In 1976, a total of four women graduated from the U School of Medicine, accounting for fewer than five percent of the school’s graduates.
Since then, the number of female medical school graduates has increased steadily, but still lags far behind the national average. At 37 percent, the U has the second lowest medical school female enrollment rate in the nation, according to a 2007 study by the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Nationally, women account for half of all medical school applicants, but in 2007, only 30 percent of the U’s applicants were women.
“It’s not that we don’t have qualified women who apply,” said Candi Ramos, director of the medical school’s Office of Diversity and Community Outreach. “They need to know that they’re welcome in an environment where they haven’t been in the past. Some of it has to do with the culture and dominant religion in the state, where women are often expected to be primary caregivers, but there’s no single reason why our enrollment numbers are lower.”
The Uniformed Services F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine in Maryland is the only medical school in the nation with a lower female enrollment rate than the U’s, at 29 percent.
The U medical school receives around 1,000 applications each year, from which 103 new students are selected based on their MCAT scores, undergraduate GPA and research experience. Because the school receives state funding, it must reserve 75 slots for Utah residents. The school sets aside an additional eight slots for Idaho residents because the state doesn’t have a medical school, leaving just 19 openings for nonresidents.
“It’s a big challenge,” said Christopher Nelson, medical school spokesperson. “Our mission is to get the best applicants we can, and we have some of the best in the country. Every year there are around 300 fantastic applicants that we wish we could accept, but we just don’t have room.”
In recent years, the AAMC has recommended that medical schools around the country increase their class sizes by 30 percent in response to a rising demand for domestic doctors. Nelson said a 30 percent increase at the U would require an additional $10 million in state funding.
“We started the conversation during the last legislative session and we’re optimistic about growth, but we also know that it takes time to get traction with state funding efforts,” Nelson said.
Leila Peterson, a fourth-year medical student from Utah, estimated that 60 percent of her student peers are men, but said that gender shouldn’t influence admissions.
“There are probably fewer women from Utah who apply because of the culture here, but it’s not a huge disparity,” Peterson said. “The quality of students determines who gets in, not their gender.”