Relationship between primary care practices in medical school admission and the matriculation of underrepresented-minority and female applicants

Purpose. To determine whether primary care-oriented (generalist) admission practices at U.S. medical schools address physician workforce diversity iss ues by resulting in the admission of more members of underrepresented-minor ity populations or more women. Method. The authors performed cross-sectional, secondary analyses of databa ses from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The independe nt variables were four generalist admission practices: generalist admission committee chair, greater representation of generalists on admission commit tee, offering preferential admission to likely generalists, and having a pr emedical recruitment activity targeting likely generalists. The control var iable was public/private school ownership. The dependent variables were the mean ages of the matriculating classes and the proportions of students at each school who were African American, (total) underrepresented minorities, women, and married. Results. Ninety-five percent of medical schools completed the AAMC's Survey of Generalist Physician Initiatives in either 1993 and 1994; 94% of matric ulants replied to the AAMC's 1994 Matriculating Student Questionnaire. In m ultivariable analyses, no admission practice was associated with percentage s of African Americans, total underrepresented minorities, or women. Conclusions. Schools with primary care-oriented admission practices did not admit greater percentages of underrepresented-minority students or women. Additional efforts may be required to attract and admit minority and female applicants.