Why students drop out of the pipeline to health professions careers: a follow-up of gifted minority high school students.

PURPOSE: To track gifted underrepresented minority (URM) students who entered the pipeline to health professional school when they were in high school and to determine whether and why students left the pipeline to enter other professions. METHOD: A questionnaire was mailed to 162 students who had participated in the Student Educational Enrichment Program (SEEP) in health sciences at the Medical College of Georgia between 1984 and 1991; 123 (75%) responded. RESULTS: Students in the study population had higher graduation rates than the average state or national student. Fifty-nine (48%) of the students had entered health care careers; 98% had stated that intention when they were in high school. Although some of the students stated trouble with course work and GPA as reasons for their decisions to change career tracks, many students said that their interests in non-medical careers had been fostered by mentors or by opportunities to serve internships. CONCLUSION: Early intervention is important to retaining students in a pipeline that leads to a health care career. Summer programs are successful, but may not be enough to help students with difficult science courses in college, especially chemistry. However, another important conclusion is that much more needs to be done to help students find mentors with whom they can develop relationships and to give them opportunities to work in health care settings.

Impact of minority physicians on health care.

BACKGROUND: There is concern that anti-affirmative-action measures will negate gains made ill educating underrepresented minority physicians and that this underrepresentation may have a negative impact on access to health care for these same underrepresented groups. METHODS: A review of the literature was completed to examine the relationship between opportunities for underrepresented minorities in medical education and the role of minority physicians in providing access to health care for underserved populations. The current number of minority physicians in the United States is discussed, and a historical perspective is provided regarding efforts to increase the numbers. RESULTS: The data consistently indicate that minority physicians provide a disproportionately greater share of health care to underserved groups. CONCLUSION: These findings reveal that there may be a significant negative impact on access to health care among poor, minority, and underserved populations as a result of judicial and legislative actions that curtail affirmative action programs in medical education.

College majors and career choices of minority high school student research apprentices.

This study's purpose was to determine the college majors and career choices of students who participated in the Minority High School Student Research Apprentice Program (MHSSRAP) at the Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. A tracking system was initiated to follow up the participants to determine college majors during matriculation and career choices after graduation. The tracking included telephone interviews and questionnaires mailed to 55 participants from 1981 to 1994, the length of the program. The typical student in the cohort is an African-American man residing in a metropolitan area (70%) of Georgia. Sixty percent of the research apprentices come from working class parents. All 55 (100%) apprentices matriculated to a college or university. Thirty-one students (56%) had biology as their undergraduate major in college; 15%, liberal arts; 11%, chemistry; 7%, allied health disciplines; and 11%, other. Twenty-nine (53%) of these students graduated from college. Twenty-three of 29 (79%) graduates chose a medical or health science career, and 17 of 29 students (59%) matriculated into medical school. In Georgia, 30.1% of white students graduate from high school, and 14.6% obtain a baccalaureate degree. In contrast, 28% of blacks graduate from high school, and 7.5% graduate from college. We concluded that the Minority High School Student Research Apprentice Program is an important link in the student pipeline from high school to research careers and/or biomedical science careers. The research experience at an academic medical center and a college science major have great influence in the choice of medicine as a career.

Specialty choices and practice locales of black graduates from a predominantly white medical school.

PURPOSE: To determine the specialty choices, practice locales, patient populations, and professional achievements of black graduates from a predominantly white medical school. METHOD: Of the 136 black graduates from the Medical College of Georgia School of Medicine (MCGSM) who graduated between 1971 and 1992, 95 had completed residency training and were otherwise eligible to be surveyed regarding their specialty choices, practice locales, and other characteristics. RESULTS: Seventy of the 95 graduates (74%) responded to the survey, and 50 (73%) were men. Fifty-six (80%) were in primary care (including obstetrics-gynecology as well as family medicine, internal medicine, and pediatrics). Fifty (71%) practiced in their home state of Georgia, and 32 (46%) served low-income populations. Forty-six (66%) were board-certified, and 20 (28%) had faculty appointments. CONCLUSION: The black graduates of the predominantly white MCGSM chose primary care specialties and remained in Georgia to a greater extent than did other MCGSM graduates. Like their counterparts from the historically black medical schools, the black graduates from MCGSM--in relatively large percentages--chose primary care specialties and served minority patients, low-income populations, and/or rural areas.

Minority students' career choices and education five years after they completed a summer enrichment program.

The purpose of this follow-up study was to ascertain the career selections and college majors of 101 students from minority groups who had attended a summer enrichment program at the Medical College of Georgia (MCG) in Augusta from 1979 to 1983, to determine whether the program had been successful influencing the students to choose a health-related career. All the students had completed high school within the previous five years; they were contacted by mailed questionnaires or telephone. The study was completed by contacting the colleges where the students had enrolled and through the use of the Student and Applicant Information System of the Association of American Medical Colleges. The findings showed that the students had enrolled in and graduated from college and that a significant number of the students had chosen medicine or another health-related career. The study suggests the importance of early academic intervention for students from minority groups to choose a medical career.

Correlations between SAT scores and MCAT scores of black students in a summer program.

The purpose of the study reported here was to determine the relationship between Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores and Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores of black students who had participated in a summer program for minority students interested in health careers held at the Medical College of Georgia. A significant correlation was established between these students' SAT and MCAT scores. These findings suggest that students who are likely to perform well in medical school can be selected for medical school while they are still underclassmen, accepted conditionally, and admitted after completing a prescribed curriculum. Early selection has implications for increasing the number of minority students in medicine and for permitting more liberal arts in the premedical education than the present selection process.