121 - Enhancing Diversity in Physiatry via Diversification of its Applicant Pool: Findings from a Student Organization Providing Free Support for Medical School Applications

Objectives: To increase diversity within physiatry, diversifying its applicant pool first is crucial. This can be accomplished by creating a more equitable path to medical school and subsequently physiatry. While some medical school applicants can afford expensive consulting services, others struggle with application fees. Similarly, while some have abundant mentors, underrepresented applicants can find it challenging to connect with mentors from similar backgrounds. Addressing these disparities led to the establishment of Giving a Boost (GAB), a student-driven organization at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Audiences will learn about how we offer free services to support disadvantaged applicants pursuing a medical education and how to replicate our work.

Design: Since 2020, we've aided 256 medical school applicants through the entire application process, assisting with personal statements, secondaries, mock interviews, letters of intent, and waitlists. At the end of each admissions cycle, we collected survey responses detailing our applicants’ experiences.

Results: Across 67 responses, applicants highlighted a higher satisfaction with GAB’s services (8.4/10) compared to services from pre-health advising offices (5.0/10), student organizations (5.0/10), friends (7.1/10), and faculty (5.6/10). Moreover, 85% of respondents were accepted into medical school.

Conclusions: Over 3 years, GAB demonstrated a higher medical school acceptance rate than the national average (41%), with our applicants subjectively rating our services higher in satisfaction than other resources. Alongside our success in expanding nationally to chapters across 30 medical schools nationwide since spring 2023, our findings indicate a successful method for fostering a more equitable path to medicine and subsequently physiatry for future generations.