Increasing Racial and Ethnic Diversity at the University of Utah Physician Assistant Program

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Professions Education
• Diversity and Inclusion in Healthcare

Background:

• The University of Utah Physician Assistant Program (UPAP), a long-standing institution, identified a need to increase racial and ethnic diversity among its students.
• Structural changes were implemented to address this need and enhance student compositional diversity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of UPAP's diversity initiatives on student composition, practice settings, and national program rankings.
• To assess the relationship between intentional diversity efforts and improvements in diversity metrics.

Main Methods:

• UPAP revised diversity messaging, curriculum, admissions, recruitment, and retention strategies.
• These changes specifically aimed to increase the representation of Black, Latinx, American Indian/Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students, and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Main Results:

• The program successfully tripled the number of underrepresented minority students over five admission cycles.
• There was a simultaneous increase in students from educationally or economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
• UPAP maintained a high Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE) pass rate and achieved top national rankings (4th overall, 2nd among public programs).

Conclusions:

• Intentional diversity initiatives at UPAP are linked to significant improvements in racial/ethnic diversity and national program prestige.
• The UPAP model offers a transferable strategy for other graduate medical education programs, including Medical Doctor (MD), public health, and basic science programs, to enhance their own compositional diversity.