AFFIRMATIVE-ACTION AND OTHER SPECIAL CONSIDERATION ADMISSIONS AT THE UNIVERSITY-OF-CALIFORNIA, DAVIS, SCHOOL-OF-MEDICINE

Context.-The use of race as a criterion for admission to medical schoo ls and other professional schools has become increasingly controversia l. This study documents the experience of students at one medical scho ol, admitted through a special admissions process that included race a s one consideration. Objective.-To examine the medical school, postgra duate training, and career experiences of students admitted by a speci al consideration admission program that included traditional affirmati ve action admissions. Design.-Twenty-year, retrospective, matched-coho rt study. Setting.-A public medical school, Study Population.-All affi rmative action and other special consideration admissions between 1968 and 1987 (20 years). Main Outcome Measures.-Academic progress, nation al board examination scores, graduation, residency evaluations, and pr actice characteristics. Results.-During the study period, 20% of stude nts were special consideration admissions (range, 10%-45% per year). O f special consideration admissions, 53.5% were minority students, whil e 19% of regular admissions were minority students. When only underrep resented minority groups are analyzed, 42.7% of special consideration admissions and 4.0% of regular admissions were minorities. Of special consideration admissions, 94% graduated vs 97% of regular admissions. Regular admission students were more likely to receive honors or an A grade on core basic and clinical science courses. There was no differe nce in failure rates of core courses. Regular admission students had h igher scores on Parts I and II of the National Board of Medical Examin ers examination, and special consideration students were more likely t o repeat the examination to receive a passing grade. Following graduat ion, the experience of the special consideration admission students wa s very similar to that of regular admission students. There was no dif ference in completion of residency training or evaluation of performan ce by residency directors. Both populations selected primary care disc iplines at the same rate. The practice characteristics of the 2 popula tions were remarkably similar. Conclusions.-Criteria other than underg raduate grade point average and Medical College Admission Test scores can be used in predicting success in medical school. An admissions pro cess that allows for ethnicity and other special characteristics to be used heavily in admission decisions yields powerful effects on the di versity of the student population and shows no evidence of diluting th e quality of the graduates.