Increasing Diversity and Inclusion in Medical School to Improve the Health of All

THE CURRENT CONTEXT The ills of the U.S. healthcare system are well documented. In addition to high costs and poor outcomes relative to those of comparable nations, healthcare delivery in the United States is plagued by health disparities. Especially apparent are disparities that run along racial and ethnic lines. Minority populations suffer infant mortality rates at double those of their white counterparts; experience a higher prevalence of chronic and preventable diseases, such as diabetes; and are much more likely than whites to succumb to conditions like breast cancer. The status quo clearly is unacceptable. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) believes that the United States requires a highly skilled, diverse, and culturally competent healthcare workforce to move us toward health equity and care for a population that is itself becoming increasingly diverse. The U.S. population will be majority minority three decades from now, meaning that whites will become a minority group for the first time in U.S. history. A comparably diverse and culturally competent healthcare workforce will best position organizations to address the social determinants of health and eradicate the health disparities that afflict the nation. BENEFITS OF DIVERSITY IN MEDICAL EDUCATION Supporting diversity of all kinds and inclusion in medical education is more than a moral imperative. Evidence is growing that diverse medical school classes could have wide-ranging benefits beyond the classroom. In 2007, researchers from the University of Colorado School of Medicine found that training alongside a diverse student body helped medical students in their interactions with patients from differing backgrounds (Guiton, Chang, & Wilkerson, 2007). Similarly, the work of Scott Page, PhD, of the University of Michigan, has shown through mathematical models that diverse groups that include a multitude of perspectives and backgrounds fare better at solving problems than homogenous groups do (Page, 2007). In short, research supports the view that diversity is a key driver of excellence. AAMC DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION EFFORTS The AAMC is working to support the creation of a diverse physician workforce in many ways. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion in medical education is woven into the AAMC strategic plan, which guides all association activities. This section highlights some of the work under way at the AAMC. Finding and developing talent to meet our public health needs must start early. The AAMC supports our member institutions' efforts to reach out to diverse communities by hosting the free Minority Student Medical Career Awareness Workshops and Recruitment Fair in conjunction with the AAMC Annual Meeting. Since 1982, we have brought together high school and college students, their parents, pre-health curriculum advisers, admissions and diversity affairs officers, and other health professions organizations to support the development of future physicians and scientists. Another pipeline program, the Summer Medical and Dental Education Program (SMDEP), exposes college students to medical and dental careers, builds skills in the basic sciences, and orients participants to the admissions process. The AAMC, in collaboration with the American Dental Education Association and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has worked with over 21,000 college students through SMDEP. More than 5,000 SMDEP participants have subsequently graduated from medical school. The goal of leveraging technology to support academic preparation and improve access to accurate and timely information about the path to medical school has sparked several initiatives at the AAMC. Aspiring Docs is an online program that provides future medical students from all backgrounds with information about various aspects of medical school and highlights stories of a diverse cadre of medical students and physicians. We also are taking steps to provide all students with free access to high-quality, online educational materials to help them prepare for the revised Medical College Admissions Test in 2015 through a partnership with the Khan Academy. We view this effort as an important step in attracting future physicians from diverse backgrounds, including students from economically and educationally disadvantaged communities. Interventions at the individual level are only part of the solution. The AAMC also works with our member institutions to offer tools that build their capacity to identify diverse talent and develop inclusive environments. In collaboration with the University of Massachusetts Medical School and DataStar, the AAMC released the Diversity Engagement Survey—a survey grounded in workforce engagement theory that will assist institutions in determining the strategic direction for a diversity plan and develop a meaningful inclusion scorecard that allows for cross-institutional benchmarking. With funding from the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, the AAMC also launched the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and/or Disorders of Sex Development-Affected Patient Care Project, a repository for competency-based educational and assessment resources that address the health of LGBT individuals, gendernonconforming and/or -discordant children and adolescents, and individuals affected by disorders of sex development. CONCLUSION These programs and initiatives are just some of ways the AAMC promotes diversity and inclusion in medical education as part of our mission to improve the health of all. We are proud to be a partner with the American College of Healthcare Executives, the American Hospital Association, Catholic Health Association of the United States, and the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems in the Equity of Care initiative. Together, we can make significant progress in achieving our goal of eliminating the nation's health inequities.