Racial diversity is not improving in medicine. Last year, 515 black men entered medical school — 27 fewer than those who entered medical school in 1978, according to the American Association of Medical Colleges.
A report in The New York Times Magazine details how one historically black university in New Orleans with 3,000 students is responsible for sending more African-American students to medical school than any other college in the U.S.
New Orleans-based Xavier University supports its students, many of whom come from poor communities and/or are first generation college students, through its rigorous premedical school program, producing the most black students who apply for and graduate from medical school, according to the report.
"I used to say there was no relationship between being poor and being bright. I watched all of my life young people who were poor and very bright. But research shows if you are black and born poor, you are going to live in a poor neighborhood, going to go to a poor school, and by and large, you are going to stay that way," Norman Francis, former president of Xavier University told The New York Times Magazine. "To come out of that system, you would have to rise much higher than other youngsters who had every resource."
Here are five key strategies Xavier University employs in its undergraduate premedicine program, as presented by The New York Times Magazine.
1. Create a shared responsibility for success. Xavier's program is unique among many premedicine programs in that it fosters a sense of collaboration rather than competition, according to the report. Students are encouraged to work and study together, rather than compete and weed each other out.
2. Enforce strict freshman chemistry and biology curricula. Xavier makes its professors adhere to a strict curriculum in both chemistry and biology during the freshman year to make sure each of its students has a solid foundation in science, one which they may have not received in high school.
3. Take a gradual interval approach to medical school applications. Students begin to practice writing personal statements in their first semester, according to the report. Over the course of their career at Xavier, they write many and refine them for use in the medical school application. Letters of recommendation are also obtained early and kept on file.
4. Provide in-house counseling for applications and MCAT preparation. Xavier's pre-med office, staffed by two faculty members, provides free services for students, including help studying for the MCAT, mock interview practice and application reviews.
5. Monitor students constantly. Above all, Xavier monitors its premedical students incredibly closely, sending out notes and calling parents if a student missed class or a deadline. The report called the strategy used by Professor J.W. Carmichael, PhD, head of the school's pre-med office, "akin to fierce parenting."
However, despite Xavier University's success in graduating black medical students, Former Xavier President Francis told The New York Times Magazine it reflected a failure. He said the school is "too small to be the No. 1 institution sending African American students to medical school," according to the report, underscoring the critical need for support of underprivileged students in the U.S.
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