This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on ISI (1)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Medical Education  • Psychiatry  • Alert me on articles by topic

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

To the Editor: Drs Grumbach and Chen¹ reported on the effectiveness of the University of California postbaccalaureate programs for increasing diversity among medical school matriculants. Accompanying editorials by Drs Cohen and Steinecke² and Dr Golub³ note that achieving diversity in the physician workforce is an important goal in meeting the health care needs of society⁴ and that such efforts must target the periods at or before matriculation into medical school.

While we certainly agree that "pipeline" programs to increase the entry of minority students into medical school are critical to building a diverse physician workforce, preventing attrition of minority students from medical school training once matriculated is of equal importance. Data from the Association of American Medical Colleges show increased dropout rates among minority students, which erodes the effectiveness of even the most successful pipeline efforts.⁵ Unfortunately, little is known about the causes of higher attrition rates among minority students.⁵

. . . [Full Text of this Article]

Liselotte N. Dyrbye, MD
dyrbye.liselotte@mayo.edu

Tait Shanafelt, MD
Mayo Clinic
Rochester, Minn

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Race, Ethnicity, and Medical Student Well-being in the United States
Dyrbye et al.
Arch Intern Med 2007;167:2103-2109.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT