With one year to go until the 2015 target date for achieving the MDGs, substantial progress can be reported on many health-related goals. The global target of halving the proportion of people without access to improved sources of drinking water was met in 2010,with remarkable progress also having been made in reducing child ortality, improving nutrition, and combating HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. Between 1990 and 2012, mortality in children under 5 years of age declined by 47%, from an estimated rate of 90 deaths per 1000 live births to 48 deaths per 1000 live births. This translates into 17.000 fewer children dying every day in 2012 than in 1990. The risk of a child dying before their fifth birthday is still highest in the WHO African Region (95 per 1.000 live births)– eight times higher than that in the WHO European Region (12 per 1.000 live births). There are, however, signs of progress in the region as the pace of decline in the under-five mortality rate has accelerated overtime; increasing from 0,6% per year between 1990 and 1995 to 4,2% per year between 2005 and 2012. The global rate of decline during the same two periodswas 1,2% per year and 3,8% per year, respectively. Some countries (USA, EU, Romania etc.) is rapidly becoming a more diverse nation, as demonstrated by the fact that non-white groups will constitute a majority of the American population later in this century. The representation of many of these groups (e.g., African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans) within health professions, however, is far below their representation in the general population. Increasing and diversity among health professionals is important because evidence indicates that diversity is associated with improved access to care for patients, greater patient choice and satisfaction, and better educational experiences for health professions students, among many other benefits. Many groups - including health professions educational institutions (HPEIs), private foundations, and state and federal government agencies - have worked to increase the preparation and motivation of underrepresented minority (URM) students to enter health professions careers.