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Holistic Admissions and Underrepresented Minorities in Physician Assistant Programs
Bettie Coplan1,2,3,4, Michael Todd1,2,3,4, James Stoehr1,2,3,4
1Bettie Coplan, PhD, PA-C, is an assistant professor in the Department of Physician Assistant Studies at Northern Arizona University in Phoenix, Arizona.
Purpose:
The purpose of this study was to assess holistic review use in physician assistant (PA) programs and determine whether a relationship between holistic review and underrepresented minority (URM) matriculation exists.
Methods:
Using data from the 2016-2017 Physician Assistant Education Association annual survey of PA programs, we examined the frequency of holistic review use across PA programs. Bivariate correlation analyses and binary logistic regression were used to examine relationships between holistic review practices and program percentages of first-year underrepresented racial and ethnic minority students.
Results:
Most PA programs (169/219 [77.2%]) reported using holistic review, and its use modestly correlated with percentage of students who were underrepresented racial minorities (rho = 0.16, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.02-0.30) or Hispanic (rho = 0.20, 95% CI = 0.06-0.33). Using several holistic review elements related to program commitment to diversity modestly correlated with percentage of students who were underrepresented racial minorities (rho = 0.25, 95% CI = 0.10-0.39) or African American (rho = 0.20, 95% CI = 0.04-0.34). Additionally, the odds of a first-year student being an underrepresented racial or ethnic minority were slightly higher in PA programs using holistic review (OR = 1.56, 95% CI = 1.23-1.99 and OR 1.33, 95% CI = 1.09-1.62, respectively).
Conclusions:
PA program use of holistic review practices was modestly associated with percentage of URM students. Further research is needed to identify elements that are most effective.
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