UCLA

A persistent underrepresentation of certain racial and ethnic minorities in American medical education contributes to health disparities and hinders physician training by mitigating the benefits of a diverse learning environment. In 2007, the University of California (UC) instituted Programs in Medical Education (PRIME) to prepare physician leaders to work in underserved communities. To determine the effect of PRIME on underrepresented minority (URM) admissions, this study examines data from UC San Diego School of Medicine by way of an interrupted time-series analysis. Results indicate the program increased the proportion of URM matriculants. It also protected the proportion of URM applicants from decreasing the year of its implementation. A year-to-year decrease in the matriculation yield of URM students from California partially explains the increase in URM students from out-of-state. Lastly, statistical modeling found no evidence of an autoregressive component; meaning one year's measures did not influence those of the subsequent time point.