Medical school admissions flunk diversity after Supreme Court ruling
After the Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that affirmative actions were unconstitutional, racial and ethnic diversity declined in medical school admissions and matriculations, according to research published Aug. 26 in JAMA.
Researchers from Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., University of California School of Medicine in Sacramento and the American Medical Association analyzed MD program applicants from 2019 to 2024.
Among 291,764 individuals who applied to at least one MD program in the U.S., those from race and ethnicity groups who are underrepresented in medicine — compared to white and Asian applicants — were further underrepresented in the 2024 admissions cycle. Unrepresented in medicine includes Black, Hispanic, American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students.
Researchers found that during admissions cycles from 2019 to 2023, or the period before the Supreme Court ruling, there were no racial or ethnic differences in acceptance rates. In 2024, underrepresented in medicine student matriculation into U.S. medical schools declined.
Between the pre- and post-Supreme Court ruling ruling periods, white student representation decreased in matriculation by 1.94 percentage points, Asian student representation increased 5.19 percentage points, and underrepresented in medicine student representation decreased 3.56 percentage points.
The disparity was particularly concentrated in states that did not have a ban on affirmative action prior to the Supreme Court decision.
“While the ruling was intended to increase fairness by making admissions decisions race neutral, the emergence of disparity in acceptances rate between URiM and White students may suggest that the ruling reflects the continued influence of longstanding structural barriers,” the researchers wrote.
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