Low Enrollment of Minorities Persists at California Med Schools
Minority students account for a smaller percentage of students at University of California medical schools than minorities comprise in the overall California population, according to a report from the Greelining Institute, New America Media reports.
Researchers maintain that the persistent gap between the percentage of minority students and minority populations contributes to barriers minorities encounter receiving culturally sensitive care.
Hector Javier Preciado, director of health policy at the Greenlining Institute, said that Latinos, African-Americans and American Indians account for 40% of California's population but only 20% of students at UC medical schools.
If UC admitted only students from those racial and ethnic groups, Preciado said it would take 38 years for the physician population to match the diversity of the general population in California.
Preciado attributed part of the situation to the elimination of affirmative action programs in California through the passage of Proposition 209 (Basilaia, New America Media, 7/22).