It may come as a surprise that medical school applications have surged in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. That information was outlined by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) in an October report.

The report states, At Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, applications for admission to the class of 2025 are up more than 35% compared to the same time last year. At Boston University School of Medicine, theyve risen by 26%. And at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, admissions officers have seen applications increase by 27%.

To further emphasize, the report says, In the past decade, the year-over-year increase has averaged less than 3%.

The number of applications submitted already shows a significant increase compared to the same time in 2019, according to Fox 7 News.

So far, there are more than 7,500 additional applicants nationwide, according to data from the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS), which processes submissions for most U.S. medical schools. Thats an increase of nearly 18%, according to AAMC.

Weve been experiencing a leveling off in recent years, so the large increase was quite surprising, said Gabrielle Campbell, AAMC chief services officer. Its also inspiring. In the past decade, the year-over-year increase has averaged less than 3%.

Why the increase? Some reports, as well as several of our member medical schools admission staff, according to a AAMC spokesperson, refer to the increased interest to work in the medical field as the Fauci effect, named after the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci.

AAMC speculates that some of the motivation is related to the coronavirus pandemic that brought forth the heroism that front-line healthcare workers have shown throughout the world.

So many people have seen that different groups in our country are facing such different effects from COVID-19 based on their ZIP code or their race. This year, applicants are motivated to get out there and fix societal problems, said Kristen Goodell, MD, associate dean of admissions at Boston University School of Medicine.

One would surmise that witnessing all the responsibility, stress and daunting experiences would have the opposite reaction and lower the appeal of entering the healthcare profession.

Geoffrey Young, Ph.D., AAMC senior director for student affairs and programs explains it this way, I make an analogy to the time after 9/11, when we saw an increase in those motivated to serve this country militarily. This certainly seems like a significant factor this year.

Young also gives a few more explanations to the phenomenon, We cant say for sure why so many more students have applied this year. Some students may have had more time for applications and preparing for the MCAT exam after their college courses went online. Some may have been motivated by seeing heroic doctors on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. There may be other explanations as well.

A few medical school applicants told AAMC:

We survey incoming medical school students every year and will be able to learn more about why this group of students decided to apply, though we wont have that data until next year, Young went on to say.

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Increased medical school applications during COVID-19 pandemic called the Fauci effect - PennLive