title: Are disadvantaged and underrepresented minority applicants more likely to apply to the program in medical education-health equity?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether underrepresented minority (URM) students and students from disadvantaged backgrounds were more likely to apply to a combined MD-master's degree program designed to train physician leaders in providing care to underserved communities.
  
  
  METHODS
  University of California, San Diego (UCSD), School of Medicine applications from the 2008-2010 incoming classes were analyzed. American Medical College Application Service and UCSD secondary application data were used to build a logistic regression model to determine which characteristics were most associated with applying to the MD-master's degree Program in Medical Education-Health Equity (PRIME-HEq).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the total UCSD applications reviewed from disadvantaged students, 61.5% also applied to PRIME-HEq (319/519) compared with 23.5% of nondisadvantaged students (917/3,895, χ = 326.665, P < .001). Of URM student applications, 55.6% also applied to PRIME-HEq (358/644) compared with 23.3% of non-URM students (878/3,770, χ = 284.654, P < .001). Results of a backward stepwise logistic regression analysis showed that disadvantagedstatus was the greatest predictor of applying to PRIME-HEq (odds ratio = 3.15; 95%confidence interval = 2.50-3.966; P< .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  URM students and students from disadvantaged backgrounds were more likely to be interested in a curriculum designed to train them to work with underserved communities. These results suggest that PRIME-HEq, or similarly focused programs, may influence URM and disadvantaged students' application decisions.
authors.affiliation: University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine, La Jolla, California 92093-0606, USA. j2bailey@ucsd.edu
authors.forename: Jacob A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.forename: Lindia J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Willies-Jacobo
mesh_terms: D002140:California; D002321:Career Choice; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008913:Minority Groups / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D010820:Physicians / Q000600:supply & distribution; D012577:Schools, Medical; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D035862:Vulnerable Populations / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*