The role of historically black college and university medical schools in academic medicine

Introduction. Although less than 3% of medical schools are considered Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), they have played a significant role in the education of Black physicians. Methods. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) databases were used to obtain faculty and student demographic data from 2003-2013. We analyzed racial distributions of faculty and students at HBCU medical schools compared with all other medical schools and calculated correlations between rates of Black chairs, faculty, and students. Results. Although HBCUs represent 2.4% of medical colleges, they house 31% of Black chairs, 10% of Black faculty and 14% of Black students. A significant (a* < .002) positive correlation was found between rates of Black chairs and students. Conclusions. Black chairs are associated with higher percentages of Black students. Medical colleges may find that increasing the number of Black chairs increases the number of Black medical students.