Table 3.

Barriers to health professions education for students underrepresented in medicine.¹³,¹⁸–²³

Socioeconomic barriers	High indebtedness Lack of encouragement to complete high school, enter college, or pursue higher education Lack of financing for college and graduate school Low income/poverty Need to provide financially for family Teen pregnancy/Early parenting
Educational barriers	Concerns regarding duration of training High dropout rates of UIM in high school and college Hidden curriculum propagating bias/racism Less developed networks and lack of mentorship Lack of minority faculty Lack of traditional educational path Low on-time graduation rates Poor performance on standardized achievement tests
Psychosocial barriers	Difficulties in acclimation to majority culture A sense of isolation due to low visibility of others with similar backgrounds Lack of support from family and friends Lack of cultural representation Stereotype threat/risk of person conforming to stereotypes about their social group Undesirable geographic distance of school from student’s home and community Low expectations of academic ability by others

UIM, underrepresented in medicine.