Closing the Gaps in Diversity and Excellence: The Undergraduate Medical Academy, a Partnership Between Prairie View A&M University and Texas A&M Health Science Center
Dennis E. Daniels, M.P.H., Dr. P.H., Kelly Hester, Ph.D., Alan Parrish, Ph.D., Will Wyatt, B.S.
Presented at the Lubbock Conference
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) warned of the “unequal treatment” of minorities when encountering the healthcare system in its 2003 report. The factors associated with differences in health status and health outcomes among the U.S. population are complex and enmeshed in traditional and challenging problems. Health services research has demonstrated that minority health professionals are more inclined to serve minority and medically underserved populations. Nevertheless, there remains a severe under representation of minorities in the health professions.
In an effort to increase the number of qualified applicants to Texas medical schools and address diversity among applicants, a partnership between Prairie View A&M University and Texas A&M Health Science Center was formed to establish the Undergraduate Medical Academy (UMA). The partnership provides mentoring, academic coaching, physician shadowing, research skill development and MCAT preparation.
The preliminary results demonstrate the percentage of Hispanic students in the UMA increasing from 5.5% to 17.3%, the cumulative GPA increase from 3.54/4.0 to 3.80/4.0 and the science GPA increase from 3.33/4.0 to 3.47/4.0 scale.