Fifty years ago, Harvard Medical School (HMS) admitted its first two women candidates for the degree of doctor of medicine.

The event was groundbreaking for the school, which was long regarded as a bastion of all-male conservatism and had been criticized for being slow to admit females.

Now, as if to celebrate that anniversary, the school boasts an entering class of more women than men for the second year in a row.

Even though women made up less than half (40.4 percent) of the applicant pool for the Class of 1999, they constitute 51.2 percent of the class. Of the almost 4,000 students who applied that year, 166 ultimately enrolled, of which 85 are female.

Dr. Gerald S. Foster M.D. '51, associate dean of admissions at HMS, attributes these statistics to better performance by female candidates in the interview process.

Foster says the trend does not reflect any special initiative by the university to increase female enrollment. "The process is totally gender blind," he says.

"The statistics are just a result of the quality of the applicant pool, and there were no extra efforts made to include extra women," says Dr. Edward M. Hundert, associate dean for student affairs at HMS.

Hundert says women are "more naturally empathic," a quality which is highly valued in medicine. At the same time, he emphasizes that these are qualities male students can learn as well. "Either gender's brain is equally capable of being empathic. It's something you can learn and get better at," Hundert says.

According to Hundert, the higher matriculation among women may also reflect changing gender roles.

"Women are having the opportunity to realize the potential that they have as roies have changed, and they aren't being held back as much as they used to," Hundert says.

Reshma Jagsi '95, a first-year student at HMS, says the gender ratio is probably more representative of the real world.

"I think it's great that women have come so far," she says.

Harvard is not alone in enrolling more women in its entering class. This year, Johns Hopkins and Yale Universities also enrolled more female than male medical students, according to Foster.

"I think it's a reflection of how attractive medicine is becoming for women as well," says Steven N. Kalkanis '93, a third-year HMS student and outgoing president of the Student Council.

Medical school training programs now also have more openness and flexibility in accommodating students with families, says Hundert. For example, many medical schools now offer part-time residencies so that women who are raising a family can also continue their education.