Minority Pre-Med Students Encounter Obstacles in Medical School Admissions

Financial pressures and racism are among the barriers that keep determined students of color from actually making it to medical school, according to a recent study in the journal JAMA Health Forum. Black and Hispanic test takers were significantly less likely to go on to apply and enroll in med school than white test takers. Patients of color can benefit from having a doctor of their own racial or ethnic background, and having a doctor who looks like you makes you more likely to accept flu vaccination, to have a colonoscopy, to consider having a more invasive heart procedure.