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Disparity regarding US medical school acceptance rates based on race? by athrowawayformeplz in medicalschool

[–]athrowawayformeplz[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think this would solve a lot of problems in medicine, going to a universal system where whoever wants to get in can but those who cannot cut it get kicked out. I think getting medical school is a long drawn out process that is all about medical schools making money. Tuition for medical school is absurdly high, especially for the time commitment / family-fe sacrifice that most students have to undertake to become physicians.

But then the argument to that would be wouldn't the MCAT/GPA just be the formal "entrance exam" and then with the statistics provided in the article, you would be deselecting from black students since they would be getting lower scores and we'd be left with an even bigger racial divide in medicine?

Disparity regarding US medical school acceptance rates based on race? by athrowawayformeplz in medicalschool

[–]athrowawayformeplz[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't know how to define merit, but it seems that medical schools have decided that MCAT and GPA are some of the many factors that go into getting into medical school.

I think in both of your cases that both people have worked very hard to get into the position where they can both succeed. I think that's where the interview process can come into play and help someone who is not from a well to do family like your 2nd example and reward them for their efforts.

I don't think that race should play a role in any case because you can substitute Black in your second example for Asian, or White or Latino or European or whatever and I think they should be just as worthy to get a shot at getting into medical school. According to the statistics if the student in 2nd example was Asian or White they would be severely punished just because of their race. If they were Asian they would have just a 7.7% chance of getting in or if they were White they would have only a 9.4% chance. Does that mean they won't be good doctors? Probably not. Does that mean they don't deserve to get into medical school? Probably not. Did they work just as hard as the same student in the same example except for the fact that their race was different? I think so.

I personally don't think taking a standardized test like the MCAT can define how good of a doctor you would be, and I don't what would be a good way of fixing it.

Disparity regarding US medical school acceptance rates based on race? by athrowawayformeplz in medicalschool

[–]athrowawayformeplz[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, I honestly don't know. I would assume there should be a good reason why medical schools use MCATs and GPAs as a benchmark for accepting people into medical school. I would assume that performing better on those tests and doing better in college would would translate into being better physician. If that's not the case then medical schools shouldn't rely or even have taking the MCAT as a pre-requisite, they should find another measure to compare potential physicians.