Only one black student walked across the stage to receive a degree from the Columbia-based University of Missouri School of Medicine this year, and only three are expected to graduate next year, according to an article in the Missourian.
Fifty percent of babies born in 2009 in the United States belong to a minority group, and yet medical schools are still recruiting mostly white students, which is exemplified by the lack of diversity in the MU Medical School graduating class.
According to the article, minorities, in this case, include African-Americans, Native Americans and Hispanics. Affirmative action quotas have induced struggles with diversity among the 141 medical schools across the nation.
According the article, even once the minority students are recruited and enrolled, they may encounter hostility and even racism which escalates the drop-out rate.
"The history of Missouri and its racism has still left a sour taste in people's mouth when they think of coming here," Robin Clay, the diversity and inclusion recruitment coordinator, told the Missourian.
The root of the nationwide problem lies in rudimentary education and financial support. The article stresses it is essential to have minority students get interested in and pass science and math at an earlier age as well as to give them the financial support they need for their education.
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