First-year Students' Expectations of Interacting with Minority Patients and Colleagues

Surveys an entering class of medical students to learn their expectations about interacting with minority patients and colleagues. It found that those students who had social and work experiences with black and Hispanic members of the population were more likely, even if they were white, to indicate that they would practice with black and Hispanic physicians and would see minority patients. The article concludes that work experiences and social experiences may be important in how medical students are selected.