Why is AAMC's definition of URM based solely on race/ethnicity?

[the_fella]

There are other groups that aren't racial or ethnic minorities that are certainly underrepresented in medicine. For instance, there are LGBT people of every race or ethnicity, but we are still underrepresented in medicine. Those of Appalachian descent, and those who are first generation college graduates are other examples. To have it based solely on race ignores a lot of people. Are medical schools allowed to form their own definitions of what URM means to them?

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[oldanddone]

Hey there the_fella,

I believe that med schools are allowed to tailor how they are defining their local sense of urm and how to recruit a diverse class. For instance, in California, I believe certain schools look for Hmong and Vietnamese applicants to recruit (despite these folks often getting lumped into the broad 'asian' orm category by other schools). not sure if certain schools close to appalachians might also try to recruit from appalachians...worth calling their diversity offices and asking whether they do. similarly, some schools in rural places might try and recruit more rural folks.

Appalachian and first gen at college is covered by the economically disadvantaged category, which is another aamc-defined category that runs side-by-side with urm. amcas asks about parents and level of education, and might still have a box for describing ec dis status? if so, good to put appalachian identity in there, with what that means in terms of less likely to go to school etc and paint the picture.

i'm not sure of any schools that have lgbt as one of their categories for diversity. there's a story in an anthology called "what i learned in medical school: personal stories of young doctors" published 8 or so years ago, of a guy who hyped his lgbt status in personal essays about perseverence and overcoming and ECs within lgbt community and didn't check-box his economic disadvantage status, and wondered at one point whether he had done a disservice to his chances with that.

 

[the_fella]

Some schools such as OUHCOM do give (some) preference to those who promise to practice in Appalachia after graduation. I'll be sure to look for that when I fill out the AMCAS and AACOMAS applications. Thanks for your input.

 

[Jennyfishy]

Even if AMCAS recognizes only a specific group of race/ethnic backgrounds as URM, individual medical schools can define it as they desire/expand their own definition. My med school considers additional subgroups, such as Southeast Asian (Hmong, Vietnamese, etc) as URM, and also takes disadvantaged status (socioeconomic, or other identities) into consideration when evaluating applicants for interviews. Not every school views as "holistically," but there are definitely a handful out there who care more about the applicant than their raw numbers.

 

[ChemEngMD]

There are other groups that aren't racial or ethnic minorities that are certainly underrepresented in medicine. For instance, there are LGBT people of every race or ethnicity, but we are still underrepresented in medicine. Those of Appalachian descent, and those who are first generation college graduates are other examples. To have it based solely on race ignores a lot of people. Are medical schools allowed to form their own definitions of what URM means to them?

My school DEFINITELY takes LGBT status into account. My class is ~6-7% open LGBT, which is obv still under the national population percentage but is pretty decent

 

[peanutsss]

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[PrettyIvy]

As mentioned above schools do consider those factors. In my secondaries I saw schools which asked for LGBT status, Appalachian (along with other regions) and first generation college student.

I had one school which asked for every possible thing you could possibly think of e.g. (Do either of your parents use drugs? Do either of your parents have a gambling addiction?). 40 something questions like this.

Yup, one of the schools I interviewed at openly recruited students from rural areas within the state (which included Appalachia). In their secondary, they looked at whether the high school you attended was in a location considered disadvantaged. Beyond that, another school I interviewed at was huge on recruiting from and serving Appalachia.

 

[the_fella]

Yup, one of the schools I interviewed at openly recruited students from rural areas within the state (which included Appalachia). In their secondary, they looked at whether the high school you attended was in a location considered disadvantaged. Beyond that, another school I interviewed at was huge on recruiting from and serving Appalachia.

Well that's cool! My high school is in Appalachia.

 

[Darth Doc]

There are other groups that aren't racial or ethnic minorities that are certainly underrepresented in medicine. For instance, there are LGBT people of every race or ethnicity, but we are still underrepresented in medicine. Those of Appalachian descent, and those who are first generation college graduates are other examples. To have it based solely on race ignores a lot of people. Are medical schools allowed to form their own definitions of what URM means to them?

The LGBT minority group is definitely present in my med school class also, but it's lower than the national average at about 5%. Two openly gay couples attended the class dance together this year, which was a non-issue with all of us or the faculty. I don't think my school recruits for that, but it's not a problem for anyone either.

My school is also one that has an Appalachian mission and actively recruits poor and rural Appalachian students as the main mission of the school. They are underserved. Our school has very few non-Caucasian students (one of my classmates said her friend in college who was URM refused to apply with her because it's so white... how can it change if people won't even apply?) which everyone including faculty finds unfortunate. The state has an insanely small black population. But the school doesn't have a problem with accreditation because they do serve an underserved population in a very real and necessary way.

So I don't think anyone can make up what URM means. It's a definition. However, they can choose to focus on a URM population within their region.

 

[the_fella]

Thanks, Darth Doc. That was helpful.