Diversity is something upon which the United States prides itself. As a country, we are to represent a melting pot of many cultures, ideals and people. Some even argue that we are expected to welcome individuality and variance. But is diversity visible in all aspects of the North American life? Let's examine the various ethnicities of those practicing medicine. Are there as many minority physicians as there are white?
The Association of American Medical Colleges explains on their website that they are "committed to increasing the number of underrepresented minorities in medical education," (read more). Therefore, we can assume there is a lack of certain minority groups in the medical field. Because of this reality, medical schools across the country have instated offices of minority medical student outreach to bridge this gap.
The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Tucson has an office staff that dedicate their time to minority student outreach. Per the information on their website, the Office of Outreach and Multicultural Affairs (OMA) says they work to "to develop and nurture a diverse health care workforce that will competently meet the needs of our increasingly diverse population."
With OMA's help, prospective and current medical students have the opportunity to enhance their education and experiences. Not only does the office staff promote and encourage minority students to seek careers as physicians, but also they facilitate and execute study sessions, mock interviews and training camps to enable student success for those who may be outnumbered.
Cazandra Zaragoza is the senior student recruitment and retention specialist for the College of Medicine's Office of Admissions, She formerly worked in OMA to help increase student diversity within the Arizona Health Sciences Center.
"The mission of OMA for the last 30-40 years has been to foster and achieve cultural equity and sensitivity in health care professions, and that was something that attracted me to the office to begin with," Zaragoza explained. "When I had the opportunity to move to admissions that was the mission that I carried with me here. Whenever I do recruitment events or prepare materials I try to keep that mission in mind, along with the missions of admissions for the College of Medicine. There is, while it’s not explicit, a drive towards diversity. My work, based on my history and my passion for that has always been a fusion between the two."
She said OMA truly has increased the recruitment of minority groups since its establishment. Additionally, she said their various programs prove to be beneficial.
When I asked Zaragoza which program she believed had proven to be most impactful, her answer was simple.
"Med-Start. It was a collaborative effort between the health professions and colleges here in AHSC. A lot of effort was put into this program to expose the participants to the different health professions and set them up to have good skills in the future for the remainder of their high school year, and then hopefully their college career. I think that program has done a really good job establishing the pipeline of students to really get into, at the very least, the University of Arizona and any health professional field."
OMA and the Office of Admission both have the statistics and demographics to prove it.
"Many statistics have proven that students who went through Med-Start and went through the programs in OMA, in some form of fashion ended up in the healthcare professional field. They are funneling students into the health field," she said.
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