Lower-income and minority groups are thus generally under-represented in medical fields. Hispanics/Latinos represent nearly 20% of the total U.S. population, but they constitute less than 10% of all U.S. medical school students, and the total number of Hispanic/Latino physicians is 53,526, representing only 6% of all physicians nationally.[i]

Although their numbers are still low, there has been progress in including larger proportions of minority and lower income students in medical fields over the past decades. This is largely due to a variety of federal, state and institutional programs that provide motivated and academically promising under-represented students with scholarships, mentoring, and other forms of support, which not only helps them individually but also contributes to a society with equitable opportunities and overall social mobility.

Fostering the inclusion of more diverse students in medical fields is important for a variety of reasons: first, it helps to address the overall shortage of physicians, which naturally expands patients’ access to health care. Second, trends among practitioners show that ethnic minority physicians are more likely to practice primary care than specialized care, thus addressing broader needs. Finally, it helps to address health care disparities: health problems disproportionately affect lower-income communities, and it has been shown that medical practitioners from under-represented groups are more likely to serve these communities.[ii] Hispanic/Latino practitioners also have the cultural and bilingual skills to reach out to immigrant groups and create greater trust in healthcare services and campaigns.

Profile of Hispanic/Latino Students in Medical Schools

The following analysis of Hispanic/Latino students in medical schools is based on data provided by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) for all 158 accredited, MD-granting medical schools across the country.

Enrollment data by ethnicity for 2024-25 and data on graduates for 2023-24[iii] indicates that:

·      There are 6,644 Hispanic/Latino students enrolled in medical schools, out of all 99,562 students at these schools (representing 6.7% of the total). In 2023-24, there were 1,369 Hispanic/Latino medical school graduates, out of a total of 20,855 graduates (representing 6.6%). 

·      There are fewer Hispanic/Latino men (3,130) enrolled in medical schools than women (3,506).

·      Among Hispanic/Latino students, Mexican-Americans are the largest subgroup of medical students, with 2,023 enrolled (30% of all Hispanics/Latinos), followed by 1,587 Puerto Rican students (24%).

Top 20 Medical Schools: Highest Enrollment and Graduation of Hispanics/Latinos

List A and List B below show the top 20 medical schools in the mainland U.S., in terms of highest enrolment and graduation of Hispanic/Latino students, based on the AAMC data cited above.[iv] These rankings indicate that:

·      One third (33%) of all Hispanic/Latino students enrolled in medical schools are concentrated in these top 20 schools; the same is true for Hispanic/Latino medical school graduates. 

·      Among the top five Hispanic/Latino-enrolling medical schools, four belong to the University of California system; the top five Hispanic/Latino-graduating schools include universities from a variety of states. 

·      Among these top 20 medical schools, UC Riverside School of Medicine enrolls the highest proportion of Hispanic/Latino students (28%), as well as having the highest percentage of Hispanic/Latino graduates (30%).

·      The majority (80%) of these top 20 Hispanic/Latino enrolling and graduating medical schools are public; only half have been designated as Hispanic Serving Institutions.

Impact of Recent Changes in Federal Funding

The top 20 medical schools on lists A and B largely overlap, with only five schools that are on one but not the other. All of these top 25 medical schools belong to broader health studies centers at major research universities; most are also attached to university-run hospitals. Generally, universities’ health-related endeavors rely heavily on funding from the federal government, particularly from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which provide grants to support clinical trials, medical students’ training, equipment, and specialized research in all areas.  

List C, below, provides data on federal funding for each top Hispanic/Latino-enrolling and/or graduating medical school’s “parent” university. This data indicates that at more than half of these universities, 50% or more of all postdoctoral students are supported by federal funding, and federal funds are used to cover 50% or more of all R&D expenditures in health sciences.[v]

Federal officials have described NIH spending as 'wasteful,' despite accounting for less than 1% of the federal budget. Criticisms have also been directed at the NIH for supporting what some have labeled as 'risky research' and for promoting ideologies perceived as a threat to public health.

As a result, according to the AAMC, 2,282 NIH grants worth $3.8 billion have been terminated (as of 4th June 2025), affecting key areas ranging from cancer research to epidemiology, as well as those specifically targeted by the new administration (DEI programs and LGBTQ+ research). AAMC states that 38% of all terminated grant are related to Training and Career Development, which generally support the inclusion of under-represented groups in medical careers.[vi] Many NIH funding cuts have been challenged through court cases, some of which have been settled and others of which are still pending; thus, various grants have been reinstated.[vii]

With regard to the top 25 Hispanic/Latino enrolling and graduating medical schools, List C indicates the total number and value of terminated/cancelled and “possibly reinstated” (court-challenged) NIH grants at each institution, illustrating the magnitude of these cuts.[viii] The value of all 171 cancelled NIH grants at these 25 universities adds up to $117,119,059; an additional 247 grants may or may not be reinstated, with an even greater value of $240,127,766. 

Of all these cancelled and possibly reinstated grants, many belong to the funding category “Research, Training and Career Development”. Specific examples of program cuts include numerous programs which support the transition to MD or other postgraduate biomedical studies for promising, under-represented BA students, and those that promote medical sciences among high schoolers, among other initiatives.

Shifts in program support may have implications for the progress made in creating greater opportunities for Hispanic/Latino students in healthcare fields.  Recent changes affecting these grants for under-represented students, together with  other related funding adjustments may have broader implications for the healthcare system overall and on lower-income and underserved communities in particular. These  effects may be further compounded by changes in Medicaid's budget, which would affect 17 million American and in particular the Latino community, where 31% of individuals  rely on Medicaid.[ix] Effects may include shortage of doctors, reduced access to care among lower-income communities, who depend on university hospitals’ free emergency rooms and other services (these hospitals are only 5% of the total, yet they provide 32% of all uncompensated care)[x] and a decrease of healthcare providers in rural and under-served communities.