Mini-Medical School Programs Decrease Perceived Barriers of Pursuing Medical Careers Among Underrepresented Minority High School Students

The percent of underrepresented minority (URM) students who apply to medical school has minimally changed in the past 40 years. Due to the lack of URM applicants, consequent matriculation of URMs is grossly disproportionate from their percent representation of the United States (U.S.) population. Increasing diversity among medical students and physicians has previously been identified as essential to decreasing healthcare disparities among U.S. minorities. Therefore, it is vital to recognize barriers to applying to medical school among URMs. To identify and assess prevalence of barriers, surveys were distributed to participants of MedAchieve, a mini-medical school program of diverse high school students in New York City. Of students who will be first in their immediate family to attend college, 80% perceived a barrier of pursuing medical school. Specified barriers indicated include cost of medical school (77%), lack of guidance/role models (54%), and predicted inability to do well in medical school classes (54%). At the end of the program, a statistically significant reduction in the barrier of lack of guidance/role models was seen. This study highlights the benefit of mini-medical school programs, especially programs with a mentoring component, to decrease perceived barriers of applying to medical school among URMs and suggests the potential role of similar programs to increase diversity in medicine and to decrease healthcare disparities among minorities in the United States.