Another "Am I URM?" Thread

[Kirby92]

Hello all,

I am a white male, first-generation American with dual-citizenship in a South-American country (both parents born and raised in that country). I have believed myself to be a URM, but I'm now second-guessing this due to reading threads and getting the sense that being white rules you out of this category. For what it's worth, I have always selected "Hispanic or Latino" and "White" on applications / documents. Thanks for any clarification.

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[Dr.Housexoxo]

If you are Hispanic / Latino and white then check both it off on AMCAS especially if that’s what you always have done. There is no URM check off box on AMCAS, so all you need to to is to designate you ethnicity/nationality. Whether the school considers you URM or not is up to them to decide . Also I think you should read up more what URM means and why it is used in medical school admissions .

 

[Kirby92]

If you are Hispanic / Latino and white then check both it off on AMCAS especially if that’s what you always have done. There is no URM check off box on AMCAS, so all you need to to is to designate you ethnicity/nationality. Whether the school considers you URM or not is up to them to decide . Also I think you should read up more what URM means and why it is used in medical school admissions .

Could you please expand on that last point because I have imagined schools wish to enroll a diverse group of students to prepare them for future work where they will be collaborating with and providing care for a wide array of people with beliefs which may have been different to their own when they were growing up. Let me know if I'm missing the point.

 

[tanbrucewayne]

You may or may not be URM as not all Hispanic/Latinx groups are considered URM. However, Spanish skills + volunteering with these communities is a plus in medical school admissions.

 

[Kirby92]

You may or may not be URM as not all Hispanic/Latinx groups are considered URM. However, Spanish skills + volunteering with these communities is a plus in medical school admissions.

Thanks for your response and that info. Could you PM me so I could ask you a quick follow-up on that?

 

[OchemOficionado]

Could you please expand on that last point because I have imagined schools wish to enroll a diverse group of students to prepare them for future work where they will be collaborating with and providing care for a wide array of people with beliefs which may have been different to their own when they were growing up. Let me know if I'm missing the point.

It's less about the student and more about the patients relating to their physician and making the physician workforce balanced to look more like society/the community in which the medical school serves. You should read up on it as suggested.

White physicians are OVER represented, not under (URM). Historically, URM is Black, PR, Native and Mexican. As someone mentioned above, schools can expand on this. You can google and see if physicians sharing your South American background are over or under-represented. What will speak the loudest is your language skills and service to your community by way of your ECs.

 

[Kirby92]

It's less about the student and more about the patients relating to their physician and making the physician workforce balanced to look more like society/the community in which the medical school serves. You should read up on it as suggested.

White physicians are OVER represented, not under (URM). Historically, URM is Black, PR, Native and Mexican. As someone mentioned above, schools can expand on this. You can google and see if physicians sharing your South American background are over or under-represented. What will speak the loudest is your language skills and service to your community by way of your ECs.

Thank you for this explanation, the concept is definitely making more sense to me now. I will do more research, and in particular look into specific schools I'm interested in. Thanks!