Enhancing medical student diversity through a premedical program: A Caribbean school case study
Helena DeCarvalho1, Inna Lindner1, Anamika Sengupta2
1Medical Education Readiness Program, Adtalem Medical and Healthcare Education Group, Miramar, FL, USA.
Education for Health (Abingdon, England)
|August 18, 2018
Summary
The Medical Education Readiness Program (MERP) helps underrepresented in medicine (URiM) students succeed in medical school, even with lower initial scores. This pathway ensures comparable academic performance and progression for URiM physicians.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Physician Workforce Diversity
- Health Equity
Background:
- Physicians from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine (URiM) are crucial for serving underserved communities.
- Increasing URiM physician numbers requires effective recruitment and support during medical education.
- The Medical Education Readiness Program (MERP) is a pathway designed to assist students in medical school preparation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the academic performance of URiM students at a Caribbean medical school.
- To compare outcomes for URiM students who completed MERP versus those admitted directly.
- To evaluate the effectiveness of MERP in supporting URiM students' medical education journey.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of academic data for URiM students (2006-2012).
- Comparison of prerequisite GPA, MCAT scores, and USMLE Step 1 results between MERP and non-MERP groups.
- Statistical analysis including Student t-tests and Chi-square tests for attrition and pass rates.
Main Results:
- MERP students had significantly lower mean MCAT scores (19.6) and prerequisite GPAs (2.8) compared to non-MERP students.
- Attrition rates to the 2nd and 3rd year of medical school were comparable between MERP (83.0%, 80.5%) and non-MERP (80.9%, 79.0%) students.
- USMLE Step 1 pass rates (90.6% MERP vs. 92.3% non-MERP) and mean scores were similar for both groups.
Conclusions:
- MERP serves as an effective preparatory program for URiM students entering medical school.
- The program supports students with lower initial academic metrics, enabling them to achieve comparable success in medical school.
- MERP contributes to increasing the diversity of the physician workforce by facilitating URiM student progression.
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