The Association of American Medical Colleges has released new data on diversity among medical school applicants and enrollees.
The total number of students applying to medical school in 2023 decreased by 4.7 percent after an 11.6 percent drop a year ago.
In 2023, there were 5,665 Black applicants to medical school, down by 4.3 percent from a year ago, after a 19 percent drop the year before. Blacks made up 10.8 percent of all medical school applicants in 2023. In 2015, Blacks were 8.9 percent of all medical school applicants.
In 2023, there were 2,305 Black students who matriculated at a U.S. medical school. This was down only a tiny fraction after a 10 percent drop from a record number of Black matriculants in 2021. In 2015, 1,576 Black students entered medical school.
In 2023, Blacks made up 10.2 percent of all entering students at U.S. medical schools. In 2015, Blacks were 7.6 percent of all medical school matriculants.
In 2023, there were a record 10,133 African Americans enrolled at U.S. medical schools. They made up 10.4 percent of total enrollments. In 2015, Blacks were 7.2 percent of total enrollments.
The facts remain, until the collective Black American community began to embrace academic excellence from K-12 and undergraduate school those abysmal medical school numbers will remain. Too bad so-called Black America don’t have the same energy for going to medical school or the coveted PhD degree like they do for sports and entertainment along with wearing trendy clothes.
Considering Black Americans comprised 10.2 % of entering medical students in 2023 and comprise roughly 13 % of the U.S. population, I would say that those are not abysmal medical school numbers, just somewhat below par.