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The article discusses the need for more diverse faculties at medical schools in the U.S. and looks at the reason why so many minority and women medical school faculty leave education because they feel overworked. There are a great number of women who have entered the medical profession, however, it is noted that few women physicians are in positions of authority in medical schools. The motivation and satisfaction that many women and minority faculty members feel was researched by the author who also notes that they feel the universities where they teach do not have a sense of altruism in medicine and that faculty members felt that the culture of their schools made them invisible.

Focuses on the proposal of U.S. President George W. Bush to eliminate the funds for the Health Professions program that helps medical schools increase the number of minority health professionals. Influence of politics on the debate over the program; Background on the program; List of institutions that receive grant money from the program.

Presents news and events related to education in the United States for the week of November 5-11, 1998. Decline in the number of minorities applying to medical schools in California, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas; New York City-based Metropolitan Center of SUNY Empire State College's holding of public information sessions throughout November.

Focuses on the concerns on how to sustain the success of the U.S. federal government's program called Model Institutions of Excellence" which is designed to increase the number of minority students who earned degrees in science, engineering and mathematics. Success of the program; Universities which have participated in the program; Details on the results of the program.

Focuses on the findings of a report by the National Academies' Institute of Medicine about the shortage of minority practitioners in the field of health care in the U.S. in 2002. Percentage of Hispanic nurses; Underrepresentation of African Americans in the field of dentistry; Steps that schools can take to encourage more minority students to pursue health-related careers.

The article reports that the shortages of minority doctors, dentists, pharmacists and veterinarians in the U.S. are likely to worsen unless immediate actions are taken according to a study by the Association of Minority Health Professions Schools. The study cited that only 2.6% of doctors and 2.9% of dentists in the country are African Americans. The group stressed that more scholarships and low-interest loans should be made available to minority students to retain them. It also urged further efforts to expand the affiliations of minority health schools with other institutions.