Posted by: AMY11500
Hi everyone–
I had a weird experience this past weekend that’s been bothering me a lot. Both me and my boyfriend are premedical students; he’s ahead of me in the process, and he’ll be starting this fall. He happens to be half-Latino, which qualifies him as a minority applicant. I’m half-Asian, which means nothing in terms of medical school admissions (Asians aren’t underrepresented minorities in medicine). I tagged along with him to a program for accepted applicants…we spent a lot of time seperated from the rest of the class for minority events. Like many colleges and universities, they have a minority affairs office which coordinates activites and provides mentors and support for minority students. The kicker about all this is, was that a large % of the people there were multiracial students, who had under-represented minority (URM) backgrounds. I thought it was a fantastic group, and I felt really comfortable with them. I know, however, if I went to this particular school…I wouldn’t be invited to be in this group, and I know that I could benefit a lot from a group like this. And well…I guess I still haven’t come to terms with this whole admissions thing. My question is this–do you think that “multiracial” should be considered a seperate minority group? I guess the reason why there is a huge push for URM physicans is to help make the health care system more friendly and accessible for all people. And to have minority role models to encourage more minorites to consider a career in medicine. I feel that I can contribute in this capacity to medicine as well. I can certainly understand the arguments against grouping multiracials as a seperate group, but I have this horrible nagging feeling of some huge injustice being done…I hope I didn’t sound too bitter (I’m kinda stressed about applying right about now!) Any advice/comforting words would be appreciated!
2001-05-01 22:18:00
Hi Amy.
This does seem to be a confusing situation, but it doesn’t really have to be. The reason I say this is because if you are half Asian and half somthing else, then you ARE a Multiracial person and you have the right to identify as such (if you so choose).
If I were you, I wouldn’t wait for an invitation to join the group of wonderful Multiracial and other underrepresented minority students. You have just as much right to be included as anybody.
If they say that you are not an under-represented minority, then you could challenge them to find out just how many other women just like you (half Asian and half something else) attend the pre-medical school that you are considering. I’d bet that you are not an “over-represented majority”, and could gain so much from a group such as that. Not to mention what they could gain from you. (smile)
I don’t know if my humble opinion will help you or not, but I hope it does.
Sincerely,
Saundra
2001-05-11 21:35:00