“With a physician workforce shortage looming, it’s encouraging that more young people are attracted to a career in medicine, and that the efforts to increase student enrollment at U.S. medical schools are succeeding,” says AAMC president Jordan J. Cohen, M.D. The Miller School of Medicine is not only increasing its enrollment numbers, but it’s making new progress in recruiting minorities. Asian/Pacific Islanders make up 20 percent of the 2005-2006 entering class, Hispanics 15 percent, and African Americans 5 percent. “We pride ourselves on our diversity. Like many institutions, it’s one of our core values,” says Mark O’Connell, M.D., senior associate dean for medical education. “Not only do we have a diverse student population, but they have an amazing opportunity to work with a patient population that is probably more diverse than almost anywhere else in the country. Diversity makes for a more compassionate and culturally competent physician.” Fourth-year student Niberto Moreno agrees. A Cuban American raised in Miami, he believes his UM medical education could not be duplicated anywhere else. “The patient population you see here is not only different from a medical perspective because of their countries of origin, but you get to experience different cultures and learn different languages at the same time,” explains Moreno. The Miller School of Medicine ranks among the top three U.S. medical schools in graduating the highest number of Hispanic physicians. In addition, at the undergraduate level, the University of Miami ranks second in the country in the number of Hispanic graduates applying to medical school. As positive as those statistics are, there is still much work to be done. Even though Hispanics are the fastest growing demographic in the United States, making up 12 percent of the population, they only represent 5 percent of the country’s physicians. When it comes to African Americans, they make up almost 20 percent of the population, but only 6 percent of the country’s physicians. The disparity is one of the main reasons why minority recruitment is a top priority at the Miller School of Medicine. “It is important to the profession of medicine to include representatives from all ethnic and racial groups because cultural competency is critical to meeting the real needs of patients,” O’Connell says. “The values and behaviors are different in a Hispanic patient than in an African-American patient or an Asian patient.” The Office of Minority Affairs has been at the forefront of creating an environment to motivate and increase the application pool for the Miller School among minority and disadvantaged students. “It is imperative to get more minorities into medicine,” says Astrid Mack, Ph.D., associate dean for minority affairs. “We are finding you have to go further and further down into the educational pipeline to make that happen.” Starting in the ninth grade the medical school works closely with Miami-Dade County Public Schools to recruit students already interested in the health sciences. The students have an opportunity to attend several different summer programs that include an in-depth introduction to the course work necessary for a career in health and science. “The high school summer programs culminate after junior year with the High School Careers in Medicine Workshop,” Mack says. “We enroll about 30 disadvantaged high school seniors who are interested in going to college to pursue a career in a health-related profession.” The effort to recruit students does not end when they start college. In 1976 the Miller School of Medicine established the Minority Students Health Careers Motivation Program. College juniors and seniors who are interested in health careers are selected with a goal of getting them into medical school or other health professional schools. The seven-week, full-time program provides a challenging curriculum that includes several pre-clinical medical school courses such as biochemistry and gross anatomy. The program has an outstanding record. Since 1992, of the more than 300 college participants, 60 percent went on to medical school, 20 percent attended either another health professional school or graduate school, and the other 20 percent began a career in a health field. “The program allowed me to experience courses I’d be taking in medical school,” remembers Hermena Cerphy, now in her fourth year at the Miller School. “It got me over the anxiety of starting medical school and gave me the confidence that it is possible to go to medical school, excel, and pursue a career in medicine.” Growing up in Haiti before moving to Miami in 1994, Cerphy says she knows she was fortunate to get a good education. Not everyone in her homeland is as lucky. “And that is what motivated me to choose a career where I could have an impact on helping people.” |
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Jeanne Antol Krull is director of media relations in the Office of Communications at the Miller School of Medicine. Photo by Donna Victor. | ||||||