A recent study led by Yale shows that the majority of medical school applicants and enrollees in the United States are now from higher-income families.
Researchers say their findings could have a negative effect on patient care and raise questions about who has access to medical education.
JAMA published the paper on May 11, 2023.
Researchers analyzed the childhood household income, or the level of family income during the majority of a person’s life up to age 18 using deidentified data from the American Medical College Application Service for all U.S. medical school applicants and matriculants between 2014 and 2019.
The researchers then analyzed the students’ income distribution.
“Ultimately, we found that the socioeconomic diversity of medical school applicants and matriculants has decreased over time,” an author of the study stated in a news release.
