Diverse Medical Students More Likely to Practice in Underserved Areas

October 24, 2023 - Less than 30 percent of medical students planned to practice in underserved areas between 2019 and 2021; those who did were more likely to be students of color, women, and part of the LGBTQ community, research published in JAMA found.

Poor access to healthcare services can exacerbate health disparities. Increasing the diversity of the healthcare workforce may help address unequal access to care, as minority physicians disproportionately practice in underserved areas, according to past studies.

Researchers used data from an Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) web-based questionnaire to analyze medical students’ intent to practice in underserved areas from 2019 to 2021. The questionnaire was provided to individuals graduating from an allopathic US medical school. Researchers assessed responses to the question, “Do you plan to work primarily in an underserved area?”

Almost 46,000 students from 139 medical schools answered the question being considered. Around half (51.4 percent) were women, 8.1 percent were Hispanic, 63.9 percent were White, and 91.9 percent were heterosexual. Among these respondents, 27.6 percent said they planned to work primarily in an underserved area.

A third of female and 43.6 percent of bisexual students intended to practice in an underserved area. Thirty-seven percent of Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, 43.6 percent of Hispanic, 46.2 percent of American Indian or Alaska Native, and 54.9 percent of Black or African American students said the same.

After controlling for other factors, women were more likely to plan to practice in an underserved area than men, according to the researchers. Similarly, American Indian or Alaska Native; Black or African American; Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin; and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander students had higher odds of intent compared to those who did not identify with those racial and ethnic groups.

Bisexual and gay or lesbian students also had higher odds of intent to practice in an underserved area than heterosexual students.

While these findings indicate diverse medical students are more likely to go on to provide care in underserved areas, future research should examine if diversifying the medical student body improves care access among people in underserved areas.

AAMC’s 2022 Physician Specialty Data Report indicated that the share of medical students who are women; Black; or Hispanic, Latino, or of Spanish origin has grown in the 2022-2023 school year. Additionally, the report found that 37.1 percent of active physicians in the US were women in 2021, up from 28.3 percent in 2007.

A 2023 study spearheaded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) found that although workforce diversity is slim, diverse healthcare providers improved health equity.

For example, having more Black doctors in a community was associated with better survival-related outcomes for Black patients. In addition, having more Black primary care providers was tied to lower all-cause mortality rates and fewer mortality rate disparities between Black and White people.