Priming the pump - University of Virginia School of Medicine program has historically Black institutions as recruitment partners - Recruitment & Retention

Black Issues in Higher Education, Feb 22, 1996 by Christopher Snowbeck

He said the institution has pledged to increase the number of minority teachers and has Consistently provided funding in the past 10 to 15 years to improve the situation for minority medical students.

While Black Americans make up an estimated 12.8 percent of the nation's population, fewer than 4 percent of the country's doctors are Black.

Some Black students still feel socially isolated in Charlottesville, which is not home to a large number of young Black professionals.

"If you want to get married [to a Black man], there's not a big dating pool," Wright said. "And if you wanted to marry someone who wasn't of color, [Charlottesville] probably wouldn't be the most conducive place," Freeman said.

Feelings of Isolation

The university tries to coordinate social activities and emphasizes that Washington, DC, is only two hours away and Richmond, the capital of Virginia, is only one hour to the east, Woode said.

Charrell Washington, 26, said UVa's chapter of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) is very active, providing an outlet for medical students to socialize with undergraduates.

Washington and other students said the SNMA's minority recruitment weekend played a role in their decision to come to UVa. During that weekend, the university pays all accepted students' travel expenses to visit Charlottesville.

UVa is still affected by the history of racism in the South, some students said. But the university's efforts in recent years have made the school more attractive and enabled many to stay through graduation.

"The environment is not completely colorblind, but overall this place is very much more supportive than many other institutions," Woode said.