Resolution: S-21-24: PROMOTING DIVERSITY AND OPPORTUNITY FOR UNDERREPRESENTED APPLICANTS IN THE “PROGRAM-SPECIFIC INFORMATION” SECTION OF THE AACOMAS COMMON

[Valerie Lile]

WHEREAS, Osteopathic Medical Colleges (COMs) represented by AACOM express a commitment to achieving diversity in their students commensurate with the communities they will serve¹; and

WHEREAS, many COMs have mission statements, programs, or policies which encourage consideration of students from underrepresented communities and students who are first in their family to complete college or to pursue medicine^2,3,4,5; and

WHEREAS,  The Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) accreditation Candidate Standard 5.2: Diversity requires that COMs

1. “Provide the policies that demonstrate the proposed COM’s intent to practice systematic and focused recruitment and retention activities, to achieve mission-appropriate diversity outcomes among its students, faculty, senior administrative staff, and other relevant members of its academic community.
2. Describe the proposed COM’s planned programs and partnerships (with other institutions and organizations) aimed at achieving diversity among qualified applicants for medical school admission and the evaluation of program outcomes⁶.”; and

WHEREAS, in spite of the above policies and COM-specific programs, proportional matriculation of Under-Represented Minority (URM) applicants, those who self-identified as Hispanic/Latino ethnicity, Black/African American, Native American/Alaska Native, and Hawaiian/Pacific Islander; to Osteopathic medical schools was half that of non-URM applicants, with only 8.5% of matriculating students representing URMs⁷; and

WHEREAS, SOMA resolution S-19-23 pointed out accreditation standards which require COMs to have clearly articulated policies to promote diversity outcomes, recommended that these policies be made visible to prospective applicants, and resolved that COMs “enact outreach and recruitment efforts for underrepresented minority (URM) students^8,9,” and

WHEREAS, the AACOM Application Service common application contains a number of requirements that create structural barriers to potential applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds such as the question “was your parent or close relative a physician?,” documenting extensive volunteer hours, and research experiences, and that these barriers may especially impact applicants from underrepresented communities given that some minority groups are persistently underrepresented in healthcare professions¹⁰, and

WHEREAS, COMs’ admissions officers are allowed a limited space of just 500 words in the “Program Materials” portion of the application to provide specific information about their program to prospective applicants¹¹; and

WHEREAS, most COMs’ explanatory statements in that “program-specific information” section make no mention of institutional structures of support for students from disadvantaged or underrepresented backgrounds, nor recruitment efforts towards or pipeline programs supporting  said students¹⁰; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that SOMA request The Council of Osteopathic Student Government Presidents (COSGP) to advocate for the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) to create a space, of at least 250 words, in the “Program Materials” section of the AACOM Application Services common application in which each College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM) will briefly describe academic programs and admissions policies which specifically address issues of equity and diversity as well as efforts to recruit and retain students from diverse backgrounds, such as members of Under-Represented Minority groups and other applicants who may face barriers to successfully completing the application process; and be it further

RESOLVED, that SOMA recommend to AACOM, through COSGP that such statements by COMs be guided by the submissions they have already committed to through the accreditation process in accordance with Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation Candidate Element 5.2 as aforementioned

Explanatory Statement

Despite many stated commitments to diversity and equal representation by COMs, important populations are persistently underrepresented in medical education. The admissions application process is the primary interaction by which students select which programs they might attend and vice versa. Currently, the AACOMAS application collects a great deal of information from prospective applicants, and it is not entirely clear which portions of the AACOMAS common application are considered essential by each school and under what circumstances a student might receive special consideration for gaps in their application. Some applicants have not benefited from having highly educated professionals such as a physician in their immediate family, or may not have had opportunities to accumulate research and volunteer hours because they were working to support themselves and their families. For students of URM groups, this problem can be compounded by the persistent underrepresentation of most minority groups in healthcare professions. Although COMs often consider such factors in a holistic manner, this is not always apparent from the application itself.

We believe that structural barriers to diversity and equity require structural solutions in the form of well-considered institutional policies that are visible to potential applicants. Many COMs already have policies or programs to support, encourage, or increase consideration of URM applicants or applicants from other disadvantaged backgrounds, as recommended in SOMA Policy S-19-23 and required in the COCA accreditation standards in pursuit of mission appropriate diversity outcomes. Such information about how COMs are pursuing their commitments to diversity should be presented to prospective applicants at the earliest possible point in the application process: the AACOMAS Common Application. Presenting policies relevant to diversity in the “Program Materials” section would present this information uniformly across all COMs. 

As each COM is situated in a particular geographical region and community, different COMs may choose to highlight various considerations of racial, social, and or economic factors in adapting their admissions policies to select matriculants to a diverse and representative student body, while also reflecting their own mission statement and community values. An example of this is Western University of Health Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific-Northwest’s Diversity Recognized, Emphasized, & Assimilated into Medicine (DREAM) program, in which the college provides opportunities for first-generation URMs to experience a week’s worth of medical school-related activities in a community where they are otherwise underrepresented. 

For those COMs that do not have an official policy on considering URM and socially disadvantaged applicants, or programs to recruit such applicants, the creation of this field in the AACOMAS application would encourage admissions officers and administrators to develop and articulate such policies and programs in order to present their program’s support and consideration in the best possible light to all applicants.

Relevant Existing Policies: (The policy number of any relevant existing policies provided for reference)

SOMA Policy: S-19-23 ADVOCATING FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF ACCREDITATION STANDARDS ON DIVERSITY AT OSTEOPATHIC MEDICAL SCHOOLS

SOMA Policy: F-20-19 INCREASING UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN MEDICINE THROUGH CREATING DIVERSITY COMMITTEES ACROSS ALL OSTEOPATHIC MEDICAL SCHOOLS

SOMA Resolution:  Res-S-15-07 CALL TO ACTION FROM AOA TO ENCOURAGE STANDARDIZATION OF THE ADMISSIONS NON-DISCRIMINATION CLAUSE ADOPTED BY EACH OF THE 35 CAMPUSES OF THE AOA AFFILIATED COLLEGES OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE TO INCLUDE RACE, RELIGION, COLOR, SEX, GENDER IDENTITY, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, DISABILITY, VETERAN OR MILITARY STATUS, NATIONAL ORIGIN, AND CREED.

References

1. org. (2018). Diversity in Osteopathic Medical Education – AACOM. [online] Available at: https://www.aacom.org/diversity-in-OME
2. edu (2020) DREAM Program- Western University- COMPNW [online] Available at: https://www.westernu.edu/osteopathic/osteopathic-departments/osa-lebanon/dream-program/
3. org (2020) Mission, Vision and Guiding Principles- Burrell College of Osteopathic Medicine [online] Available at: https://bcomnm.org/about-bcom/the-college/mission-vision-guiding-principles/
4. edu (2020) Diversity and Multicultural Affairs [online] Available at:  https://www.dmu.edu/diversity/
5. edu (2020) Diversity and Community relations- Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine [online] Available at: https://www.pcom.edu/about/departments/diversity/
6. org. (2019). Accreditation of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine: COM New & Developing Accreditation Standards- Effective July 1, 2019 [online] Available at https://osteopathic.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/com-new-and-developing-accreditation-standards.pdf
7. org. (2018). Osteopathic Medical College Diversity in Applicants – AACOM. [online] Available at: https://www.aacom.org/become-a-doctor/diversity-in-ome/diversity-data/diversity-in-applicants
8. org (2020). Functions and Structure of a Medical School- Standards for Accreditation of Medical Education Programs Leading to the MD Degree https://lcme.org/publications/#Standards
9. Norma E. Wagoner, Ph.D., Leon Johnson, D.Ed., M.B.A., and Harry S. Jonas, M.D. (2004) The Role of Accreditation in Increasing Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Health Professions. from “In the Nation’s Compelling Interest: Ensuring Diversity in the Health-Care Workforce”. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US);. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK216002/
10. S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Workforce National Center for Health Workforce Analysis. (2017). Sex, Race, and Ethnic Diversity of U.S. Health Occupations (2011-2015). https://bhw.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/bhw/nchwa/diversityushealthoccupations.pdf
11. American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Application Service (2020) Program Materials https://aacomas.liaisoncas.com/applicant-ux/#/programSearch

Submitted by: 

Adam Hall, OMS II – Western University of Health Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific-Northwest
Halley Egnew, OMS I – Western University of Health Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific-Northwest
Grant Gerstner, OMS II – Western University of Health Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific-Northwest
Gilbert Hernandez, OMS III – Western University of Health Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific

Action Taken: [Leave Blank. Will be Approved by the House of Delegates or Not Approved.]

Date:

Effective Time Period: “Ongoing

[Author]

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