RUSM has taken an active leadership role by partnering with a number of historically black colleges and universities to establish pathways for diverse students to attend medical school. Qualified students in this program receive tuition assistance, and students from marginalized groups—as defined by socioeconomic status or underrepresented minority status, for example—are given access to a 15-week preparatory program to increase their rate of success. Although RUSM is based in Barbados, 98 percent of our students are U.S. or Canadian residents. We take pride in the diversity of our student body; about a quarter of our students are black or Hispanic. In 2018–19, the average U.S. medical school graduated eight black doctors, while RUSM graduated 83. And of the 608 RUSM medical students who attained residency in March, 82 were black and 61 were Hispanic.
Our approach to increasing diversity is an open and transportable model. We call on our colleagues in medical education to seek out minority students and support them throughout their medical career. The health of our nation depends on it.
William F. Owen Jr., M.D., F.A.C.P.
Dean and Chancellor, Ross University School of Medicine
Miramar, Fla.
I wholeheartedly agree that diversity is crucial. Our society is a fuller place when people of all cultures and countries partake and contribute. This is especially true within health care and the educational institutions that train would-be medical personnel.
As a student nurse at the University of California at San Francisco, I have witnessed firsthand the negative patient outcomes related to a lack of diversity. Many patients I’ve cared for have expressed their desire to be treated by clinicians of the same race, only to be disappointed when told that there are none available. As a society, we must address the structural barriers preventing underrepresented minorities from becoming medical professionals.
Diversity itself, however, is only one piece of the puzzle. In far too many cases there exists a lack of respect and appreciation for other cultures—even in diverse environments. Going forward, we must develop cultural humility within personal interactions. From the standpoint of humility, we can observe and resolve the power dynamics that drive patients and medical personnel apart.
Michael Nguyen
San Francisco, Calif.
As an undergraduate studying public health at UC Berkeley, my most influential learning experiences and class discussions have stemmed from the diverse backgrounds and perspectives of my peers. It is absolutely essential that future physicians have the ability to collaborate with and understand people who come from different racial and ethnic—as well as cultural and socioeconomic—backgrounds.
Katie Raya
Berkeley, Calif.
Maggie Villamana Vuturo wrote: My medical school’s mission statement was to provide future physicians for the state of Arizona. I was one of the students on the admissions committee and the selection process we had was incredible. Diversity was key to insure we maximized the odds that we would train physicians from rural areas and the reservations, since studies show us that these physicians are more likely to practice in their home communities than a physician not from these areas. Diversity is key for this reason alone in medical school if we want to try to fill the void of physicians in rural areas and the reservations.
