Where Are All the Future Black Doctors?

The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) reported Monday that applications to medical school reached an all-time high in 2011 across all ethnic groups, and Black applications surged at a higher rate than the national average.

While total applications rose by 2.6 percent, the number of African-American applicants increased by 4.8 percent.

However, Black application gains lagged behind those made by Latino students, and the percentage increase in enrollment revealed an even larger disparity. For Blacks, enrollment rose only 1.9 percent. Among Latino med students, by comparison, applications rose 5.8 percent among applicants and enrollment was up 6.1 percent.

In actual numbers–as opposed to percentage change–the AAMC reports that there were 1,375 Blacks enrolled as first-year medical students in 2011, compared to 1633 Latino students, 4,354 Asian students and 12,702 white students.

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