Exceeding Expectations: Students Underrepresented in Medicine at University of Utah Health
Open accessAbstract
Background and Objectives: The University of Utah (UU) serves an increasingly diverse state and houses the only public medical school, dental school, and college of pharmacy in the state. Utah’s diversity in the health professions lags behind the diversity of its general population, and the nation. Methods: The Health Sciences Learning, Engagement, Achievement, and Progress (HS-LEAP) Program is a 4-year undergraduate pipeline program intended to increase racial and ethnic diversity in the health professions, specifically focused on students underrepresented in medicine (URM). Each student self-identified and submitted demographics at the time of enrollment. We followed students to successful engagement in their profession of choice; we compared graduation and postgraduation outcomes to non-HS-LEAP students at UU from 2005-2016. Results: Almost 80% of HS-LEAP students are from communities underrepresented in medicine: 41% Latinx, 28% Asian, 7% Black, 2% American Indian/Alaskan Native, and 1% Pacific Islander. HS-LEAP students had lower ACT scores upon undergraduate enrollment, higher grade point averages in their first semester of college, higher fall-to-fall first-year retention rates, and higher 6-year graduation rates when compared to non-HS-LEAP UU students. Students who completed HS-LEAP attended graduate school at twice the rate of students who participated in HS-LEAP, the majority in the health professions. Conclusions: The HS-LEAP program is associated with increased URM success in undergraduate programs and elevated participation in graduate programs in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, physician assistant, nursing, and public health. Similar programs, with continuous assessment and evaluation, could be adopted in other locations to improve the representation of these groups in health professions.
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Exposure to near-peer mentors is known to contribute to the success of socioeconomically disadvantaged and URM students pursuing health care careers.
“In addition, exposure to near-peer mentors is known to contribute to the success of socioeconomically disadvantaged and URM students pursuing health care careers.9,15”
From Impact of the Bronx Community Health Leaders Program for Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Prehealth Students (2021) · cites this paper as [15]
The Description (p. not specified) says HS-LEAP gives students a near-peer advisor who mentors them, and defines its URM population to include students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. The Conclusions report that the program is associated with student success, but the Discussion explicitly says the observational study cannot establish causation; it does not isolate the contribution of near-peer mentoring. (LLM, conf=0.87)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredBxCHL results are comparable or better than outcomes from similar pathway programs in advancing students to graduate programs and medical school acceptance.
“These results are comparable or better than outcomes from similar pathway programs in advancing students to graduate programs and medical school acceptance.15,23”
From Impact of the Bronx Community Health Leaders Program for Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Prehealth Students (2021) · cites this paper as [15]
The Results report that HS-LEAP completers attended graduate school at twice the rate of participants, and Table 3 lists six completers who obtained MD degrees. The paper therefore provides outcomes for a similar pathway program, but it does not report a medical-school acceptance rate or compare its outcomes with BxCHL's. The 'comparable or better' judgment is not established by this source alone. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredMost programs that offer these opportunities are longitudinally constrained by administrative costs and support for students.
“Most programs that offer these opportunities are longitudinally constrained by administrative costs and support for students.15,16”
From Impact of the Bronx Community Health Leaders Program for Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Prehealth Students (2021) · cites this paper as [15]
The Abstract describes the majority of pipeline programs as summer programs, while the Funding section and Original Articles discussion document student stipends, administrative salary support, and significant costs for the four-year HS-LEAP program. These passages do not establish that administrative costs and student support constrain most programs longitudinally. (LLM, conf=0.82)
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Future doctors from underrepresented in medicine communities at the University of Utah
Cariello, P. F., Figueroa, E., Harris, C. M., Eldridge, D. R., Hooten, M., Cuevas, G. E., Jones, J. L., Hightower, M., Campbell, K. M., Martineau, M., et al. (2023) · PRiMER · doi:10.22454/primer.2023.296084 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Self-citationRobles, J., Qadeer, R., Reyes Adames, T., & Naqvi, Z. (2021) · Health Equity · doi:10.1089/heq.2021.0065 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
- Authors
- Bliss, C., Wood, N., Martineau, M., Hawes, K. B., López, A. M., & Rodríguez, J. E.
- Affiliations
- Thomas Jefferson University (US)
- University of Utah (US)
- Office for Health Equity and Inclusion, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
- Venue
- Family Medicine
- Published
- 2020-09-02
- Volume
- 52
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 570-575
- ISSN
- 0742-3225 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3081521039
- Cited by
- 28
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 10
- FWCI
- 6.42
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Locations
- Family Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Diversity and Career in Medicine
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Career Development and Diversity
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Medical Education and Admissions
- Keywords
- underrepresented minority students, medical school admissions, undergraduate retention, graduation rates, graduate school enrollment, Hispanic students
- MeSH terms
- Health Occupations, Humans, Minority Groups, Motivation, Students, Universities
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