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Data Sources and Methods
In order to respond to the study charge, several steps were undertaken to assess data regarding strategies for increasing diversity in the health professions. Sources of data and information included the assembly of a committee with appropriate knowledge and expertise; review of literature regarding admissions practices, accreditation policies, financing arrangements, community benefit principles, and the institutional climate; commissioned papers; and public workshops.
STUDY COMMITTEE
A 15-member study committee was convened to assess available data and respond to the study charge. The committee comprised members with expertise in areas such as health professions education, minority health, health-care service delivery, economics, law, statistics, and health policy. The committee convened for five 2-day meetings between November 2002 and September 2003.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The committee’s review of the literature included, but was not limited to, articles published in peer-reviewed journals. The review focused on data regarding trends in minority health; underrepresented minority (URM) representation in the targeted health professions fields; admissions and accreditation policies for psychology, nursing, medicine, and dentistry; fed-
eral and private sources of funding for health professions students, including a review of evidence of their efficacy; and the role of institutional climate and community benefit standards in supporting and increasing diversity.
COMMISSIONED PAPERS
The study committee commissioned several papers, which were intended to provide in-depth information on the benefits of diversity, accreditation standards, admissions policies, financing of health professions, and institutional climate. Some of these papers are published with this report volume. These topics and the paper authors were determined by the study committee. The commissioned papers were not intended to serve as a sub-stitute for the committee’s own review and analysis of the literature. The committee independently deliberated on data regarding these topics, prior to receiving the draft commissioned papers.
PUBLIC WORKSHOPS
The study committee hosted six one-day public workshops in conjunction with its February, April, and June 2003 meetings in order to gain additional information from the public on key aspects of the study charge. Two workshops were conducted at each of these three meetings. The topics and nature of the workshops were determined by the study committee.
The first workshop was intended to allow the committee to hear the perspectives of racial and ethnic minority and nonminority health professions organizations on the importance of diversity. Subsequent workshops were focused on admissions policies and practices; the role of accreditation standards in increasing diversity; the potential application of community benefits standards; ways in which the climate of institutions can support diversity; and the financing of health professions education, including federal and nonfederal sources of support. The agendas, with lists of participants, are presented in Boxes A-1 through A-3.
BOX A-1 Wednesday, February 5, 2003 The National Academies, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Room 109 AGENDA
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BOX A-2 Wednesday, April 9, 2003 The National Academies, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Room 109 AGENDA
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BOX A-3 Monday, June 30, 2003 The National Academies, 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW, Room 150 AGENDA
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