Don't know the exact effect size, but I'm sure you could find it in some studies. But even a small effect size is better than no effect size imo. Furthermore, there is also a difference in overall outcomes wrt screening, treatment, etc. (
Research: Having a Black Doctor Led Black Men to Receive More-Effective Care). Regarding affirmative action, I'm not actually sold on it's efficacy when it comes to increasing numbers of URM students. Numerous studies have strongly suggested that white women actually benefit significantly more from AA than racial/ethnic minority groups (here's one about business, on the older side but still relevant imo:
State Study Tracks Diversity / Affirmative action cited for rise in female, minority bosses). What are these other options that you speak of? I'm interested in hearing them. Despite improvements in recent years, certain racial/ethnic groups are still highly underrepresented in medical schools, so there is clear room for improvement across the board.
As an aside, the more insidious undertone of many AA conversations is so many people defaulting to the assumption that AA is the reason for the bulk of URM students being in medical school, and often the accompanying narrative that they're taking the seat of a more deserving student. It's less often assumed that the URM students who are admitted are just competitive applicants who also earned their spots.
Many people turn to the MCAT in attempts to prove their point, which I find to be poor logic. First, schools accept students within a range deemed acceptable to them, regardless of race. When I was prepping for the MCAT, one of the adcoms at my current school told me verbatim to consider not applying if I didn't score *at least* a 510. I am Black. People also cite MCAT averages for accepted students in different racial groups, as if HBCU medical schools don't exist. HBCU medical schools aren't as focused on the MCAT and usually average around 500, and there are hundreds of Black students at HBCU medical schools. You can do the math about how that impact the average. Schools also care A LOT about fit, and will often turn down high-scoring students from all backgrounds if they feel they are a poor fit. Based on common narratives on here, you would've expected I (as somebody in the 515-520 range) would've gotten into every school I applied to. I did not. My conclusion is that I was simply not a good fit for those schools, and I cut my losses. It wasn't that I had a red flag, because I got into several of their peer institutions.
Imporantly, the MCAT stops being predictive of success in medical coursework and board exams around the early 500s (
MCAT scores and medical school success: Do they correlate?), and has never been associated with success as a clinician. In clinical practice, what is the difference between a 510 and a 520? Nothing. Those scores don't tell you anything about what the student will do as a physician. But more 520s will get you a higher USNWR ranking (hopefully that becomes slightly less of a thing now that schools are dropping from the list, but we'll see lol). With the MCAT only being one aspect that schools look for, it makes no sense to associate competitiveness solely with how high the MCAT score is.
