After the Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that affirmative actions were unconstitutional, racial and ethnic diversity declined in medical school admissions and matriculations, according to research published Aug. 26 in JAMA.  Researchers from Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., University of California School of Medicine in Sacramento and the American Medical Association analyzed MD program applicants from 2019 to 2024. 

Among 291,764 individuals who applied to at least one MD program in the U.S., those from race and ethnicity groups who are underrepresented in medicine — compared to white and Asian applicants — were further underrepresented in the 2024 admissions cycle. Unrepresented in medicine includes Black, Hispanic, American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Is

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