Institutional efforts to promote recruitment, retention, and graduation of underrepresented students

Low-income students and racial and ethnic minority students continue to be underrepresented in health professions academic institutions. However, low-income and underrepresented minority (URM) students differ in important ways. Recruitment programs that solely target underrepresented racial minorities overlook large segments of low-income students (Andersen 2010: 580). As health professions schools (e.g., dental academic institutions) seek to meet their racial and socioeconomic diversity goals, they should consider programs that specifically address the needs of low-income and URM students. Institutional efforts should include components in admissions, advising, financial aid and curriculum in order to recruit, retain, and graduate more underrepresented students.

This paper discusses dental school approaches to achieving racial and socioeconomic diversity and best practices that promote institutional commitment to the goal of equality of outcome. This includes institutional approaches to achieving diversity in 1) admissions, 2) pipeline programs, 2) recruitment and outreach, 3) mentoring, tutoring, retention, and support programs. We analyze qualitative data from the American Dental Education Association California Dental Pipeline Program.

It is crucial for schools to institutionalize successful diversity efforts to ultimately increase health care quality for poor people and racial and ethnic minority groups. In the United States, racial and ethnic minorities tend to receive lower quality of care than Whites even when insurance status, income, age, and severity of condition have been adjusted for (Smedley et al. 2002:2). Because Black and Hispanic physicians are more likely to practice in communities with similar race and ethnicity as their own, research suggests that this will result in better quality of care for racial ethnic minorities and low-income populations (Komaromy et al. 1996:1308). This evidence has led to a shift in policy discussions that increasing diversity in the health care workforce is essential for adequate provision of culturally competent care to our nation’s burgeoning minority communities.