Okay, let first preface this with I’m sorry if this is a stupid question and I don’t mean to offend anyone.
Do the historically black medical schools admit students that are not African-American or representative of some other minority?
Just wondering…
Of course they do. But by even asking this question, I’m assuming you’re not aware of the primary misson of the HBCU medical schools which makes considering such a school a moot point IMHO.
Legally, I do not believe that any school can exclude or explicitly include you based upon such things as race, ethnicity, creed, sexual orientation - that whole list. Off the top of my head, I can think of at least a couple of medical schools who traditionally had a predominantly African-Amer student body: Howard & Meharry come immediately to mind. Both of these institutions admit an across-the-board array of ethnicities. I would think it would be a fascinating mixture of cultures to attend one of these colleges. Meharry is in Atlanta & Howard in DC. Furthermore, I do not believe that by apply to nor attending one of these fine institutions would you be undermining their dedication to assuring that minorities have a pathway to become physicians. If that were the case, then they would not be accepting such a broad spectrum of matriculants.
OMD, Meharry is located in Nashville, TN. Morehouse SOM is in Atlanta.
- OldManDave Said:
Furthermore, I do not believe that by apply to nor attending one of these fine institutions would you be undermining their dedication to assuring that minorities have a pathway to become physicians. If that were the case, then they would not be accepting such a broad spectrum of matriculants.
Some people, both black and non black, apply to the HBCU's because the average stats of their matriculats are lower than those of most other medical schools. The primary mission of HBCU's is IMHO, to produce Doctors who will serve the underserved/disadvantaged , NOT physicians of a certain "race" or ethnicity.
That's why I said if the OP isn't aware of the types of students who attend HBCU's, he/she likely (not definitely), isn't interested in serving underserved/disadvantaged communities.
I went to an HBCU for grad school in Atlanta, primarily because it was the right place and best program for what I wanted to do. It was an incredible experience, but I think it would take an extraordinary person to want to go and succeed at an HBCU medical school if you’re not a minority (I’m not). Difficult for a variety of reasons. But if you feel like it’s the right thing and can explain why, you should go for it. But it’s like the male students who attend Wellesley…you may be tolerated and welcomed by many, but it wasn’t designed for you. You’d have to have very, very good reasons for wanting to be there.
- overthemoon Said:
......but I think it would take an extraordinary person to want to go and succeed at an HBCU medical school if you're not a minority (I'm not). Difficult for a variety of reasons...............you may be tolerated and welcomed by many, but it wasn't designed for you. You'd have to have very, very good reasons for wanting to be there.
This quite an intersting comment to make. I would think that extraordinary people would be a prequisite for ANYONE black or white, attending ANY school, black or white.
As for the "desigend for you" comment, all I have to say is that comparing gender specific colleges with HBCU's, is like comparing comercials for underwire bras to those for Viagra. In one of those, only one gender benefits, in the other BOTH benefit.
The administrators of HBCU medical schools will be the first to tell you, with some chagrin, that they are not doing much better than any other medical schools at producing physicians who complete their residencies and then go serve in underserved communities. Much as an HBCU med school might try to select a student population on the basis of that mission, the reality of student debt asserts itself somewhere during medical school and people make career decisions based on their “close to home” situation. In other words, you truly may want to save the world when you interview for med school, but then you start watching the debt pile up and the next thing you know, you’re a dermatologist!
Of course there are people in HBCU med schools who represent the “mission” as discussed here, just as there are med students in every other med school who have a strong desire to serve the underserved.
To the OP, you absolutely can and should consider the HBCUs among your possible application choices. Just as with any other school, you should find out more about the school before applying, then decide if it sounds like a place where you would be able to get the education you need to be the kind of doctor you want to be.
Mary
I think the bigger question is, what factors should go into medical school selection for premeds, and it’s certainly one that’s heavy on my mind these days. For example, should a person who hates the “mission” of the military, apply to USUHS even if they live right next door? No, IMHO. Should a person with no interest (like myself) in one of the general areas of medicine like FP, Peds, IM, or Ob/Gyn (I know there’s a better term for this, but it escapes me at this moment), apply to a school like ECU or ETSU? Probably not IMHO unless you have something locking you down in the area.
I suppose lots of people apply to where ever simpy for the purposes of getting into medical school and I’ve personally never understood that. From undergrad on, EVERY place I’ve graduated/will graduate from served a larger purpose besides getting me a degree.
I’ve just gotta add one more comment, and that is NONE of the 3 soon to be 4 predominately white insitutions I’ve graduated from were “designed for me” yet I’ve certainly made it work for me! And THAT my friends, is what it’s all about. 
- pathdr2b Said:
I suppose lots of people apply to where ever simpy for the purposes of getting into medical school and I've personally never understood that.
For many of us on this site, the thinking goes along the lines of "beggars can't be chooser's." I applied to as many schools as I could afford and was happy to get into the ONE I did.
The school's "mission" is great, but I have my own mission, and I need the degree to accomplish it
More than one physician when I was on my premed journey advised me in all seriousness that the best med school for you is the one that lets you in. That being said, it’s probably wise not to apply someplace you know you’ll be miserable.
- formerartist Said:
For many of us on this site, the thinking goes along the lines of "beggars can't be chooser's." ...........The school's "mission" is great, but I have my own mission, and I need the degree to accomplish it
I definitely hear where you're coming from, but I guess my thinking is that as long as the Caribbean has open doors, there's no need to beg.
I also agree that you shouldn't apply to a school where you won't be happy, and I KNOW I'd be miserable at a school that didn't have a "decent" pathology department.
- pathdr2b Said:
From undergrad on, EVERY place I've graduated/will graduate from served a larger purpose besides getting me a degree.
At the time you entered each of these institutions, did you know what larger purpose they were going to end up serving?
- In reply to:
....that is NONE of the 3 soon to be 4 predominately white insitutions I've graduated from were "designed for me" yet I've certainly made it work for me! And THAT my friends, is what it's all about.
See, I feel like this last statement could actually be read as the opposite of your other statements advocating that you pick a school for its mission and how well its purpose is aligned with your own purposes. Med school is, by and large, med school. You can make almost any med school work for you. And that's why I feel that it is unnecessary to state that you must feel true allegiance to ANY school's mission prior to applying there... with, I absolutely admit, the exception of USUHS (or a military scholarship to a civilian med school). If you can make pretty much any place work for you (and that is almost ALWAYS going to be the case in med school, which has a degree of flexibility in most ways that you just have to figure out), then you really don't need to spend time worrying about mission or philosophy or particular departments.
Mary
- Mary Renard Said:
At the time you entered each of these institutions, did you know what larger purpose they were going to end up serving?
I think you misunderstood the meaning of what I said. My attending certain schools wasn't so much about a "larger purpose that school was going to help me serve in the future". It was about what those schools could "do for me" while I was there and that is what I meant by larger purpose. Obviously, there are thousands of schools I could have for example, earned a Chemistry degree from, but not all of those schools would have been a good or even successful fit for ME. This concept of "good fit" while perhaps irrevelant to many white premeds, isn't so much to many, many URM premeds.
- Mary Renard Said:
See, I feel like this last statement could actually be read as the opposite of your other statements advocating that you pick a school for its mission and how well its purpose is aligned with your own purposes. Med school is, by and large, med school. You can make almost any med school work for you. And that's why I feel that it is unnecessary to state that you must feel true allegiance to ANY school's mission prior to applying there... with, I absolutely admit, the exception of USUHS (or a military scholarship to a civilian med school). If you can make pretty much any place work for you (and that is almost ALWAYS going to be the case in med school, which has a degree of flexibility in most ways that you just have to figure out), then you really don't need to spend time worrying about mission or philosophy or particular departments.
Mary
Perhaps people should know the mission of a HBCU or any school prior to applying, but when someone asks a question with self-admitted ignorance on any subject, as was done at the beginning of this thread, perhaps it is best to answer and inform them in manner befitting a prospective physician and not demean them for the fact of simply not knowing. Perhaps you owe them an apology for doing so.
pathdr2b, you obviously don’t understand the mission of this website / forum…so don’t start casting stones at other folks.
And take your “woe is me” attitude about race elsewhere. annbow’s question was fair and should be treated with respect. This is a “friends helping friends” kind of place.
Thank you.
- RTANNER81 Said:
And take your "woe is me" attitude about race elsewhere. annbow's question was fair and should be treated with respect. This is a "friends helping friends" kind of place.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Why is it that when ever a person of color brings up race, there's always a few in the bunch who thinks they have a "woe is me" attitude no matter what they say? Based on my comments in this thread, that is clearly not the case. So think more Obama and less Sharpton.
Helping "friends" starts with honest discussions, so grab your big girl/boy underwear, and lets discuss!
- gonnif Said:
Perhaps people should know the mission of a HBCU or any school prior to applying, but when someone asks a question with self-admitted ignorance on any subject, as was done at the beginning of this thread, perhaps it is best to answer and inform them in manner befitting a prospective physician and not demean them for the fact of simply not knowing. Perhaps you owe them an apology for doing so.
Answer in a manner befitting a prospective physician? I guess you don't know any Surgeons, lol? I'm direct and straight to the point and at 41 years old, I no longer dance around that issue.The world, thankfully, is may up of ALL types of people and styles of communicating.
Having said that, it was certainly not my intention to offend the OP and I honestly don't see how I demeaned them. In fact, the only demeaning comment I saw in this thread came after yours, but I don't see anyone up in arms about that, but it's cool.
OP. I think it’s awesome that you are considering an HBCU in your search. With that said I will say, the mission is to educate all students, no matter of creed. I also think that you should consider all factors as they apply to your needs and desires as a student. I think just because the school was founded to educate students of color does not mean that you cannot apply and matriculate and be happy there. It was because in a sad time in our history blacks and whites couldn’t learn together so it was means to an alternative. Now days it is in addition to, how awesome is that! We all can go where we want. Did you hear about the 2008 valedictorian of Morehouse College being white? Yes he is and his younger brother is going there also, because that school had what he wanted and needed. Look it up on yahoo it’s a real story. I actually encourage you to apply. No matter what we look like, we want and need the same things, and black or white our journey to doctordom…is the same. Best wishes.
- ShaylaRichard Said:
OP. I think it’s awesome that you are considering an HBCU in your search. With that said I will say, the mission is to educate all students, no matter of creed. I also think that you should consider all factors as they apply to your needs and desires as a student. I think just because the school was founded to educate students of color does not mean that you cannot apply and matriculate and be happy there. It was because in a sad time in our history blacks and whites couldn’t learn together so it was means to an alternative. Now days it is in addition to, how awesome is that! We all can go where we want. Did you hear about the 2008 valedictorian of Morehouse College being white? Yes he is and his younger brother is going there also, because that school had what he wanted and needed. Look it up on yahoo it’s a real story. I actually encourage you to apply. No matter what we look like, we want and need the same things, and black or white our journey to doctordom…is the same. Best wishes.
Extremely well said!
As helpful and supportive as this site tends to be, I must say that I am a bit disappointed at the direction that this post has taken.
I can appreciate path2dr’s main points as well as the genuine and honest inquiry of annebow. But I cannot go without addressing this, since it seems like everyone else is just going to ignore it; aside from attacking path2dr for her views and for sharing them in a way that you felt was anything less than an aspiring “physician” - how can no one address the comment made from RTANNER81 -
I can’t understand how someone who has just joined this site - with your whopping 6 posts can even make a comment as rude and demeaning. (If you were browsing unregistered for quite some time, that makes it even worse because you should no that this it not the norm here). In no way am I an OPM veteran, but I would like to think that my posts come with a certain level of thought and respect before I decide to post - this one may be the exception - due to my writing out of frustration.
You obviously didn’t understand the intention of path2dr’s posts. Yes, I do understand that we might not meet eye to eye on EVERY topic but that is the power of this site. I have been so impressed with the quality of discussions that arise from disagreements. I often find the disagreements to be more thought provoking and informative that the echoes of support for a fellow site-member (not that I don’t like those, lol keep 'em coming! )
As non-trad’s we are both mature and professional and can handle it when someone disagrees with what we believe or make a comment about. This post wasn’t about getting sensitive about race and I feel that overall, most posters were trying to maintain a level of dignity and respect. Yet, you feel as though you are qualified in your limited experiences to “call-out” someone that YOU felt ‘wasn’t playing by the rules’. 
You might not agree with everything path2dr says on this website (and I’m not saying I do) but with the number of posts I would venture to say that she is FULLY aware of the “mission” of this web-site.
Let’s keep it clean - otherwise we lose our “special/supportive” factor and end up looking like other ordinary sites… dare I name names… (SDN) - oops, I just did 
Okay, seriously I do like their site, but I tread with caution when I’m on there. You guys know what I’m talking about… hee hee
Just my $0.02