The Gender Gap at Medical Schools in the United States

The Association of American Medical Colleges has released new data on diversity among medical school applicants and enrollees.

The total number of students applying to medical school for the first time in 2023 decreased by 2.6 percent after a 17 percent drop a year ago.

In 2023, 21,651 women applied to U.S. medical schools for the first time. Women made up 57.3 percent of all first-time applicants. Women have been a majority of all medical school first-time applicants since 2016.

Overall, 29,763 women applied to medical school in 2023. They made up 56.6 percent of all applicants.

About 45.7 percent of students who applied to medical school in 2023 were accepted. In 2023, 13,298 women were accepted to medical school compared to 10,609 men. Thus, the acceptance rate for women applicants was 44.7 percent, compared to an acceptance rate of 47 percent for men.

The number of women first-year students at U.S. medical schools in 2023 increased slightly, to 12,724. Women made up 55.4 percent of all first-year students in U.S. medical schools. In 2017, women made up a majority of the entering classes at U.S. medical schools for the first time.

In 2023, there were 53,442 women students enrolled at U.S. medical schools. They made up 54.6 percent of all medical school students. In 2019, women made up a majority of all medical school enrollments for the first time.