How to fill out RACE on application

[Member82289]

Ok, so I want to fill out the application in a way that will obviously benefit me most.

I'm of mixed race, half european (3rd generation american) and other half middle eastern.

I don't want to leave the field blank for race because I don't want them to just assume 'white'. Should I check 'white' and 'other'? and if yes, should I specify what 'other', or let them guess?

When I come for an interview (finger's crossed) it'll be obvious that I'm mixed race. my question is what is the most strategic thing to put on the application to get me to the interview?!

All thoughts and comments are welcome!

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[Radon XP]

Middle Eastern is White on the census.

 

[Espadaleader]

It doesn't matter. You're not URM.

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

You're white dude. No points for being middle eastern.

 

[Member82289]

Damn, so is it better to leave that section blank, or to check white. which will work in my favor?

 

[LizzyM]

You are white given the people with origins in the original peoples of Europe, Northern Africa or the Middle East are, by definition, "white" in the sociological construct we call "race". Whether checking "white" is better than leaving it blank is unproven.

 

[earf]

You are white given the people with origins in the original peoples of Europe, Northern Africa or the Middle East are, by definition, "white" in the sociological construct we call "race". Whether checking "white" is better than leaving it blank is unproven.

Always amazed how well you articulate things.

And for the OP, fill out whatever race you most closely identify with. If you're middle eastern but don't know any Arabic/Farsi/etc or don't adhere to any of the cultural "practices" (I use this term lightly), then realize that the interviewers may ask how this social identity had a role in developing who you are. This will give you the best possible opportunity to showcase yourself as an honest, consistent candidate for medical school.

 

[ChemEngMD]

Damn, so is it better to leave that section blank, or to check white. which will work in my favor?

Just be the best applicant you can and don't worry about what will "work in your favor".

 

[Member82289]

Thank you all for your advice! White it is. I agree, hopefully my application will speak for itself.

 

[GoPelicans]

You are white given the people with origins in the original peoples of Europe, Northern Africa or the Middle East are, by definition, "white" in the sociological construct we call "race". Whether checking "white" is better than leaving it blank is unproven.

Sooo you're telling me Barack Obama is white on AMCAS?

 

[Radon XP]

Sooo you're telling me Barack Obama is white on AMCAS?

Obama is half-white. Kenyan isn't North African.

 

[Arbor Vitae]

It doesn't matter. You're not URM.

dm; nurm

 

[ChemEngMD]

Obama is half-white. Kenyan isn't North African.

👍 +1 Many Americans need a global geography lesson lol

 

[LizzyM]

👍 +1 Many Americans need a global geography lesson lol

👍 qft

 

[NontradCA]

Obama is half-white. Kenyan isn't North African.

Obama is AA on AMACS because that's what he indentifies as- and the reason all half black/white students will identify themselves as AA because that is what the world identifies them as.

 

[usvn]

What if one is half white, half asian, identifies as white but really does not look white at all?

I am half Korean / half Italian, and even I admit I look of mexican origin.

Will this be a problem when they look at my picture or see me at the interview? I guess it will be an informal problem more then a formal one...Should I be stressing?

 

[LizzyM]

What if one is half white, half asian, identifies as white but really does not look white at all?

I am half Korean / half Italian, and even I admit I look of mexican origin.

Will this be a problem when they look at my picture or see me at the interview? I guess it will be an informal problem more then a formal one...Should I be stressing?

You can identify more than one race/ethnicity. In society, how do you identify yourself racially/ethnically? It doesn't matter how you look, it matters how you self-identify.

 

[Radon XP]

You can identify more than one race/ethnicity. In society, how do you identify yourself racially/ethnically? It doesn't matter how you look, it matters how you self-identify.

So can I say I'm black in order to get the URM advantage?

 

[snorlax]

I decided not to self-identify. I'm not trying to hide who I am, but it just upset me to have to answer the question. And I think it's optional for that reason.

 

[ChemEngMD]

So can I say I'm black in order to get the URM advantage?

If you have lived your entire life identifying as black then you should identify as black. I used this example in another thread about this...if you are 1/8 black and your entire life you have identified with being black then you should put it down when you apply to schools...if you are 1/8 black and have never really acknowledged it and you have always seen yourself as white then put white. It's self-identification. It's not about advantage it's about the way you see yourself.

I am Puerto Rican, Dominican and White but I also identify as Afro-Caribbean due to it being part of my heritage and I have for my entire life so I put down all 4. If you could put native without the tribal affiliation I would as well because I'm also proud of my Taino heritage.

 

[TriagePreMed]

Ok, so I want to fill out the application in a way that will obviously benefit me most.

I'm of mixed race, half european (3rd generation american) and other half middle eastern.

I don't want to leave the field blank for race because I don't want them to just assume 'white'. Should I check 'white' and 'other'? and if yes, should I specify what 'other', or let them guess?

When I come for an interview (finger's crossed) it'll be obvious that I'm mixed race. my question is what is the most strategic thing to put on the application to get me to the interview?!

All thoughts and comments are welcome!

So you don't want people to assume you're white even though you're white?

 

[LizzyM]

So can I say I'm black in order to get the URM advantage?

You can put down Black. If you are invited for interview and the interviewer doesn't like your looks, then you might not get the URM advantage.

 

[Radon XP]

You can put down Black. If you are invited for interview and the interviewer doesn't like your looks, then you might not get the URM advantage.

That's unfair🙄

What's the point of telling us to self-identify if you won't agree with our choice?

 

[LizzyM]

That's unfair🙄

What's the point of telling us to self-identify if you won't agree with our choice?

If your application is covered in B-llSh-t you will not get the URM advantage.

 

[Radon XP]

If your application is covered in B-llSh-t you will not get the URM advantage.

But why would self-identifying as black be BS?

Who's to say I'm not black?

 

[LizzyM]

But why would self-identifying as black be BS?

Who's to say I'm not black?

You could be asked questions that could give you away. It has been known to happen. Where you were born, where your parents went to school, and what languages you spoke growing up at home can also be a clue that you are unlikely to have your origins in the people originally from Sub-Saharan Africa.

 

[Radon XP]

You could be asked questions that could give you away. It has been known to happen. Where you were born, where your parents went to school, and what languages you spoke growing up at home can also be a clue that you are unlikely to have your origins in the people originally from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Aha! So it is more than just self-identifying. There's a geographical/historical basis to it, i.e, an objective one.

 

[LizzyM]

You are free to self-identify your race. The adcom is free to decide whether or not you should be admitted to medical school using a holistic approach to your application.

 

[ChemEngMD]

Aha! So it is more than just self-identifying. There's a geographical/historical basis to it, i.e, an objective one.

I know plenty of light-skinned Latinos who have African ancestry...you may not see it in them, but in their parents or grandparents it is apparent.

If they chose to self-identify as afro-caribbean then you may not be able to tell necessarily by looking at them.

 

[PM504]

Exactly how much of a benefit is it to be a URM?

 

[ChemEngMD]

Exactly how much of a benefit is it to be a URM?

How much of a benefit is it in society or in applying to medical school? Cause if you want to talk societal, it is much harder to even get to the point where you can apply to medical school as a Black, Latino or Native American (i.e. getting to college and being able to have all of the connections and pull the strings to be ready to apply). When it comes time to apply for med school, URMs on average have lower stats, but that is because there aren't as many of us applying in the first place.

The AMCAS data shows that COMBINED (Black, Latino, Native) over a 3 year period, there were only 21,000 of us applying...over that same period there were over 80,000 Whites and nearly 30,000 Asians. Our acceptance rates were still the lowest though ~44% for URMs, 44.5% for Asians, and 47.7% for Whites. So you're talking about a subset of the population (URMs) that make up ~30+% of the population only making up ~16% of the applicants. If they are trying to make classes representative of their local populations then they may be shooting to have 20-30% of their class be URM, but if only 10-15% of their applicants are URM then they will inherently have to dip a little further into the pool and give some applicants who may be statistically lower, but still have a great overall app, a shot.

So the answer is yes, on average URMs have overall lower stats, and thus some students get accepted with lower than usual stats, but Whites and Asians still make up the majority of the applicants and still have higher acceptance rates. This isn't even taking into account the schools in PR that account for probably 1/4 of the Latino acceptances in the country each year or the HBCU universities that account for a decent percentage of the accepted Blacks. Both of these schools have on average lower statistics because they have different missions (i.e. finding physicians that will serve underserved communities, be it in Puerto Rico or urban settings). If you were to remove some of those statistical outliers you would see a much lower acceptance rate for URMs and probably higher stats for the students who do get accepted.

Don't believe the hype.

 

[martymd]

How much of a benefit is it in society or in applying to medical school? Cause if you want to talk societal, it is much harder to even get to the point where you can apply to medical school as a Black, Latino or Native American (i.e. getting to college and being able to have all of the connections and pull the strings to be ready to apply). When it comes time to apply for med school, URMs on average have lower stats, but that is because there aren't as many of us applying in the first place.

The AMCAS data shows that COMBINED (Black, Latino, Native) over a 3 year period, there were only 21,000 of us applying...over that same period there were over 80,000 Whites and nearly 30,000 Asians. Our acceptance rates were still the lowest though ~44% for URMs, 44.5% for Asians, and 47.7% for Whites. So you're talking about a subset of the population (URMs) that make up ~30+% of the population only making up ~16% of the applicants. If they are trying to make classes representative of their local populations then they may be shooting to have 20-30% of their class be URM, but if only 10-15% of their applicants are URM then they will inherently have to dip a little further into the pool and give some applicants who may be statistically lower, but still have a great overall app, a shot.

So the answer is yes, on average URMs have overall lower stats, and thus some students get accepted with lower than usual stats, but Whites and Asians still make up the majority of the applicants and still have higher acceptance rates. This isn't even taking into account the schools in PR that account for probably 1/4 of the Latino acceptances in the country each year or the HBCU universities that account for a decent percentage of the accepted Blacks. Both of these schools have on average lower statistics because they have different missions (i.e. finding physicians that will serve underserved communities, be it in Puerto Rico or urban settings). If you were to remove some of those statistical outliers you would see a much lower acceptance rate for URMs and probably higher stats for the students who do get accepted.

Don't believe the hype.

PREACH! 👍 👍 👍 🙂

 

[GoPelicans]

I don't want to discredit skin color, but I think socioeconomic standing plays a much bigger role in determining whether a person gets to the point of applying to medical school or not. I think those statistics you gave are more a reflection that generally most minorities grow up poorer than most white or Asian people. But putting URM on a pedestal distracts from non-URM's from crappy backgrounds: people from single parent households, non-college educated parents, people who grew up in poor communities, people who work to help at home, etc. I am glad that AMCAS this year has a heading for SES disadvantaged, and hopefully SES will continue to be recognized in the future as an important determinant of accepting medical students who are likely to serve SES disadvantaged patients.

 

[LizzyM]

I don't want to discredit skin color, but I think socioeconomic standing plays a much bigger role in determining whether a person gets to the point of applying to medical school or not. I think those statistics you gave are more a reflection that generally most minorities grow up poorer than most white or Asian people. But putting URM on a pedestal distracts from non-URM's from crappy backgrounds: people from single parent households, non-college educated parents, people who grew up in poor communities, people who work to help at home, etc. I am glad that AMCAS this year has a heading for SES disadvantaged, and hopefully SES will continue to be recognized in the future as an important determinant of accepting medical students who are likely to serve SES disadvantaged patients.

Good point but look at Dbate's recent thread on racism. Regardless of SES, people of color have experiences that others can't quite grasp and the chronic stress does impact health.

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

Good point but look at Dbate's recent thread on racism. Regardless of SES, people of color have experiences that others can't quite grasp and the chronic stress does impact health.

This is true, but why do race-related "experiences that others can't quite grasp" trump socioeconomic experiences that others can't grasp?

I don't know what it's like to be a young educated black man walking through the Upper East Side at night, but Dr. Ben Carson's children do not know what it's like to grow up in poverty in a Midwestern trailer park.

To me, both of these are equally valid experiences and should be given equal weight during the admissions process. Maybe they are, but my sense is that they are not.

 

[fourhumours]

I had this problem also when I applied.

my mother was born in Venezuela, my grandmother's family hails from there for at least the past two hundreds (that's as far back as we have genealogy for), yet my mother moved to the states in the fifites as a baby and, because it was the fifties, my grandmother only spoke English at home (assimilation...its so great) and so my mother lost a lot of that culture (had to learn spanish in high school). so I am a second gen immigrant from Venezuela with blonde hair, blue eyes and didn't learn spanish until college. I feel uncomfortable putting any sort of latino ethnicity because all throughout my schooling when I asked on standardized tests my teachers and administrators just assumed, white kid=/=not hispanic. society told me I couldn't be hispanic so I never consider that I am. however I am currently dating a first generation venezuelan immigrant and she tells me that, of course I am hispanic if that is where my mom come from.

ultimately I would also check other and scribble in something about my mom's heritage and let ADCOMS decide

TL;DR the race/ethnicity question is a horrible question because society dictates what we should put down and whoever tells you you can self-identify is a little naive in my opinion.

 

[ChemEngMD]

This is true, but why do race-related "experiences that others can't quite grasp" trump socioeconomic experiences that others can't grasp?

I don't know what it's like to be a young educated black man walking through the Upper East Side at night, but Dr. Ben Carson's children do not know what it's like to grow up in poverty in a Midwestern trailer park.

To me, both of these are equally valid experiences and should be given equal weight during the admissions process. Maybe they are, but my sense is that they are not.

Disadvantaged status is taken into account similar to URM status. I believe the most distinct difference is that even if you are a low SES White person, the opportunities that you have in society just off of being White allow for opening doors and pulling strings to move higher in society. Yes, if you are poor and white, people may look down upon you, but if you clean up, put on some nice clothes and walk down the street on the upper east side, women aren't going to be clutching their purses or crossing the street to avoid you. You could be an affluent, educated Black or Latino and even with the same clothes and general appearance as that White person, you can still be profiled and treated as subservient or as a menace.

I believe that SES plays a major role in access to education, but when that lower SES White student is able to get to undergrad, they are often able to blend and join the ranks of their other White peers and receive the same advantages as those who come from higher SES backgrounds, whereas the URM students may not be able to have that same access, regardless of their SES status.

Random story: My father makes 6 figures, lives a middle class to upper middle-class lifestyle and is Latino...went to the bank to get a loan back in the day and was asked if he had indoor plumbing and running water in his house. Could this happen to a low SES White person? For sure. But if that White person DID make it to the middle class, they wouldn't have those same questions asked of them. They can leave their lower SES status behind when they climb the economic ranks, whereas minorities often have the stigma of lower SES status thrusted upon us even if that is not where we come from.

 

[RocknRhoLim]

This is true, but why do race-related "experiences that others can't quite grasp" trump socioeconomic experiences that others can't grasp?

I don't know what it's like to be a young educated black man walking through the Upper East Side at night, but Dr. Ben Carson's children do not know what it's like to grow up in poverty in a Midwestern trailer park.

To me, both of these are equally valid experiences and should be given equal weight during the admissions process. Maybe they are, but my sense is that they are not.

I do agree that socioeconomic circumstances should be taken into closer consideration during admissions decisions. I don't think I would say it should trump race though. Personally for me, as someone who is URM and comes from a low-income family, I have to say that nearly all of my hurdles in trying to be seen as an equal in school and facing prejudice was due to the color of my skin. And it makes sense, because if you look at me and listen to how I talk you would never think I came from a poor family. But you would see my skin color. I think in today's society we have inherent beliefs, whether right or wrong, about race that oftentimes present themselves unconsciously in our everyday lives. I don't look down on my White friends who don't understand why AA is necessary and don't get why race is such a big deal. They have never been followed in a store by employees, waiting to see if they would steal something. We need physicians who understand this and can communicate and gain the trust of Blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans.

 

[LizzyM]

This is true, but why do race-related "experiences that others can't quite grasp" trump socioeconomic experiences that others can't grasp?

I don't know what it's like to be a young educated black man walking through the Upper East Side at night, but Dr. Ben Carson's children do not know what it's like to grow up in poverty in a Midwestern trailer park.

To me, both of these are equally valid experiences and should be given equal weight during the admissions process. Maybe they are, but my sense is that they are not.

As of yet, AFAIK, the LCME (the accrediting body for medical schools) does not require schools to have diversity of SES among students. It does require racial diversity in the student body and the faculty. I have heard of at least one school that was cited for lack of diversity in an accreditation renewal. So, when LCME makes SES diversity a mandate, then you might see adcoms take it into account in making admission decisions. Until then, I don't see that they have a strong incentive to do so. That said, low SES applicants (first generation college, etc) are rare among applicants, at least at the top 20 school I know, and unusual applicants often offer a bit of novelty that piques an adcom member's curiosity.

 

[ChemEngMD]

I had this problem also when I applied.

my mother was born in Venezuela, my grandmother's family hails from there for at least the past two hundreds (that's as far back as we have genealogy for), yet my mother moved to the states in the fifites as a baby and, because it was the fifties, my grandmother only spoke English at home (assimilation...its so great) and so my mother lost a lot of that culture (had to learn spanish in high school). so I am a second gen immigrant from Venezuela with blonde hair, blue eyes and didn't learn spanish until college. I feel uncomfortable putting any sort of latino ethnicity because all throughout my schooling when I asked on standardized tests my teachers and administrators just assumed, white kid=/=not hispanic. society told me I couldn't be hispanic so I never consider that I am. however I am currently dating a first generation venezuelan immigrant and she tells me that, of course I am hispanic if that is where my mom come from.

ultimately I would also check other and scribble in something about my mom's heritage and let ADCOMS decide

TL;DR the race/ethnicity question is a horrible question because society dictates what we should put down and whoever tells you you can self-identify is a little naive in my opinion.

As someone who suggested that you self-identify I would say that I am far from naive on this issue. Being a Latino, I recognize that we are very mixed racially. I am personally darker complected, black hair, light brown eyes. My youngest brother is blonde and blue eyes not unlike yourself. When he took standardized tests growing up teachers tried to make him put down White and he always fought against it because he self-identified as Puerto Rican because our whole family did. Does society view him as Latino if they see him? Probably not. Does he have a Spanish last name and is Latino by blood? Absolutely.

My point was simply that if being a member of a particular minority group is something that you have LIVED for your ENTIRE LIFE then you can safely consider yourself a member of it. If you've always identified with being half Venezuelan then you're of Venezuelan descent. The question is, is Venezuelan URM? Some schools may say yes and some may say no. I will say that nearly all of the Venezuelans I have known have been professionals who immigrated here (physicians, surgeons, professors), but I presume that it is probably a mixed bunch in general.

Have you ever marked down Hispanic/Latino on the census or college apps or job apps or anything? Or have you always put White? I think the answer lies in what you've identified as your whole life. Nobody is going to give you the litmus test on your "Latino-ness". I have a friend who is PR and can't speak a single word of Spanish, but she has always considered herself Latina and her med school interviewers complimented her on how good her English is (ignorant). If these people have any idea that Latino/Hispanic is an ETHNICITY, NOT a race, then they will recognize that we come in all shapes, colors, and sizes. You can be of mainly African descent and be Latino or mainly European or mainly Native or even East Asian...if you have roots in a Spanish speaking country then you're Latino. That's why it always says White (Non-Hispanic) or Black (Non-Hispanic) on forms. If you ever go to Central or South America or the Caribbean you will see this for yourself

 

[Radon XP]

As of yet, AFAIK, the LCME (the accrediting body for medical schools) does not require schools to have diversity of SES among students. It does require racial diversity in the student body and the faculty. I have heard of at least one school that was cited for lack of diversity in an accreditation renewal. So, when LCME makes SES diversity a mandate, then you might see adcoms take it into account in making admission decisions. Until then, I don't see that they have a strong incentive to do so. That said, low SES applicants (first generation college, etc) are rare among applicants, at least at the top 20 school I know, and unusual applicants often offer a bit of novelty that piques an adcom member's curiosity.

Requiring racial diversity for its own sake is just part of the problem - such a mindset only contributes to racism by disallowing colorblindness.

SES should absolutely be considered more important. A white working-class man and a black working-class man have more in common with each other than either one does with the 1% of their respective races.

 

[LizzyM]

Requiring racial diversity for its own sake is just part of the problem - such a mindset only contributes to racism by disallowing colorblindness.

SES should absolutely be considered more important. A white working-class man and a black working-class man have more in common with each other than either one does with the 1% of their respective races.

Don't shoot me, I'm only the messenger.

LCME, I presume, does not require racial diversity for its own sake but to 1) assure that schools do not practice discrimination (refusing to admit applicants of one race or another), and 2) to provide for a diverse work force and a diverse student body for reasons related to what is best for society.

 

[RocknRhoLim]

Requiring racial diversity for its own sake is just part of the problem - such a mindset only contributes to racism by disallowing colorblindness.

SES should absolutely be considered more important. A white working-class man and a black working-class man have more in common with each other than either one does with the 1% of their respective races.

That would make things even worse. I simply don't understand why people are so obsessed with AA. Last I checked we still have an incredibly low amount of URM physicians and a growing URM population. Getting rid of race altogether would absolutely decrease this already low pool of URM physicians. Just take a look at what happened in California's colleges when they got rid of AA.

 

[Radon XP]

Don't shoot me, I'm only the messenger.

Fair enough. I was just contending with the LCME's recommendations

LCME, I presume, does not require racial diversity for its own sake but to 1) assure that schools do not practice discrimination (refusing to admit applicants of one race or another),

Here's the problem with that: why would you assume that a school is discriminating based on race based on their admissions? If you're going strictly by-the-numbers, it may well turn out that a disproportionate number of whites are admitted compared to blacks. So be it. Why is that a problem?

2) to provide for a diverse work force and a diverse student body for reasons related to what is best for society.

Racial diversity contributes very little to anything. I'm a minority myself (an extreme minority: Assyrian-Chaldean), and yet my presence anywhere doesn't "add" to the vitality of the place. Why would it matter if there are more black people at a school if you aren't a racist?

 

[Radon XP]

That would make things even worse. I simply don't understand why people are so obsessed with AA. Last I checked we still have an incredibly low amount of URM physicians and a growing URM population. Getting rid of race altogether would absolutely decrease this already low pool of URM physicians. Just take a look at what happened in California's colleges when they got rid of AA.

You're missing the point. If we want to pretend that med school admissions is meritocratic, why should race ever matter?

I can see how SES would matter, and I think it should matter. But who cares if there are fewer black doctors?

 

[RocknRhoLim]

You're missing the point. If we want to pretend that med school admissions is meritocratic, why should race ever matter?

I can see how SES would matter, and I think it should matter. But who cares if there are fewer black doctors?

Who cares you ask? Black people in the U.S. Anyone concerned about the lack of access to quality health care for URMs and their unique issues (higher risks of getting triple negative breast cancer, diabetes, the list goes on and on) And it isn't just that. Everyone benefits from being around and learning from people of diverse backgrounds.

 

[ChemEngMD]

Racial diversity contributes very little to anything. I'm a minority myself (an extreme minority: Assyrian-Chaldean), and yet my presence anywhere doesn't "add" to the vitality of the place. Why would it matter if there are more black people at a school if you aren't a racist?

If you come from a background where you are used to only dealing with people mainly from your own background and haven't had exposure to people of various cultures, races and ethnicities and you are then expected to be a practitioner that can relate to a diverse patient population, you're going to have a tough time. Trust that URMs are not only at medical schools to increase the minority physician population but also to help their fellow classmates be more culturally sensitive and let everyone learn from one another so that in the future when you have a patient from a particular background, it isn't the first time you've actually sat down and had a meaningful conversation with someone from that background.

There is only so much you can learn about cultural sensitivity from classes and lectures, you can learn way more about it from the people who you see and work with every day.

 

[Radon XP]

Who cares you ask? Black people in the U.S. Anyone concerned about the lack of access to quality health care for URMs and their unique issues (higher risks of getting triple negative breast cancer, diabetes, the list goes on and on) And it isn't just that. Everyone benefits from being around and learning from people of diverse backgrounds.

Why would having more black doctors increase access to healthcare for blacks? That's not an issue of race; it's an issue solved by universal healthcare/better access to affordable care.

Poor blacks still won't be able to afford to go see the doctor even if he's black.

 

[NickMD2017]

You're missing the point. If we want to pretend that med school admissions is meritocratic, why should race ever matter?

I can see how SES would matter, and I think it should matter. But who cares if there are fewer black doctors?

Very ignorant statement.
I'm not black, but WHO CARES? The black patients who are misunderstood, judged, mistreated, and taken advantage of by white doctors. And everyone thinks that URMs have an advantage in getting into college/med school but when they graduate and are out in the real world, who is really more advantaged? Racism is still very much prevalent, whether you choose to acknowledge it or not. White patients refuse to be seen by black doctors still. My sister is a nurse and always hears patients complain about not wanting to be see by "that nig*er doctor."
Diversity of different cultures leads to better quality of treatment among the growing diverse population. and studies have shown that MCAT scores aren't a good predictor of medical school success unless scores are significantly low (teens) or abnormally high.
So quit whining and go work on your application.

 

[RocknRhoLim]

Why would having more black doctors increase access to healthcare for blacks? That's not an issue of race; it's an issue solved by universal healthcare/better access to affordable care.

Poor blacks still won't be able to afford to go see the doctor even if he's black.

Of course universal health care will help but we need more URM physicians who understand the issues facing the URM population and are willing to work with under-served populations. It has been shown in studies that Black patients trust Black doctors more than White doctors and I wouldn't be surprised if this was the case with other races as well. Like many things in life, we tend to trust people who have similar experiences/values as ourselves. Anyway, not to generalize too much but having more Black doctors, amongst other things, is an absolute necessity if we want to start tackling the issues facing Black Americans and their health.