Medicine's Class of 2020: Highest Minority Enrollment Ever

Contact: Heather Woolwine
843-792-7669
woolwinh@musc.edu

Aug 18, 2016

CHARLESTON, SC – The Medical University of South Carolina’s College of Medicine (COM) has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as having the fifth largest number of African-American medical students in the U.S., outside of historically black colleges and universities. In addition, the American Association of Medical Colleges ranks MUSC COM in the 96th percentile for medical schools with the most African-American students. In the 2015-2016 academic year, COM enrolled 129 underrepresented medical students (URM), or 18 percent of the medical student body. Of those students, 95 (13 percent of the student body) identified as African-American. The class of 2020 has 19 percent URM students, continuing the upward trend.

MUSC recognizes that the solution to increased diversity in the physician workforce starts with bringing minorities into medical education, and is focused on recruiting, supporting and graduating diverse medical students through a number of initiatives. For example, the cost of a medical education is a hindrance to many students, and particularly URM students. Since 2012, MUSC’s “Opening Doors” medical scholarship program has funded 27 scholarships to students to ease their financial burden as they pursue medical careers.

For a deeper look at recruitment and retention efforts for COM URM students, see the table and links below:

MUSC College of Medicine Diversity Initiatives

URM Student Pipeline Programs for development and recruitment

URM Student Mentorship for development and retention

URM Resident recruitment, development and retention

URM Faculty recruitment, development, and retention

About MUSC

Founded in 1824 in Charleston, MUSC is the state’s only comprehensive academic health system, with a mission to preserve and optimize human life in South Carolina through education, research and patient care. Each year, MUSC educates over 3,100 students in six colleges and trains 950+ residents and fellows across its health system. MUSC leads the state in federal and National Institutes of Health and research funding. For information on our academic programs, visit musc.edu.

As the health care system of the Medical University of South Carolina, MUSC Health is dedicated to delivering the highest-quality and safest patient care while educating and training generations of outstanding health care providers and leaders to serve the people of South Carolina and beyond. In 2024, for the 10th consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report named MUSC Health University Medical Center in Charleston the No. 1 hospital in South Carolina. To learn more about clinical patient services, visit muschealth.org.

MUSC has a total enterprise annual operating budget of $7.1 billion. The 31,000 MUSC members include world-class faculty, physicians, specialty providers, scientists, contract employees, affiliates and care team members who deliver groundbreaking education, research, and patient care.