Truth Be Told | A melting pot of medical students

On a colorful bulletin board outside of the School of Medicine Admissions Office, Suite 100 in Stemmler Hall, there is a list of numbers of which I am partly responsible for. These are not the results of a clinical trial or painstaking biochemical test, but rather the demographics of Penn Medicine’s newly enrolled class.

Of particular note is the 25 percent next to the underrepresented-in-medicine bullet point. In medical school admissions, this number is not just an anomaly, but the stuff of legends. According to the Journal of the National Medical Association, the percentage of medical students from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds fluctuates from 8 percent to 12.5 percent nationwide. If you peruse through the Medical School Admissions Requirements handbook, those numbers seem to thin out the higher up on the medical school chain you go. Among Penn’s peer institutions, the percentage of underrepresented minorities (URMs) are dismal, in many cases never entering the double digits. It’s no wonder then that I’ve heard others buzzing about Penn’s new class, touted to be the most diverse in Penn’s recent history, if not of all time.

In a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, a group from George Washington University ranked schools on a very novel set of standards. The criteria: turning out primary care physicians, distributing physicians to underserved areas of the country and how many URMs graduate from the school. The schools that traditionally rank very highly (Penn included) on U.S. News and World Report’s rankings perform abysmally on these so-called Social Mission rankings.

Now, Penn will never match historically black colleges and universities for the number of URMs graduating, and Penn Med students self-select into high-powered, super specialized fields rather than more general fields like primary care or family practice. But taking steps toward the idea of having a social-mission-ready class isn’t all smoke and mirrors for Penn. Perhaps this year’s entering class is that first baby step.

Outside of being an impressive number, is there really any merit to having such a high percentage, you ask? Many studies have been done showing that URM doctors have patients who have better outcomes. This is yesterday’s news. The studies that haven’t been done are examinations of how a diverse medical school environment influences opinions and interactions of those who aren’t URMs. Especially at Penn, where team learning is so heavily emphasized from the gate, there is something to be said about learning in a group that has a wealth of different perspectives. You play how you practice. It would be an interesting study to see how the health outcomes for our class’ minority patients compare to the national averages.

As a proud statistic, I would argue that there was no voodoo involved in the making of our class. To my knowledge, no assassinations were carried out, and no kneecaps were broken. It’s just that Penn gets a lot of the basics right.

Gaye Sheffler, Penn Medicine director of admissions, said student and faculty involvement in the admissions process helped the administration get a better sense of what URM students need to be successful in medical school. “When students talk, we listen,” she said.

The administration prides itself on having a hands-on, personal relationship with students, Sheffler added. This is why I affectionately call the folks in the admissions office “Sweet Suite 100.”

They also give out candy.

I’ve heard that the coolness of medical school classes follows a biannual cycle. This is an “on” year. Though it would be nice to be known as the “most diverse medical school class in the nation’s history,” perhaps admissions committees at other institutions will take notice so that this isn’t a flash in the pan phenomenon. Hopefully Suite 100 saved the recipe, because so far, this melting pot is delicious.

Mark Attiah is a first-year medical student from Dallas. His e-mail address is attiah@theDP.com. Truth Be Told appears on alternate Thursdays.

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