Promoting the affordability of medical education to groups underrepresented in the profession: the other side of the equation.

In spite of best efforts by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the American Medical Association (AMA), and other national groups, entering medical students remain a relatively homogeneous group, with many backgrounds underrepresented. Although the combined percentage of people in the US from African American, Native American, and Hispanic backgrounds is 31 percent [1], only roughly 15 percent of current medical school applicants, 12 percent of medical school graduates [2], and 6 percent of practicing physicians [3] are from these ethnic backgrounds. Given that, by the year 2050, the racial and ethnic minority populations in the US are projected to comprise nearly half the population [4], this underrepresentation looks likely to grow if left unchecked.