The Joint Admission Medical Program: A Statewide Approach to Expanding Medical Education and Career Opportunities for Disadvantaged Students

Abstract

In 2003, Texas initiated an experiment to address enrollment disparities in its medical schools. With bipartisan support from key Texas legislators, funding was allocated in 2002 to establish the Joint Admission Medical Program (JAMP). Texas' then eight medical schools created, through JAMP, a partnership with the state's 31 public and 34 private undergraduate colleges and universities. Cognizant of legal prohibitions against reliance solely on race or ethnicity in promoting diversity, JAMP is designed to enhance opportunities for economically disadvantaged students from across the state, including those from (1) rural and remote areas of the state, and (2) institutions that have historically sent few students to medical school. Now in its seventh year of operation, JAMP is overseen by a council with representatives from all nine Texas medical schools. For the six years-2003 to 2008-for which data are available, indicators of JAMP performance can be seen in (1) the numbers of applicants to JAMP (1,230 applicants in the first six years), (2) levels of JAMP participation (480 participants), and (3) matriculation of JAMP participants into medical schools (164 of 288 of those accepted into the program in the years 2003-2006).The authors provide a brief history of JAMP, describe its structure and operation, summarize objective performance data, and identify some of the challenges still faced. These include increasing the participation of students from underrepresented minority groups within the legal structure for the program, and fostering substantive participation in JAMP by all of Texas' undergraduate institutions. A focused effort is under way to strengthen the evaluative aspects of JAMP so that more comprehensive data, including subjective evaluation data from participants, can be shared with colleagues in the future.

Nature of association between rural background and practice location: A comparison of general practitioners and specialists

“…Rural background students seeking to enter medical school face considerable impediments, in the form of increased educational costs and, in the absence of preferred rural entry schemes, and in reduced likelihood of gaining selection based solely on academic performance achievements. Overcoming these barriers necessitates ongoing support from both government and medical schools in the form of scholarships and preferred entry for rural background students [32,33]. …”

Widening participation in medicine? New insights from school students’ aspirations

“…Students applying, and being admitted, to study medicine in the United Kingdom (UK), for example, are more likely to be from higher SES backgrounds, and especially from independent schools. 26,27 A number of studies have subsequently examined the sociocultural background of students and interest in medical school, 3,[6][7][8]28 with research from the UK identifying an incongruence between class identity and perceptions of medicine. 6,7 In particular, Greenhalgh 6 found that secondary school students from working-class backgrounds thought of medicine as 'distant' and 'alien', and associated this pathway with discourses of risk.…”

“…4,15,33 Selection strategies have encompassed academic measures, focusing on the 'cut-off' scores for entry based on secondary school matriculation results or Grade Point Average (GPA) as well as non-academic measures such as interviewing and aptitude testing. 15,[34][35][36][37] By contrast, recruitment-based initiatives have involved summer schools and 'taster style' sessions with secondary school students, mentoring workshops with careers advisers regarding admissions processes, 28,[38][39][40] and long-term 'pipeline' or 'partnership' strategies with schools. 6,12,[41][42][43] We enter this debate by expanding the terms of reference to investigate the occupational aspirations of students before the point of application.…”

“…A number of studies have subsequently examined the sociocultural background of students and interest in medical school, with research from the UK identifying an incongruence between class identity and perceptions of medicine . In particular, Greenhalgh found that secondary school students from working‐class backgrounds thought of medicine as ‘distant’ and ‘alien’, and associated this pathway with discourses of risk.…”

Impact of a recruitment campaign on students’ applications o medical school

“…The JAMP program provides a number of entering class positions in medical schools for qualified JAMP participants, and provides a variety of support measures during undergraduate study, such as additional learning activities, review of students' academic progress, counseling, mentoring and tutoring, summer internships and limited scholarship support. Various types of support at medical school were also provided (4).…”