Many Drew University Medical Graduates Plan To Practice in Underserved Areas

Eighty-six percent of medical students at Charles R. Drew University plan to practice medicine in medically underserved areas, according to a study that will be published in the September issue of Academic Medicine, the Los Angeles Times reports. By comparison, 20% of medical students at the University of California-Los Angeles said they planned to practice in underserved areas.

According to the study, the percentage of Drew medical students who said they plan to work in underserved areas increased from 68.5% at matriculation to 86% at graduation. The percentage of UCLA students who said they plan to work in underserved areas decreased from 28.1% to 20% over the same period, the study found.

Michelle Ko, lead author of the study, is a former Drew medical student and currently is an internal medicine resident at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Ko said a second part of the study would examine whether respondents pursue their plans to practice in underserved areas. The second part of the study is in preliminary stages, Ko said (Richardson, Los Angeles Times, 8/26).

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