A. Bayliss1, P. Altenburger1, K. Metzler-Wilson1, K. Avin1, K. Elsasser1
1Indiana University, Physical Therapy, Indianapolis, United States
Background: Healthcare systems across the world have widespread disparities with minority patients experiencing poorer health outcomes whether that is due to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual identity or socioeconomic status. These disparities are particularly apparent during the coronavirus pandemic where the loss of life is disproportionately greater for economically vulnerable populations, Hispanic/Latinos and African Americans in the USA. Healthcare provider diversity is an evidence-based initiative that has been shown to improve healthcare access for minority patients as well as increase patient satisfaction and improve health outcomes.
Purpose: The purpose was to implement a holistic admissions process to create an inclusive environment with greater student diversity to ultimately improve diversity in physical therapy.
Methods: The holistic admission process included a comprehensive review of an applicant’s personal experiences, academic metrics and character attributes scored with standardized rubrics. The rubrics were developed with the following considerations: 1) alignment with the program’s mission and vision, 2) consideration of legal issues, 3) discussion on the role of implicit bias in admissions decisions and 4) review of the research on holistic admissions. Rubric scoring consistency was ensured by each applicant being independently assessed by two faculty. Scoring differences greater than 2 points initiated a third faculty assessor to determine final score agreement. Applicants’ experiences were assessed for the quantity and quality of experiences across five different areas (life/resiliency, leadership, community service, healthcare & research experience). The metrics considered were math/science GPA in prerequisite courses, cumulative GPA and the GPA for the last 60 credits. The character attributes rubric was comprised of the interview score, recommendation letters and quality of the program specific question answered on diversity, equity and inclusion.
Results: The holistic assessment process was consistent amongst reviewers, with a third assessor needed in only 4 of 131 qualified applicants. The diversity metrics across the last 3 class cohorts (2017-2019) include race/ethnicity, LGBQT, 1st generation, and economically disadvantaged. Prior to holistic admissions, the 2017 cohort had 6 students with diversity metrics, with one student having 3 diversity metrics. The 2018 cohort had 10 students with a diversity metric, with one student having 2 diversity metrics. In 2019, adoption of the holistic admission process increased the number of students with diversity metrics to 19, with 9 of these students having 2 or more diversity metrics and a total of 29 diversity metric indicators, a 38% increase from the previous cohort.
Conclusion(s): The implementation of a holistic admissions process based on experiences, attributes and metrics was an effective process in creating greater diversity in the student body. However, a holistic process does require thoughtful planning and a commitment of additional time to assess each applicant. Additionally, it has enabled us as a program to reexamine our preparedness for educating a more diverse student body and facilitate programmatic review of policies, procedures and culture.
Implications: A holistic admission process has the potential to increase diversity in the future physical therapy workforce and provide improved care for underrepresented persons and impact healthcare disparities.
Funding, acknowledgements: There were no funding sources.
Keywords: Diversity, Holistic admissions
Topic: Professional issues: diversity and inclusion
Did this work require ethics approval? No
Institution: Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis
Committee: Indiana University Human Subjects & Institutional Review Board
Reason: A change to a holistic admission process required approval from the university's legal team rather than ethics board approval.
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
