Med school diversity may help whites care better for minorities

HealthDay/Washington Post, September 10, 2008

Attending medical schools with high levels of racial and ethnic diversity may better prepare white medical students to care for minority patients, according to a study that analyzed data from a survey of 20,112 graduating medical students from 118 medical schools. The study found that white students at medical schools with the highest quintile for student body racial and ethnic diversity, measured by the proportion of underrepresented minority students, were 33% more likely to rate themselves as highly prepared to care for minority patients than white students at medical schools in the lowest diversity quintile.