To help address equity in healthcare, the Emory PA Program has taken an active role in recruiting minority students from historically black colleges and universities located in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee and by attending recruitment fairs that focus on underrepresented minority students.
Emory University School of Medicine created the Office of Multicultural Medical Student Affairs in 1986 to increase minority representation in medicine and biomedical research. The Office provides programs to support the development and matriculation of diverse learners, including medical students and health professions students.
The Emory PA Program has also developed a mentoring program for accepted underrepresented minority students. Each participating student is paired with an underrepresented minority mentor who graduated from the PA Program.
‘The last five matriculated classes of the Emory PA Program have consisted on average of 21% underrepresented minority students in medicine with a graduation rate of 98% among these students, which are both above the national average based on PAEA data.