There has been a spike in medical school applications across the United States as the coronavirus pandemic ravages communities all over the world.
The number of applicants is up 18% this year compared to last year, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges, or AAMC. In particular, Stanford University School of Medicine experienced a 50% jump in applications resulting in 11,000 applicants for 90 openings, while Boston University School of Medicine says applications are up 27%, totaling more than 12,000 for about 110 seats.
Geoffrey Young, the AAMC’s senior director for student affairs and programs, compared the uptick in applications amid the pandemic to the rise in military enlistments following 9/11. The coronavirus has infected nearly 15 million people and killed more than 280,000 people in the U.S., according to the John Hopkins University coronavirus tracker.
“After [Sept. 11], there was a huge increase in the number of men and women that were entering into the military,” Young said. “So far in my lifetime, at least, and for as long as I’ve been in medical education, that’s the only comparison that I could make.”
Kristen Goodell, associate dean of admissions at the school of medicine at Boston University, suggested the uptick could be related to Dr. Anthony Fauci’s time in the spotlight as one of the lead experts on the White House coronavirus task force and as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
“That, I think, may have a lot to do with the fact that people look at Anthony Fauci, look at the doctors in their community and say, ‘You know, that is amazing. This is a way for me to make a difference,'” she said.
In response, Fauci called it “very flattering,” and said, “Probably a more realistic assessment is that, rather than the Fauci Effect, it’s the effect of a physician who is trying to and hopefully succeeding in having an important impact on an individual’s health, as well as on global health. So if it works to get more young individuals into medical school, go ahead and use my name. Be my guest.”
