Reflecting its commitment to improve diversity among the nation’s doctors, Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM) has entered into an agreement with Dillard University in Louisiana to help increase the number of African-American students who enter medical school at RUSM, and ultimately become physicians. This educational pathway allows qualified Dillard students who earn full acceptance into the medical school to receive a scholarship covering full tuition for the first semester. These students will spend the first two years of medical school at the RUSM campus in Barbados.
RUSM has a diverse student population which includes one-quarter African-American and Hispanic students. With more than 14,000 alumni, RUSM graduates practice in direct patient care in all 50 states, including a high percentage of graduates who are in the essential field of primary care. African Americans make up only six percenti of U.S. physicians. While most U.S. medical schools had an average of eight African-American graduates this past year, RUSM had more than 80.
“We are pleased to partner with Dillard University to provide a prescriptive path to address our nation’s health care disparities and create a medical workforce that truly looks like America,” said RUSM Dean and Chancellor, Dr. William F. Owen, Jr., M.D., FACP.
“Dillard University is excited to enter into this agreement with RUSM. This is another means of providing our students with access to medical school so their dreams of becoming doctors can be realized,” said Dr. Yolanda Page, Ph.D., Dillard University’s Vice President of Academic Affairs.
RUSM recently announced similar agreements with Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, and Tuskegee University. As part of its continued commitment to addressing diversity in medicine, RUSM’s parent company, Adtalem Global Education (NYSE: ATGE), signed on to the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Partnership Challenge created by the Congressional Bipartisan HBCU Caucus, pledging to invest in creating strategic collaborations with HBCUs and working to increase diversity in key workforce sectors.
Having recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, RUSM is part of Adtalem Global Education’s medical and healthcare education vertical, which also includes American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine in Sint Maarten, Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in St. Kitts, and Chamberlain University, the largest provider of nursing education in the United States. Adtalem is a mission-driven workforce solutions provider with institutions and companies around the world, including the U.S., Caribbean, Europe, Asia and Brazil.
As Dillard University celebrates its 150th anniversary, it remains true to its motto, Ex Fide Fortis, meaning "strength from faith." The University is committed to diversifying the health professions by enhancing students' preparation to pursue the best fit pathway.
