(HealthDay News) — Medical school applicants coming from higher-income families have a greater likelihood of acceptance than those from lower-income families, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Researchers examined trends in childhood household income among US medical school applicants and matriculants between 2014 and 2019.
Of 232,275 applicants, 93,258 individuals were accepted into at least 1 program (39.40%). About half of applicants (50.9%) were men, 52.3% were White, and the median number of programs they applied to was 13.
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From 2014 to 2019, there were significant increases in applicants with higher childhood household incomes and significant decreases in applicants with lower incomes. The annual percent changes were:
- 0.41 (95% CI, 0.30 to 0.52; P <.001) for incomes of $200,000 or greater
- 0.34 (95% CI, 0.27 to 0.42; P <.001) for incomes of $125,000 to $199,999
- 0.14 (95% CI, 0.02 to 0.25; P =.03) for incomes of $75,000 to $124,999
- –0.41 (95% CI, –0.47 to –0.34; P <.001) for incomes of $50,000 to $74,999
- –0.48 (95% CI, –0.67 to –0.30; P <.001) for incomes less than $50,000.
Similarly, there were significant increases in matriculants with higher childhood household incomes and significant decreases in matriculants with lower incomes from 2014 to 2019. The annual percent changes were:
- 0.65 (95% CI, 0.54 to 0.76; P <.001) for incomes of $200,000 or greater
- 0.32 (95% CI, 0.13 to 0.50; P <.001) for incomes of $125,000 to $199,999
- –0.12 (95% CI, –0.29 to 0.05; P =.12) for incomes of $75,000 to $124,999
- –0.42 (95% CI, –0.48 to –0.36; P <.001) for incomes of $50,000 to $74,999
- –0.43 (95% CI, –0.60 to –0.25; P <.001) for incomes less than $50,000.
When the researchers combined all years, the likelihood of acceptance into medical school increased with increasing childhood household income. The adjusted rate of acceptance was:
- 31% for incomes less than $50,000
- 57% for incomes of $50,000 to $74,999
- 90% for incomes of $75,000 to $124,999
- 27% for incomes of $125,000 to $199,999
- 91% for incomes of $200,000 or greater.
Applicants with childhood household incomes less than $50,000 were 48% less likely to be accepted into medical school than applicants reporting incomes of $200,000 or greater (adjusted relative risk, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.50-0.54).
“These findings reinforce calls for holistic review and medical education debt reform to remove potential barriers to admission among low-income applicants,” the researchers wrote.
