Though the number of applications was lesser than last year, the US allopathic schools recorded a record high this fall of the number of students admitted to their course.
As compared to the year 2007, the number of first year students increased by 1.6% according to the Association of American Medical Colleges CEO and President Darrell Kirch.
With the tremendous growth and aging of the American population, this increase in the number of medical students is absolutely critical added Dr.Kirch in his press conference over telephone.
There was a significant increase in the number of Latino students, at least ten percent more than last year according to a data released, said Dr.Kirch. He added that this was a dramatic development. Data shows that about 8% of the new students were Latinos which was quite high seeing that Latinos comprise 13% of the total American population.
There was an increase in the number of Native Americans too. They numbered 172 this year according to a data released by the association. According to Dr.Kirch, Afro Americans and women count remained constant.
Dr.Kirch said the reason for this could be the recent expansion of certain schools of medicine including Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, the Mercer University School of Medicine and the University of Arizona College of Medicine. He added that in order to produce more doctors, apart from expanding medical colleges, the residency positions also have to be increased by policy makers as it is mandatory in US to practice residency before becoming a full fledged doctor.
