How to Increase Diversity in Healthcare – Dr. David Lenihan, Co-founder Tiber Health, and President of Ponce Health Sciences University

In the ongoing effort to increase diversity in the healthcare workforce, Dr. David Lenihan believes one key factor is being overlooked: medical school admission policies that prevent a broad enough pool of applicants from being considered. That’s why, when he was Dean of Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in New York, “we pivoted hard.” Mindful that less privileged students often lack the benefits of a robust childhood education, they stopped considering freshman year GPA as just one of many changes. More recently, as he tells host Dr. Rishi Desai, Lenihan has applied the philosophy at Ponce Health Sciences University in Puerto Rico. In a nation where large swaths of people lack access to quality health care, Lenihan’s long-term strategy rests on a simple theory: “If we want graduates to go back and practice in rural America or urban core America,” he says, “quite simply you have to select students from those areas.” Tune in to hear about Lenihan’s plan for a medical school in St. Louis, his run for state senate, and what the MCAT’s verbal section overlooks. If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast