KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? Three grants totaling $11.8 million will help the Kansas University School of Medicine prepare doctors for dealing with an increasingly diverse patient base.

The grants, from the National Institutes of Health and the Health Resources and Services Administration, will finance an array of programs to attract a diverse student body and train all students on diversity issues.

“These grants not only ensure diversity, but they create an infrastructure for all students that would not otherwise exist,” said Patricia Thomas, associate dean of Cultural Enhancement and Diversity. “Diversity is a benefit to the entire campus, creating an intellectually charged environment.”

About $4 million will create an endowed scholarship account for merit-based scholarships for minority students.

Other programs included will include:

• Enhanced retention programs for minority students.
• Recruiting eight new minority faculty members.
• Providing opportunities for underrepresented minorities to participate in health disparity research.
• Creating a primary and secondary school medical student recruitment program.
• Hiring a faculty member to teach medical Spanish to students.

According to KU data, the first-year medical student class includes 24 percent minorities this fall. Nationally, 38 percent of medical students are from minority groups.

“Forty-seven percent of the patient population in metropolitan Kansas City is underrepresented minorities,” said Barbara Atkinson, executive dean for the medical school. “Our students need to be prepared to work in diverse environments.”