Using a Social Determinants of Learning (SDoL) Index for Equity-Minded Admissions in Selective Professional Health Programs: A Case Study

Overview: Historically marginalized applicants face many barriers to access to higher education, often exhibiting lower metrics of academic achievement, and thereby remaining underrepresented in many graduate programs and professions. While social and economic factors driving such disparities and inequities have long been acknowledged, they are often difficult to integrate into admissions review processes seeking to contextualize traditional academic metrics within broader socioeconomic and educational realities in applicants’ background. This session provides an overview of an innovative, research-driven project in Rosalind Franklin University’s admissions process for its allopathic medicine, PA, and PT programs. This project systematically takes extensive data on social determinants of learning (SDoL) in students’ background into account in the admission process for selective professional programs. This SDoL framework identifies factors such as economic and educational opportunity and community support that significantly influence applicants’ prior and anticipated academic performance, providing essential context for admissions decisions. This session will outline how data on students’ background are drawn into the admissions review to create an actionable model to address structural, societal barriers that contribute to inequities in access. Early evaluative data on the outcomes of this pilot project will be shared, along with recommendations for developing similar models.