Using community data to inform medical school admissions: a cohort study of medical students in Ottawa, Canada

Abstract

Background: To advance social accountability in our medical school admissions, this study aims to examine how sociodemographic profiles of students admitted to undergraduate medicine at the University of Ottawa compare to those of the Ottawa regional community. Methods: We
conducted a cohort study of our 2023 first-year MD students. We used data from the Ontario Medical Student Applicant Service and the Ottawa Neighbourhood Study to descriptively compare nine sociodemographic factors. Results: Of 183 students, our cohort demonstrated greater diversity in non-official first languages, second and third-generation status, and non-White racial identities. However, Black students (4.4% vs. 6.3%) were underrepresented, and Indigenous students (4.4% vs. 3.2%) were likely underrepresented given the known underreporting of Indigenous identity in census data. Students from the highest-earning households (32.8% vs. 13.2%), and with parents working in education (30.1% vs 16.5%) or health (15.8% vs 7.5%) professions were overrepresented. Conclusions: This study demonstrates student underrepresentation for some sociodemographic factors and serves as an approach for other medical schools to consider admissions representation using local data.