Affirmative action and other special consideration admissions at the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine
R. C. Davidson and E. L. Lewis
Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of California, Davis, School of Medicine, Sacramento 95817, USA. rcdavidson@ucdavis.edu
CONTEXT: The use of race as a criterion for admission to medical schools
and other professional schools has become increasingly controversial. This
study documents the experience of students at one medical school, admitted
through a special admissions process that included race as one
consideration. OBJECTIVE: To examine the medical school, postgraduate
training, and career experiences of students admitted by a special
consideration admission program that included traditional affirmative
action admissions. DESIGN: Twenty-year, retrospective, matched-cohort
study. SETTING: A public medical school. STUDY POPULATION: All affirmative
action and other special consideration admissions between 1968 and 1987 (20
years). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Academic progress, national board
examination scores, graduation, residency evaluations, and practice
characteristics. RESULTS: During the study period, 20% of students were
special consideration admissions (range, 10%-45% per year). Of special
consideration admissions, 53.5% were minority students, while 19% of
regular admissions were minority students. When only underrepresented
minority groups are analyzed, 42.7% of special consideration admissions and
4.0% of regular admissions were minorities. Of special consideration
admissions, 94% graduated vs 97% of regular admissions. Regular admission
students were more likely to receive honors or an A grade on core basic and
clinical science courses. There was no difference in failure rates of core
courses. Regular admission students had higher scores on Parts I and II of
the National Board of Medical Examiners examination, and special
consideration students were more likely to repeat the examination to
receive a passing grade. Following graduation, the experience of the
special consideration admission students was very similar to that of
regular admission students. There was no difference in completion of
residency training or evaluation of performance by residency directors.
Both populations selected primary care disciplines at the same rate. The
practice characteristics of the 2 populations were remarkably similar.
CONCLUSIONS: Criteria other than undergraduate grade point average and
Medical College Admission Test scores can be used in predicting success in
medical school. An admissions process that allows for ethnicity and other
special characteristics to be used heavily in admission decisions yields
powerful effects on the diversity of the student population and shows no
evidence of diluting the quality of the graduates.
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ABSTRACT
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Grumbach and Chen
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FULL TEXT
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Rose
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ABSTRACT
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ABSTRACT
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Dhalla et al.
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ABSTRACT
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BROWN
American Behavioral Scientist 2002;45:1061-1087.
ABSTRACT
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Moses
Am Educ Res J 2001;38:3-36.
ABSTRACT
Underrepresented Minorities in Medicine
Bergen
JAMA 2000;284:1138-1139.
FULL TEXT
SUPPORT FOR AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
JWatch General 1997;1997:4-4.
FULL TEXT
