The number of New York-based first year medical students from underrepresented backgrounds increased to 21.1 percent, the first time the percentage has surpassed 20 percent, according to an annual report from Associated Medical Schools of New York.
The data accounted for the 11,193 students enrolled in New York-based medical schools during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Of the students from underrepresented backgrounds, 8 percent identified as Black/African American, 7.5 percent identified as Hispanic/Latino, and 7.3 percent identified as 2 or more ethnicities/races. Students who identified as Black/African American, including those who identify as multi ethnic/racial, where one of the races is Black/African American, account for 9.7 percent.
"Twenty percent is worth celebrating, as long as we acknowledge that we have a way to go," Jo Wiederhorn, president and chief executive officer of AMSNY, said in a press release. "Diversity in medicine is important because we know patients have better health outcomes when they see doctors from their own backgrounds."
Read the full report here.