News-Journal/FATIMA HUSSEIN Students check out the various booths featuring medical schools, health organizations and Bethune-Cookman research and science departments at the Tour for Diversity in Medicine event, Monday, Feb. 16, 2015.

DAYTONA BEACH Enoswh Moore hopes to become a pediatrician someday.

That is, provided he can get into medical school.

The senior biology major at Bethune-Cookman University was one of hundreds of medical school hopefuls who turned out for an event Monday at the universitys Center for Civic Engagement called the Tour for Diversity in Medicine.

The university was the first stop in a national tour that physicians, dentists and medical students from throughout the country are taking part in to encourage minorities to consider careers in health care.

The event was also intended to help students understand what to expect when applying to medical school.

Alden Landry, a co-director of the tour, said his group seeks to educate, inspire, and cultivate future physicians and dentists of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds by forming local connections.

He said the event was put on to bring awareness of the lack of minorities in the health care field as well as to help prepare minority students on how to improve their chances of getting accepted into medical school.

There is a significant lack of minorities in the fields and it is affecting how people are receiving health care, said Landry, a physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts.

According to an October 2014 study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, differences persist in health care quality among racial and ethnic minority groups. People in low-income families also experience poorer quality care.

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National 'Tour for Diversity in Medicine' kicks off at B-CU