PHSU directly from an undergraduate program.
In our analysis, students in our pipeline, especially those who are minorities, have low SES backgrounds, and who do not have the resources to adequately prepare for the rigors of undergraduate academics, have graduated from high school on average. We found significantly lower MCAT scores. compared to our direct students. However, these students achieved the same level of scores on her USMLE Step 1 as direct students with higher MCAT results.
We believe that combining the pipeline program with predictive analytics (which takes into account factors such as MCAT score, undergraduate GPA, and first-generation status) can provide a new metric: step 1 pass/fail score prediction. claims. Medical school admissions committees to consider when evaluating applicants from pipeline programs. The new metric does not replace the existing MD admission process. Rather, it is supplemental and applies only to applicants from the pipeline program.
This additional metric helps admissions committees ascertain the academic readiness of pipeline applicants and puts less emphasis on the MCAT. For example, if a Pipeline student demonstrates proficiency in his MSMS curriculum, but has a low MCAT score, a longitudinal performance assessment (combining the Pipeline program with other predictive analytics) could Can be weighted higher than one-time snapshots (MCAT).
It is widely understood that using the MCAT as a data point for excellent medical school enrollments has an impact on national rankings. The higher the average MCAT score of successful students, the more prestigious the school is considered. However, reliance on this single data point hinders progress toward a more diverse physician workforce.
According to AAMC Overview CR Lucy, M.D., Senior Associate Dean, UCLA School of Medicine, San Francisco; and Aaron Sagill, M.D., Associate Dean, F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine and Vice Chair of the AAMC’s Medical College Admissions Adequacy Committee. According to Ph.D. (MPH), “…too much emphasis on the best MCAT score in admission decisions makes it difficult to build medical school classes that are representative of the patient community.”
Two recommendations that Lucey and Saguil provide to medical schools to increase diversity in their next cohort are:
- Increase the availability of pipeline programs for medical aspirants who are minorities or have a low SES background.
- Implement a more holistic selection approach that reflects a more judicious consideration of MCAT scores.
Lucy and Sagill’s conclusions will increase the diversity of medical students and prospective physicians without compromising the academic fitness or professional preparation of the student cohort. Adding to the medical school admissions criteria will facilitate this effort. Students in the pipeline, who are diverse and have low her SES backgrounds, not only can handle the rigors of medical school well, they also score similarly on USMLE exams and are just as prepared for admission as direct students, she said. We provide reliable data.
David Lenihan, Ph.D., JD, is president of the Ponce College of Health Sciences, a medical school with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri and Ponce, Puerto Rico. He is also CEO of Tiber Health, a technology company focused on innovating medical school education and solving the global doctor shortage.
