American University of Antigua (AUA) College of Medicine and Charles R. Drew University (CDU) of Medicine and Science are teaming up to create a new admissions pathway for African-Americans and other under-represented minorities to fulfill their dreams of practicing medicine.
Under the terms of the June 2019 agreement, CDU postbaccalaureate students who meet admissions requirements would earn automatic acceptance to medical school at AUA and up to $60,000 in scholarships to fund their education. CDU students completing the school’s Master’s in Biomedical Science Program are also eligible.
It’s perhaps natural to partner AUA—a longtime advocate of diversity in the physician workforce—with CDU, a historically black college and university (HBCU) founded in 1966 to address healthcare disparities in southern Los Angeles.
According to data from the Association for American Medical Colleges, a disproportionate number of African-Americans are entering and attending medical school when compared to other ethnicities. For the 2018-2019 medical school admissions cycle, only 8 percent of medical school applicants identified as African-American. In addition, for that same period, African-Americans accounted for only 7 percent of all matriculating medical school students.
