The Supreme Court has restricted the use of race in admissions, allowing it to be considered only as part of broader education goals. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), the only nationally recognized accrediting body for all medical education programs in the United States, urges schools to make “ongoing, systemic and focused efforts,” to target students from demographically diverse backgrounds for acceptance. “Each medical school must have policies and practices to achieve appropriate diversity among its students, faculty, staff and other members of its academic community,” states the committee’s 2009 diversity policy, which calls on individual medical schools to “recognize their collective responsibility for contributing to the diversity of the profession as a whole.” In June, the LCME reaccredited Georgetown University School of Medicine through 2019.
GEMS at Georgetown: A Model for Success From 1977 to 2009, 566 students enrolled in the GEMS program. Of those, only 88 students —or 15 percent—were unsuccessful in completing the postbaccalaureate year. Students who complete the GEMS program are encouraged to apply to Georgetown but are not obliged to do so. But from 2005 to 2009, seven out of every 10 GEMS students succeeded in the program and were admitted to Georgetown. In 2010, 75 former GEMS students were enrolled at SOM and 360 physician graduates of GEMS were in practice or residency training. The program has been successful, but a crucial part of that success comes from an energetic, dedicated leader to oversee the program and ensure it continues to meet needs as times change and medical education evolves. “I think it’s a kind of magic,” says Joy Phinizy Williams, senior associate dean for students and special programs and GEMS program coordinator, who has overseen the program since 1979. “It’s simply giving a little bit more help to students who just need a little more help.” Dean for Medical Education Stephen Ray Mitchell, M.D., adds, “Jesuit roots and social justice drive this. GEMS ups the ante. They change the way they learn. They learn to teach each other by making it intensely partnership driven. You can’t be a passenger in GEMS.” “The peer tutoring was born in GEMS— now it’s school-wide. GEMS has spread a more nurturing environment to the whole school,” Mitchell continued. As part of the strategic planning initiative, a group of faculty and students will review strategies aimed at recruitment and retention of minority students, faculty and staff within the SOM. In addition, a group of Georgetown students will work with faculty to teach gross anatomy at the University of the District of Columbia for students interested in pursuing health science and medical careers.
Hispanics and blacks are underrepresented in the nation’s medical schools. U.S. Medical Schools by Race
1% Other 7% Black 8% Hispanic 22% Asian 62% White Source: Association of American Medical Colleges
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