The changing medical student population at the University of Cape Town

Since 1981, the composition of applicants and students admitted to the medical school of the University of Cape Town has changed gradually. The objective of this paper is to quantify these changes and explore possible reasons for them.

A retrospective analysis of the actual data accumulated at each annual intake was performed and the trends determined.

Only data for the University of Cape Town medical school were evaluated. Data published by similar institutions were used for comparative purposes.

The number of applicants has risen steadily from 1,229 in 1981 to 2,330 in 1994, so that the applicant/admission ratio now stands at 12,1:1. During this same period, the percentage of women in the class has increased, with women outnumbering men in both 1992 and 1993. In 1994, black African students comprised 24% of those admitted to the M.B. Ch.B. programme, and of these 30.4% were women. By comparison, their white colleagues constituted 45.3% of the class, 57.5% of this cohort being women.

The composition of the 1st-year M.B. Ch.B. class at the University of Cape Town has become multiracial in character, a factor achieved partly through academic support and affirmative action. The heterogeneity of the class, particularly in respect of gender, language and socio-economic factors, while appropriate and necessary, will have an impact on the university and the profession.