Public Schools Produce More Minority M.D.s

By: Paul F. CuadrosThree out of four doctors graduating from Illinois medical schools are white, although some minorities have made significant strides in the last six years.

Boosting the number of minority physicians is critical to increasing health care in areas without doctors, some experts say. Thirty-six percent of black and Latino medical students said they planned to practice in an underserved area, according to a 1993 survey by the Association of American Medical Colleges. Only 8 percent of other medical school graduates said they intended to practice in such areas.

From 1987 to 1993, 7,093 students graduated from the state's seven medical schools: Chicago Medical School; Loyola/Stritch School of Medicine; Northwestern University; Southern Illinois University; Rush Medical College; the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine; and the University of Illinois.

Asian-Americans were 13.8 percent of the graduates, African Americans were 4.8 percent, Latinos were 4.5 percent, and 0.29 percent were American Indian.

Of the 1,674 minority graduates 43.4 percent came from Illinois' two public medical schools, SIU and UIC. Asian Americans, who made up 58.5 percent of all minority graduates, came from private medical schools.

The University of Illinois has been successful in recruiting and graduating Latino medical students because "there’s more of a real commitment to it than talk," said David Cordero, 26, president of the Latino Midwest Medical Student Association Inc.

The U. of I's Hispanic Center of Excellence has made a real difference, said Cordero, a third-year medical student who grew up on Chicago's North Side.

The center is one of eight federally funded programs nationwide that are designed to increase Latino enrollment in medical schools.

Source: Illinois Board of Higher Education degrees conferred, 1987-1993.