Characteristics of medical students interested in emergency medicine with intention to practice in underserved areas

Objectives Emergency departments serve a wide variety of racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and gender backgrounds. It is currently unknown what characteristics of students who express interest in emergency medicine (EM) are associated with a simultaneous desire to work in medically underserved areas. W...

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Published in:AEM education and training Vol. 5; no. Suppl 1; pp. S65 - S72
Main Authors: Abreu, Carina, Jawiche, John, Nguyen, Mytien, Chang, Andrew K., Ata, Ashar, Reid, Symone, Mason, Hyacinth R. C., Rebagliati, Daniel, Myers, Joy M., Pinto, Dorcas, B Jeffe, Donna, Boatright, Dowin
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States John Wiley and Sons Inc 01-09-2021
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Summary:Objectives Emergency departments serve a wide variety of racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and gender backgrounds. It is currently unknown what characteristics of students who express interest in emergency medicine (EM) are associated with a simultaneous desire to work in medically underserved areas. We hypothesize that those who are underrepresented in medicine, are female, learn another language, and have more student debt will be more likely to practice in a medically underserved area. Methods Data from the National Board of Medical Examiners, Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Student Record System, and the AAMC Graduation Questionnaire were collected on a national cohort of 92,013 U.S. medical students who matriculated from 2007 through 2012. Extracted variables included planned practice area, intention to practice in underserved areas, race/ethnicity, sex, medical school experiences, age at matriculation, debt at graduation, and first‐attempt USMLE Step 1 score. Results EM‐intending students who identified as female, non‐Hispanic Black/African American, or Latinx/Hispanic; had a larger debt at graduation; had experiences with health education in the community; had global health experience; and had learned more than one language were more likely to report an intention to practice in underserved areas. Conclusion With the increasing importance of physician diversity to match those of the community being served, this study identifies factors associated with a desire of EM students to work in underserved areas. Medical schools and EM residencies may wish to consider these factors in their admissions process.
Bibliography:Funding information
Teresa Y. Smith, MD, MSEd.
Supervising Editor
This project was supported in part by an Association of American Medical Colleges Northeast Group on Educational Affairs Collaborative Research Grant Award, the National Institutes of Health National Institute of General Medical Sciences grants R01 GM085350 and T32 GM136651, and Albany Medical College Dean's Discretionary Fund.
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Funding information: This project was supported in part by an Association of American Medical Colleges Northeast Group on Educational Affairs Collaborative Research Grant Award, the National Institutes of Health National Institute of General Medical Sciences grants R01 GM085350 and T32 GM136651, and Albany Medical College Dean's Discretionary Fund.
Supervising Editor: Teresa Y. Smith, MD, MSEd.
ISSN:2472-5390
2472-5390
DOI:10.1002/aet2.10672