In 2014, there were fewer black men in medical school than there were in 1978, according to a national study.
Dr. Dale Okorodudu, a Dallas internal medicine physician and president and founder of DiverseMedicine Inc. and the Black Men in White Coats video series, is working to try to increase the number of minority applicants accepted into medicals schools.
Okorodudu compared medical school to basketball, saying that unlike basketball recruiting, medical schools won’t come looking for you.
In an interview with Dallas public radio station KERA, Okorodudu compared medical school to basketball, saying that unlike basketball recruiting, medical schools won’t come looking for you.
“It’s very difficult to get recruited,” Okorodudu told KERA. “You try to go to these recruitment fairs that happen all across the country. But that costs time, that costs money, and the vast majorities of students just can’t do that, right?”
In 2013, Okorodudu created a series of YouTube videos, called Black Men in White Coats, a movement to support young African-American men and boys fulfill their dreams of becoming medical doctors.According to Association of American Medical Colleges, 6.1 percent of medical school matriculants were black and 8.5 percent were Hispanic in 2011.
To that end, he also created an app called PreMed Star to help keep track of medical school applications.
Dr. Cedric Bright, assistant dean at University of North Carolina’s School of Medicine, said he likes that the app links students with the office of admissions.
“I’m excited because it’s a virtual platform,” Bright told KERA.
Read more about what has been called the “Match.com” for med schools here.
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