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. 2024 Oct 1;7(10):e2440887.
doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.40887.

Perspectives on Medical School Admission for Black Students Among Premedical Advisers at Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Jasmine Weiss  1 , Max Jordan Nguementi Tiako  2   3   4 , Ngozi D Akingbesote  5   6 , Danya Keene  7 , Lilanthi Balasuriya  8 , Mona Sharifi  8   9 , Inginia Genao  10 , Darin Latimore  11
Affiliations

Perspectives on Medical School Admission for Black Students Among Premedical Advisers at Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Jasmine Weiss et al. JAMA Netw Open. .

Erratum in

  • Error in the Introduction.
    [No authors listed] [No authors listed] JAMA Netw Open. 2025 Feb 3;8(2):e250790. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.0790. JAMA Netw Open. 2025. PMID: 39932717 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

Abstract

Importance: There remains a lack of representation of Black physicians in the physician workforce despite decades of national efforts to increase diversity. Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) contribute to increasing representation in the workforce in the US. There is limited literature exploring the experiences of HBCU premedical students navigating the journey to medical school.

Objective: To examine barriers to and facilitators of medical school matriculation among Black students by exploring the perspectives of premedical student advisers at HBCUs.

Design, setting, and participants: In this qualitative study, HBCU advisers participated in a focus group in October 2019 or in semistructured interviews from January 2020 to March 2021. Using purposive sampling, premedical student advisers were recruited from different educational backgrounds and geographic locations and conducted 1-on-1 interviews. Data analysis was performed from March 2021 to March 2022.

Main outcomes and measures: The main outcome was the experiences of HBCU premedical students navigating to medical school from the perspective of premedical advisers. An inductive approach to generate codes from the interviews and the focus groups was applied by reviewing transcripts and noting concepts and themes associated with advising strategies and student experiences.

Results: Among the 26 participants, 18 (69.2%) were female, 13 (50.0%) had a doctorate degree, and 8 (30.8%) had more than 10 years of experience as advisers. Participants described 3 major themes: (1) the complex institutional relationship dynamics between undergraduate HBCUs and medical schools, (2) concerns about preferential treatment for students from predominantly white undergraduate schools when accessing clinical shadowing opportunities, and (3) the "it takes a village mindset" emphasizing family and peer involvement.

Conclusions and relevance: In this qualitative study, barriers to medical school matriculation included concerns for the preferential treatment of students from predominantly white institutions when engaging with medical schools and a lack of access to clinical opportunities for HBCU students. The findings suggest that medical schools should continue to build collaborative partnerships with HBCUs to ensure equitable access to opportunities that prepare students for medical school.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Weiss reported being the founder of iDream Enterprise, LLC doing business as Black Med Connect outside the submitted work. Dr Balasuriya reporting receiving support from the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Office of Academic Affiliations through the VA National Clinician Scholars Program and Yale University during the conduct of the study. No other disclosures were reported.

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