Miriam Cepeda watched helplessly as her grandfather, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic who was sick with COVID-19, resisted pleas last March to go to the hospital.
“He told us he had sad memories of hospitals back home and he just didn’t trust the medical system,” said Cepeda, 19, whose grandfather later passed away from COVID. “For a lot of minority communities, going to the doctor isn’t our first choice or solution.”
Cepeda, of New York City, hopes to change that. The Columbia University sophomore plans to apply to medical school in a few years so she can serve patients of color, whose healthcare inequities have been highlighted by a virus that has sickened and killed people of color in disproportionate numbers.
Cepeda is among a growing number of Americans who are embracing medical school in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Applications to medical school for this coming fall are up 18%, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges, which represents 155 U.S. institutions. Some schools have seen 30% jumps. And many school officials specifically note that the number of applicants from traditionally underrepresented Americans is helping to drive the surge.
Black, Latino and Native Americans are nearly three times more likely to die from COVID-19 than white Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many of the healthcare workers on the pandemic’s dangerous front lines are Black, Latino or Asian. Despite those risks, Cepeda said her generation is inspired to help.
“My sense is a lot more Blacks and Latinos I know are interested in medicine due to this crisis,” said Cepeda. “We’re seeing things happen to those we know and are wondering, ‘How do we get into positions where we can better help our people?’”
For many students of color, everything from the cost of medical school to the lack of role models in the field are hurdles that administrators are trying to overcome by more actively pursuing non-white collegians and ramping up scholarship opportunities.
In some cases, keeping tuition costs low goes a long way to keeping med school an option for students who might otherwise be left out considering such school loans can hit $250,000 and more. The efforts are needed as Black doctors remain in short supply. Only around 5% of physicians nationally identify as such, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Medical school applications surge as COVID-19 inspires Black and Latino students to become doctors
Marco della Cava
USA TODAY
Miriam Cepeda watched helplessly as her grandfather, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic who was sick with COVID-19, resisted pleas last March to go to the hospital.
“He told us he had sad memories of hospitals back home and he just didn’t trust the medical system,” said Cepeda, 19, whose grandfather later passed away from COVID. “For a lot of minority communities, going to the doctor isn’t our first choice or solution.”
Cepeda, of New York City, hopes to change that. The Columbia University sophomore plans to apply to medical school in a few years so she can serve patients of color, whose healthcare inequities have been highlighted by a virus that has sickened and killed people of color in disproportionate numbers.
Cepeda is among a growing number of Americans who are embracing medical school in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Applications to medical school for this coming fall are up 18%, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges, which represents 155 U.S. institutions. Some schools have seen 30% jumps. And many school officials specifically note that the number of applicants from traditionally underrepresented Americans is helping to drive the surge.
Miriam Cepeda, 19, of New York hopes to head to medical school after wrapping up her college career at Columbia University.
Black, Latino and Native Americans are nearly three times more likely to die from COVID-19 than white Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many of the healthcare workers on the pandemic’s dangerous front lines are Black, Latino or Asian. Despite those risks, Cepeda said her generation is inspired to help.
“My sense is a lot more Blacks and Latinos I know are interested in medicine due to this crisis,” said Cepeda. “We’re seeing things happen to those we know and are wondering, ‘How do we get into positions where we can better help our people?’”
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For many students of color, everything from the cost of medical school to the lack of role models in the field are hurdles that administrators are trying to overcome by more actively pursuing non-white collegians and ramping up scholarship opportunities.
In some cases, keeping tuition costs low goes a long way to keeping med school an option for students who might otherwise be left out considering such school loans can hit $250,000 and more. The efforts are needed as Black doctors remain in short supply. Only around 5% of physicians nationally identify as such, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.
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“Medical schools increasingly realize the importance of training a diverse physician workforce that can care for a diverse nation,” said Geoffrey Young, the association’s senior director of student affairs and programs. “We still have a lot of work to do on that.”
At Texas Tech University Health Science Center in Lubbock, one year of medical school costs around $17,000, among the lowest in the nation when compared to Harvard Medical School’s annual tuition of around $65,000. The school also offers a three-year accelerated program for those going into family medicine.
