‘Fauci Effect’ boosts medical school applications, motivates students

PHOENIX – University of Arizona’s College of Medicine in Phoenix had a double digit increase in the number of applications compared to last year and it could be influenced by the nation’s top infectious disease expert.

In total, the university received 7,000 applications to fill 120 spots in the Class of 2025, according to Glen Fogerty, Associate Dean of Admissions and Recruitment at the UArizona College of Medicine-Phoenix.

Fogerty believes the ‘Fauci Effect’, dubbed after Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, could be behind the increase.

“All of us medical schools across the country are feeling the effects of it, in the good way because the more applicants we get the more competitive the class is, but then we get to pick from the best of the best,” Fogerty told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Wednesday.

The ‘Fauci Effect’ is said to have boost applications due to young people being inspired by the work of Dr. Fauci and other health experts during the pandemic.

Fogerty calls the increase in applications a good sign for the state since Arizona could experience a shortage of 2,000 primary physicians by 2030 Fogerty said.

Current students have also felt the effect.

Meher Rakkar, a first-year medical student at UA College of Medicine in Phoenix, describes Fauci as empowering especially during 2020 where politics became mixed with health care.

“Being able to see these health officials taking a stance and being able to support that stance with evidence hands a lot of power back to us as students,” Rakkar said.

Across the country medical school applications increased 18% according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.