Affirmative Action in medical schools?

[BlackDr2b]

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If we look at the AAMC article I quoted a few days ago, we see that URM candidates do not perform as well as non-URM candidates. That means that either they are less qualified or less capable. If the first is true, then they received help in admissions. If the second is true it means that there's something else going on. I personally don't feel that URM candidates are any less capable than their non-URM colleagues, but I suppose that point can be argued.

So a stat says that URM's do not perform as well and you assume that it can only be because they are less qualified or less capable? Not attacking you but I am just asking because if that stat is true, there could be a million reasons why URM's do not perform as well. What do you mean by perform, finishing or scores?

 

[flaahless]

I cant argue on behalf of my friends/fellow employees if they do or do not already harbor some prejudiced thoughts. Yet, most of them, dont necessarily harbor the same prejudice towards asians, jews, indians, etc, as they do to URMs. And even with regards to URMs, I would say their prejudice is mostly related to AA(rather than other stereotypes/forms of discrimination against URMs). At my job, some of the white employees will say comments or do certain actions that look down on the URM vs other minority employees. Many of my colleagues will say that a fellow black/Hispanic/URM employee is only here to satisfy a quota, whereas the other minority groups (jews, indians, etc) are here because of their capabilities/merits.

Your friends don't sound like a group of people I would like to hang out with. Anyways, if they judge an applicant based on some preconceived notion of AA, then they are ignorant and prejudiced. It is what it is. Unless they have concrete, factual evidence that AA was enforced, then they are essentially talking out of their a**es.

As to why your friends single out particular groups, hahaha I could write an entire novel about it. But it all boils down to society and the perceptions and stereotypes of each particular group. The causes of those stereotypes range from racism to media.

Some whites and nonURM minorities feel there is a discrepancy between applicants(whether for medical or any professional school, or even work) caused by AA, and thus can foster a prejudice towards URMs. This is what I believe NoUse4aName1286 was trying to argue. By implementing AA, you create an environment that advances a stereotype/image that can actually hurt URMs.

As far as AA fostering racism, no. AA is not the cause, it's society, its prejudice, it's ignorance. AA is a merely catharsis. "Guns don't kill people, violent (and careless) people with guns kill people."

Im not arguing with you that there are few URMs at the UCs, but you can easily see, especially in regards to medical school, that there is a big discrepancy between the stats of URMs and non URMs accepted into medical school(even at the UCs). While stats(GPA and MCATs) don’t guarantee acceptance, there are many qualified applicants with great stats and ECs that have demonstrated the qualities you listed (Commitment to service, strong sociable qualities, strong moral fiber etc) that don’t even get interviews, whereas many URMs with lower stats, ECs, and etc, that get into top tier schools. Now, Im not saying that those nonURMs didn’t get in because of AA(the major reason they didn’t get in is like you said; competition/number of seats), there obviously is a preference made towards URM vs non URM applicant. And this goes back to the OP’s original question of AA being practiced in medical school admissions, and if so, is it right.

You are absolutely right in that many individuals display qualities outside of the numbers. Unfortunately, there aren't enough seats. However, people don't want to believe that they were unable to get into med school for reasons that they don't know of. Instead, they blame someone or something else for their troubles, in this situation, it's URMs and AA. Fact is, we have no idea what makes URM applicant X with low stats more competive than nonURM applicant Y with awesome stats. However, people feel more comfortable with a scapegoat.

Based on the profiles of accepted URMs vs accepted nonURMs, I would say all medical schools do practice some form of AA. Now is it right? Based upon the arguments given, the only justification I can have for AA is that URM doctors are better able to treat URM patients. Other arguments, such as diversity of the class adds to the educational experience, I believe don’t have as much merit in the medical education.

Conjecture. Not the UCs. See prop 209.

 

[BlackDr2b]

So are you saying that lower scores means you will not be a good doctor and that you won't give adequate health care?

 

[drizzt3117]

So a stat says that URM's do not perform as well and you assume that it can only be because they are less qualified or less capable? Not attacking you but I am just asking because if that stat is true, there could be a million reasons why URM's do not perform as well. What do you mean by perform, finishing or scores?

Did you read the article? It says most of the high URM attrition rate was due to academic reasons. Academic attrition is either due to being less qualified or less capable. Remember that this is a study that analyzes three different cohorts over ten years with a sample size in the thousands.

 

[flaahless]

If we look at the AAMC article I quoted a few days ago, we see that URM candidates do not perform as well as non-URM candidates. That means that either they are less qualified or less capable. If the first is true, then they received help in admissions. If the second is true it means that there's something else going on. I personally don't feel that URM candidates are any less capable than their non-URM colleagues, but I suppose that point can be argued.

Come on now man. There can be plenty of reasons why an individual drops of med school besides being underqualified or incapable. Lack of interest, lack of motivation, change of heart, meteor strike.

 

[drizzt3117]

So are you saying that lower scores means you will not be a good doctor and that you won't give adequate health care?

We're not talking about low scores, we're talking about not graduating, which means you won't be a doctor at all.

 

[BlackDr2b]

You've got to go with statistics here. You know that many URMS were helped by AA because their average is significantly lower than the average for other accepted applicants (I'm assuming that URMs don't 'vibe' better than other applicants, if for no other reasons than becuase if that's true not only is racism fixed, it's reversed). The problem is this means that peolple will assume that every URM with below average stats for a school go in on the basis of AA, which includes a good number of people who might have gotten in anyway (half of any given school is below the average).

That's how I think AA promotes racism, by the way.



Not performing as well is a synonym for less qualified and capable. The reasons why are irrelevant.

This brings up the other argument against AA in medicine, which I'm amazed we've gotten this far without mentioned: fairness to the patient. Even if you assume that URM is necessary to promote equality, is it necessarily a good idea in a field like medicine, where the quality of the applicants accepted translates directly into whether or not people live or die?

So are you saying that lower scores means you will not be a good doctor and that you won't give adequate health care?

 

[BlackDr2b]

Did you read the article? It says most of the high URM attrition rate was due to academic reasons. Academic attrition is either due to being less qualified or less capable. Remember that this is a study that analyzes three different cohorts over ten years with a sample size in the thousands.

No I didn't read the article and that is the reason I am asking questions since you seem to know the article.

 

[NoUse4aName1286]

caused by AA, and thus can foster a prejudice towards URMs. This is what I believe NoUse4aName1286 was trying to argue. By implementing AA, you create an environment that advances a stereotype/image that can actually hurt URMs.

Thats exactly what i was trying to say. As to Goodwin/Godwin, not sure who he is, feel free to enlighten me. My original point is that AA does promote racism and prejudice, and helps foster it. To have a system in place that does foster racism while hoping to combat it by leveling the playing feel is just *****ic.

Lets say, even, that I concede that people that are prejudiced are inherently so due to upbringing and society (and some of course are), and that ppl who aren't*racist never will be. Even if we assume that those that attribute minority access to AA are inherently racist (I dont believe this), then the simply counter argument remains ; how on earth do you expect to educate them in such a way as to remove their prejudices when AA gives such a logically simply way to attribute minority success to outside help/ not individual ability?

Sorry its phrased like this, couldn't think of a more straightforward way.

 

[drizzt3117]

Come on now man. There can be plenty of reasons why an individual drops of med school besides being underqualified or incapable. Lack of interest, lack of motivation, change of heart, meteor strike.

The article cites the most common reason for URM candidates was academic reasons. As I said before, this is three different cohorts over ten years with thousands of individuals being included. While individual circumstances might be apply to one person, do you really think thousands of URMs are more likely to have lack of motivation, change of heart, lack of interest, or be hit by meteors than non-URM candidates? The most common reasons cited for attrition by non-URM candidates were non-academic.

 

[badasshairday]

Okay, if they have a higher attrition rate, all the more reason to try to get more URM's to get into medical school so there can be URM physicians in the future.

I swear, you guys act like they only judge all non-URMs by all factors except for gender and ethnicity. NEWSFLASH, they don't! They want women, asians, whites, blacks, hispanics, indians, middle easerners, poor people, rich people, working class people, old, young, etc in there schools. Like I said before, most med schools could literally fiill thier classes 100% with white males, indian males, and chinese males if they went by stats, EC's, LORs only. No offense but this is probably true.

 

[drizzt3117]

No I didn't read the article and that is the reason I am asking questions since you seem to know the article.

http://www.aamc.org/data/aib/aibissues/aibvol7_no2.pdf

 

[BlackDr2b]

Did you read the article? It says most of the high URM attrition rate was due to academic reasons. Academic attrition is either due to being less qualified or less capable. Remember that this is a study that analyzes three different cohorts over ten years with a sample size in the thousands.

I have a hard time seeing that academic attrition=less qualified or less capable. So if a nonURM drops out because of academics is he/she less qualified or less capable?

 

[drizzt3117]

I have a hard time seeing that academic attrition=less qualified or less capable. So if a nonURM drops out because of academics is he/she less qualified or less capable?

Academic attrition means they are failing out, which seems to imply they are either less qualified or less capable. Remember that we are talking about thousands of people. Also, the difference is not small, but a factor of four. The reason why this is an issue is because one of the reasons people are against URMs with lower stats gaining admission is because medical school is academically rigorous and they are concerned they may not be able to handle it. The study seems to imply that a significant percentage of them do not. Medical schools have a significant investment in each member of their class, and have a very large incentive in each member of the class graduating, it's not a weed out situation like pre-med undergrad classes.

 

[45408]

Come on now man. There can be plenty of reasons why an individual drops of med school besides being underqualified or incapable. Lack of interest, lack of motivation, change of heart, meteor strike.

Sure, but that's not what the article he posted was even about. It was about the applicants who dropped out for academic reasons, not personal ones.

 

[45408]

So if a nonURM drops out because of academics is he/she less qualified or less capable?

Yes.

 

[NoUse4aName1286]

Okay, if they have a higher attrition rate, all the more reason to try to get more URM's to get into medical school so there can be URM physicians in the future.

I swear, you guys act like they only judge all non-URMs by all factors except for gender and ethnicity. NEWSFLASH, they don't! They want women, asians, whites, blacks, hispanics, indians, middle easerners, poor people, rich people, working class people, old, young, etc in there schools. Like I said before, most med schools could literally fiill thier classes 100% with white males, indian males, and chinese males if they went by stats, EC's, LORs only. No offense but this is probably true.

Yes, that makes perfect sense....[sarcasm] It would be all the more reason to DO AWAY WITH ANY SORT OF RACIAL PROFILING FOR ADMISSIONS- that way all attrition/success rates would be the same, regardless of race, and no one would have a leg to stand on if they said "URM's aren't as qualified" Findings like these GIVE THEM THA TLEG AND serve to continue the promotion of prejudicial attitudes.

 

[flaahless]

The article cites the most common reason for URM candidates was academic reasons. As I said before, this is three different cohorts over ten years with thousands of individuals being included. While individual circumstances might be apply to one person, do you really think thousands of URMs are more likely to have lack of motivation, change of heart, lack of interest, or be hit by meteors than non-URM candidates? The most common reasons cited for attrition by non-URM candidates were non-academic.

Thousands of URMs? Are you serious? Crazy exaggeration. Secondly, lack of motivation, change of heart, lack of interest and meteor strikes can all result in low academic performance. Performing poorly and being underqualified is not a direct relationship. For instance, I was a stellar HS student, but a mediocre college student for my first two years. Was I underqualified, or was there a mitigating circumstance that decreased my academic performance? It was the latter. Anyways, I'm not saying this is true for all URMs, but I am saying that you are drawing way too many conclusions from statistical data that says very little.

 

[badasshairday]

Academic attrition means they are failing out, which seems to imply they are either less qualified or less capable. Remember that we are talking about thousands of people. Also, the difference is not small, but a factor of four.

I wish they did a statistical study on women vs. men. I bet more women drop out then men... so we shouldn't let women into med school (who I think tend to have a slightly lower MCAT than men) over men right?

 

[NoUse4aName1286]

I have a hard time seeing that academic attrition=less qualified or less capable. So if a nonURM drops out because of academics is he/she less qualified or less capable?

Absolutely. Propose a better explanation? The point is they dropped BECAUSE OF ACADEMICS, ie, they couldn't hack it.

 

[badasshairday]

Yes, that makes perfect sense....[sarcasm] It would be all the more reason to DO AWAY WITH ANY SORT OF RACIAL PROFILING FOR ADMISSIONS- that way all attrition/success rates would be the same, regardless of race, and no one would have a leg to stand on if they said "URM's aren't as qualified" Findings like these GIVE THEM THA TLEG AND serve to continue the promotion of prejudicial attitudes.

Cool, lets just do away with it all. Med schools shouldn't even know your sex, age, ethnicity, either. Interviews should be done blind with a microphone that neutralizes your voice to a standard tone so sex differentiation is impossible.

Let's see then how med schools are filled. I think you guys are delusional to think that med schools don't take sex, age, ethnicity into account even for non-URMs. Seriously, any school could fill all there seats with all females or all males if they wanted to. There are enough qualified applicants to do so.

 

[NoUse4aName1286]

Cool, lets just do away with it all. Med schools shouldn't even know your sex, age, ethnicity, either. Interviews should be done blind with a microphone that neutralizes your voice to a standard tone so sex differentiation is impossible.

Let's see then how med schools are filled.

Unless you are saying that this would show that URMs were inherently less qualified even without their race being known, then I see no problem with doing exactly that. I'm not sure if you realize what you are saying

 

[flaahless]

Absolutely. Propose a better explanation? The point is they dropped BECAUSE OF ACADEMICS, ie, they couldn't hack it.

lack of motivation, change of heart, lack of interest and meteor strikes can all result in low academic performance. Performing poorly and being underqualified is not a direct relationship.

 

[45408]

Thousands of URMs? Are you serious? Crazy exaggeration.

n=6379

I don't see why you're arguing about a study with what looks like pretty reasonable and straightforward methods.

 

[drizzt3117]

Thousands of URMs? Are you serious? Crazy exaggeration. Secondly, lack of motivation, change of heart, lack of interest and meteor strikes can all result in low academic performance. Performing poorly and being underqualified is not a direct relationship. For instance, I was a stellar HS student, but a mediocre college student for my first two years. Was I underqualified, or was there a mitigating circumstance that decreased my academic performance? It was the latter. Anyways, I'm not saying this is true for all URMs, but I am saying that you are drawing way too many conclusions from statistical data that says very little.

I'm talking about thousands of total URMs, which there is. In the three cohorts, there are 3206 African Americans, 2963 Hispanic students, and 310 Native American students studied, with 317 who did not finish within 10 years. Certainly mitigating circumstances may be possible but we're talking about thousands of total individuals.

 

[45408]

lack of motivation, change of heart, lack of interest and meteor strikes can all result in low academic performance. Performing poorly and being underqualified is not a direct relationship.

Okay, then do you have an explanation for why this happens so much more often to blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans than it does to non-Hispanic whites?

 

[BlackDr2b]

So I have a question, since we are saying that more URM's are being accepted into medical school and people are saying that we can't hack it, then how come nobody said anything about the fact the the completion numbers have gone up and that more URM's are graduating? Does that not show that we can hack it or that we are just as capable or that we are just as qualified?

 

[45408]

Let's see then how med schools are filled. I think you guys are delusional to think that med schools don't take sex, age, ethnicity into account even for non-URMs. Seriously, any school could fill all there seats with all females or all males if they wanted to. There are enough qualified applicants to do so.

If there was no consideration of race or gender, med schools would still be close to 50% female.

 

[badasshairday]

Unless you are saying that this would show that URMs were inherently less qualified even without their race being known, then I see no problem with doing exactly that. I'm not sure if you realize what you are saying

I'm saying that there would be no diversity in med schools. It would be like med school classes back in the 50's and 60's where everyone was a white male, except in the year 2008 it would be mostly white males with a large smattering of south-asian and east-asian males.

I don't think having almost zero diveristy in the medical field is a good thing.

 

[drizzt3117]

So I have a question, since we are saying that more URM's are being accepted into medical school and people are saying that we can't hack it, then how come nobody said anything about the fact the the completion numbers have gone up and that more URM's are graduating? Does that not show that we can hack it or that we are just as capable or that we are just as qualified?

I'm not following what this comment is saying. Yes, more URMs are finishing medical school as a percentage, but more non-minority students are also finishing medical school, so it seems like that's a factor of more support systems being available for students of all types.

 

[badasshairday]

If there was no consideration of race or gender, med schools would still be close to 50% female.

I stand corrected. BUT, the schools would not know if the applicant they were choosing was male or female. Given a choice, the schools rather have a school 50% male 50% female rather than a significant majority of one or the other.

 

[45408]

I'm saying that there would be no diversity in med schools. It would be like med school classes back in the 50's and 60's where everyone was a white male, except in the year 2008 it would be mostly white males with a large smattering of south-asian and east-asian males.

No, it wouldn't. You didn't have nearly as many female applicants back then. It's starting to sound like you think women are less capable academically.

 

[flaahless]

Okay, then do you have an explanation for why this happens so much more often to blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans than it does to non-Hispanic whites?

Hell yeah. Lack of family support, absence of parental pressure, economic distress... the list will get long.

 

[45408]

I stand corrected. BUT, the schools would not know if the applicant they were choosing was male or female. Given a choice, the schools rather have a school 50% male 50% female rather than a significant majority of one or the other.

If they selected their class strictly on qualifications alone, I don't believe you'd find a gender disparity. If you do, then you apparently believe there is a gender disparity in GPA and MCAT that I don't know about.

 

[badasshairday]

And to TheProwler, if I end up coming to Milwaukee, we better kick it and get some beers at a Milwaukee bar.

 

[flaahless]

Okay, then do you have an explanation for why this happens so much more often to blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans than it does to non-Hispanic whites?

You are starting to sound like you think blacks, hispanics and native americans are less capable academically.

 

[drizzt3117]

I'm saying that there would be no diversity in med schools. It would be like med school classes back in the 50's and 60's where everyone was a white male, except in the year 2008 it would be mostly white males with a large smattering of south-asian and east-asian males.

I don't think having almost zero diveristy in the medical field is a good thing.

As TheProwler mentioned, non-URM females do not receive special consideration in applications so there would be just as many non-URM females accepted in that system as there are now.

 

[45408]

You are starting to sound like you think blacks, hispanics and native americans are less capable academically.

You can say that, but you would be hard-pressed to find a post that supported that assertion.

 

[45408]

And to TheProwler, if I end up coming to Milwaukee, we better kick it and get some beers at a Milwaukee bar.

lolz, there would be no problem finding bars that serve Milwaukee beer here

 

[BlackDr2b]

I'm not following what this comment is saying. Yes, more URMs are finishing medical school as a percentage, but more non-minority students are also finishing medical school, so it seems like that's a factor of more support systems being available for students of all types.

Basically what I was saying is that the numbers of URM's graduating went up by a large amount and it seemes that everybody wanted to ignore that part and strictly focus on the negative part. So I am saying that, that shows that we are just as capable, just as qualified, and that we can hack it.

 

[flaahless]

You can say that, but you would be hard-pressed to find a post that supported that assertion.

Touche.

 

[drizzt3117]

You are starting to sound like you think blacks, hispanics and native americans are less capable academically.

I don't think it has to do with capability as much as it has to do with the fact that they are being accepted with lesser quantitative qualifications. Certainly some of those individuals excel and do just fine, but it's pretty clear quantitative measurements are important in predicting future performance, otherwise medical schools wouldn't use them. There is more to it than just numbers, of course, but numbers are still important.

 

[NoUse4aName1286]

I'm saying that there would be no diversity in med schools. It would be like med school classes back in the 50's and 60's where everyone was a white male, except in the year 2008 it would be mostly white males with a large smattering of south-asian and east-asian males.

I don't think having almost zero diveristy in the medical field is a good thing.

I am jsut curious; do you actually realize what it is you are saying.
Your argument originally was that if we did away with the adcoms ability to know anything but grades and mcats, then you would find less URMs b/c it would be like the 60s again?😕 Not sure you realize what you are saying

 

[drizzt3117]

Basically what I was saying is that the numbers of URM's graduating went up by a large amount and it seemes that everybody wanted to ignore that part and strictly focus on the negative part. So I am saying that, that shows that we are just as capable, just as qualified, and that we can hack it.

The numbers of URMs went up by a lot but the attrition rate was still four times higher than non-minority candidates. Keep in mind these are ten year attrition rates. If you look at the number of candidates that are graduating in four years, the numbers drop to ~60% or so for URM students.

 

[NoUse4aName1286]

You can say that, but you would be hard-pressed to find a post that supported that assertion.

agreed.

 

[badasshairday]

I am jsut curious; do you actually realize what it is you are saying.
Your argument originally was that if we did away with the adcoms ability to know anything but grades and mcats, then you would find less URMs b/c it would be like the 60s again?😕 Not sure you realize what you are saying

Yes I realize that. But in my opinion, which differs from yours, it would not be ideal. I think it is important to have diversity even at a slight cost of a slightly lower MCAT average for a school. You may think that is a bad thing, but look at DO schools, they still produce quality physicians. The best doctor i've seen in my whole life was a DO. It didn't matter that is MCAT or GPA might have been lower than the avg for most allo schools.

 

[BlackDr2b]

Does anybody want to comment on the positive parts of the article, besides drizzt3117 because he is giving me a run for my money, LOL. I'm talking about the part that says that URM's graduating numbers went up a large amount. Does that still show that we aren't qualified?

 

[batman1983]

This brings up the other argument against AA in medicine, which I'm amazed we've gotten this far without mentioned: fairness to the patient. Even if you assume that URM is necessary to promote equality, is it necessarily a good idea in a field like medicine, where the quality of the applicants accepted translates directly into whether or not people live or die?

That was the argument that I was trying to make earlier. I dont care if my doctor is black, white, or purple, as long as he has the qualifications/capabilities to treat me. Now this goes back to the image created by AA. When I was volunteering at a hospital, many of the older patients refused to be treated by URM doctors because of their conceived notion that they were underqualified / incapable relative to nonURM doctors. While there are many URM applicants that can get into medical school without AA, there are also many URMs that get because of AA. This is demonstrated by the large discrepancy in stats (Grades/MCATs/and even ECs). Now, to attribute that to "vibe" is a weak argument, and implies that either nonURM applicants lack social skills or compassion that URM applicants do

So are you saying that lower scores means you will not be a good doctor and that you won't give adequate health care?

Inherently, yes. If you have lower scores, you are more likely to have a difficult time in medical school and more likely to drop out. While it is not the sole reason, it is the major reason.

Come on now man. There can be plenty of reasons why an individual drops of med school besides being underqualified or incapable. Lack of interest, lack of motivation, change of heart, meteor strike.

Yes, but those same reasons can affect nonURM students as well. Yet, their attrition rates are not as high. The only quantifiable difference between URM and non URM students is scores, which obviously shows a major discrepancy. Now these studies are based on averages, so while there might be exceptions, for the majority, this is true.

I have a hard time seeing that academic attrition=less qualified or less capable. So if a nonURM drops out because of academics is he/she less qualified or less capable?

Yes


Conjecture. Not the UCs. See prop 209.[/quote]

http://career.ucla.edu/GraduateSchool&PreProfessionalServices/PDF/TheodoreHallMD053006.pdf

Look at the discrepancy between URMs and nonURMs

I don't think it has to do with capability as much as it has to do with the fact that they are being accepted with lesser quantitative qualifications. Certainly some of those individuals excel and do just fine, but it's pretty clear quantitative measurements are important in predicting future performance, otherwise medical schools wouldn't use them. There is more to it than just numbers, of course, but numbers are still important.

Concur, the argument is not that URMs are not as intelligent as nonURMs, but rather, that the URMs being accepted into medical school have lower academic qualifications that hurts some of them once they are in.

 

[flaahless]

I don't think it has to do with capability as much as it has to do with the fact that they are being accepted with lesser quantitative qualifications. Certainly some of those individuals excel and do just fine, but it's pretty clear quantitative measurements are important in predicting future performance, otherwise medical schools wouldn't use them. There is more to it than just numbers, of course, but numbers are still important.

Look this is what would make the study and your conclusions stronger.

1. If the study had the quantitative qualifications of each individual that matriculated into each program so we could see which students dropped out. Ie: Was it the quantitatively "underqualified" URM student that dropped out, or the URM student with high stats?

2. The attrition rate at each school. Do URMs drop out more than nonURMs at certain schools? If so, why? Level of difficulty at the school, lack of cultural support etc. Which schools are the URMS dropping out of? Ponce? the HBCUs? If they are dropping out at Harvard, UCSF etc., then how do the attrition rates of URMs compare to nonURMs at these particular schools?

As you can see, there are MANY holes that need to be filled and such heavy conclusions that URMs are less capable, underqualified blah blah... aren't rationally sound.

2.

 

[flaahless]

Yes, but those same reasons can affect nonURM students as well. Yet, their attrition rates are not as high. The only quantifiable difference between URM and non URM students is scores, which obviously shows a major discrepancy. Now these studies are based on averages, so while there might be exceptions, for the majority, this is true.

No, not equally. There are major cultural differences between hispanics, native americans and african americans, and caucasians and various asian americans. Particularly with the level of family support, parental pressure, economic distress, precedence in the medical profession... the list will get long.