Postbaccalaureate premedical programs to promote physician-workforce diversity.

There is a critical need for enhanced health-professions workforce diversity to drive excellence and to improve access to quality care for vulnerable and underserved populations. In the current higher education environment, post-baccalaureate premedical programs with a special focus on diversity, sustained through consistent institutional funding, may be an effective institutional strategy to promote greater health professions workforce diversity, particularly physician-workforce diversity. In 2014, 71 of the 200 programs (36%) in a national post-baccalaureate premedical programs data base identified themselves as having a special focus on groups underrepresented in medicine and/or on economically or educationally disadvantaged students. Three post-baccalaureate premedical programs with this focus are described in detail and current and future challenges and opportunities for post-baccalaureate premedical programs are discussed.

MEDPREP--30 years of making a difference.

The Medical/Dental Education Preparatory Program (MEDPREP) of Southern Illinois University School of Medicine has served over 1000 educationally or economically disadvantaged students since its inception in 1972. Seventy-eight percent of the former students (95% of the current students) are members of AAMC-defined underrepresented minority groups (URMs). Over the course of its 30-year history, 68% of the students have been accepted to professional schools, with 92% being accepted to medical schools and attending 90 different medical schools in the country. Of those accepted to professional schools, 87% have graduated or are expected to graduate. MEDPREP has had this impact on the profession by staying true to its original mission, assisting minority students and other students with disadvantaged backgrounds to prepare for admission and success in medical school. MEDPREP is an environment of high expectations, teamwork, personal growth, and opportunities to achieve goals. Students are served by an advisor who helps structure an individualized curriculum designed to develop a knowledge base and learning and reasoning skills. The success of the program is due to the school's commitment and support, the faculty who serve the students, and the sacrifice and hard work of the MEDPREP students.