Medical schools use outreach programs to make student bodies more diverse: ...Two years ago, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that diversity in medical schools helps prepare doctors for today's very varied patient population. More than 20,000 graduating students were surveyed for the study; those who had attended more ethnically and racially mixed medical schools saw themselves as better able to interact with a diverse patient pool than those from less mixed schools.
Medical school officials have long said they want a broad range of backgrounds among their students, yet they have had trouble attracting more students from traditionally underrepresented groups. Today, about 7 percent of 77,722 medical students nationwide are African American and about 8 percent are Hispanic, according to the Web site of the Association of American Medical Colleges, which represents the nation's 132 medical schools. Whites make up almost 61 percent, with Asians accounting for nearly 22 percent. Other traditionally underrepresented groups, including American Indians and Alaska natives, make up about 2 percent.
