UMass Medical to use racist policies for admitting minorities.

Its not the fact this is a vile patronizing way of admitting, its a fact so many will embrace it as the way of boosting minorities in higher education. It is racist on so many levels.

The University of Massachusetts Medical School, seeking to bolster the number of minority physicians in Massachusetts, plans to offer high school seniors the rare opportunity to gain admission to college and medical school at the same time.

Under an initiative set to be finalized today, the state’s only public medical school will partner with UMass campuses in Boston, Amherst, Lowell, and Dartmouth to create a joint baccalaureate-MD program that would ensure admission for aspiring doctors from underrepresented ethnic and socioeconomic groups.

UMass officials say they hope the Medical Scholars Program - among a few of its kind in the country - will begin enrolling students in fall 2011. It is expected to boost the prestige of the state university system, providing an incentive for high-achieving students to attend a state university instead of a more prestigious private college.

“This helps other UMass campuses to attract more highly qualified students and helps us to entice those very talented individuals to stay in the state and practice medicine here,’’ said Dr. Terence Flotte, dean of UMass Medical School.

The medical school will set aside 12 slots in its 125-student, first-year class for qualified students from groups underrepresented among Massachusetts doctors. Those groups include African-Americans, Hispanics, certain Southeast Asians, and Cape Verdeans, Brazilians, and other Portuguese speakers.

Students of any ethnic background from low-income families or those among the first in their families to attend college would also qualify.

“The bulk of the class would remain open to free competition,’’ said Flotte, adding that there is no cap on the number of students accepted from any ethnic group or undergraduate school. “If you don’t fit into the pathway program, you will still receive a fair shot.’’