Race and socioeconomic status in medical school choice and indebtedness

Current and proposed cutbacks in student financial assistance may significantly reduce the likelihood that low-income and minority individuals will be able to pursue a medical career. In order to estimate the magnitude of the potential effects of these cutbacks, the authors of the study reported here examined the effectiveness of the federal health manpower programs of the 1960s and 1970s in increasing access to medical education. The results suggest that regardless of race or ethnic background individuals from families with small resources were able to enter even the most expensive medical schools without incurring substantially greater debt than individuals with more family resources. In addition, the debt burden of the minority physicians examined was not very different from that of nonminority physicians. Thus, the health manpower programs appear to have been very effective, and their elimination should have a larger adverse effect on low-income individuals than on high-income persons.