By Lauren Tousignant

The future (of medicine) is female.

Female matriculants, or enrollees, make up 50.7 percent of the 21,338 students entering medical school this year — up from 49.8 percent in 2017.

Additionally, female enrollees increased by 3.2 percent in 2017 while male enrollees declined by 0.3 percent. In fact, female enrollment has increased 4 percent since 2015 while it’s declined 6.7 percent for males.

“We are very encouraged by the growing number of women enrolling in US medical schools,” Darrell G. Kirch, MD, said in a statement. “This year’s matriculating class demonstrates that medicine is an increasingly attractive career for women and that medical schools are creating an inclusive environment.”

Kirch added that there’s still a lot of work to do in order to establish a diverse range of students, faculty and leadership, but this is a “notable milestone.”

The number of new students accepted to US medical schools rose 1.5 percent to 89,904 students in 2017. However, the number of applicants declined 2.6 percent in 2016 — female applicants fell 0.7 percent, while male applicants fell 4.4 percent.

Medical school applications are in decline worldwide as many students are opting to pursue more lucrative careers in STEM-related fields. In March, research predicted the US will face a crippling shortage of doctors by 2030.