The recent death of Dr. Helen Nash, a local pediatrics pioneer, caused me to reflect upon my medical school and residency education, the crucial roles mentors played in my matriculation, and the future of minority medical education. I attended a historically black university for undergrad but decided to attend a majority university for medical school, The University of Iowa. Needless to say my experience was somewhat of a culture shock.
Not only did I not know anything about corn, silos, and farming in general, I had never lived in a town where you would rarely see another person of color. Finding a church, a hair salon, seasonings for your favorite down-home meals, and a date were definitely scarce. My medical school class of approximately 175 had only about 15 minorities and that included Hispanics and Native Americans. Of that 15, only a few of them were black men. Appalling statistics, right?
During my tenure at the University of Iowa, I doubt if I ever saw six black faculty the entire four years of the program. Some would argue, did it matter whether minority faculty where there or not? For a young black woman who had never been that far away from home and separated from a familiar culture, I would argue YES. Medical school is difficult enough to get into but an even more arduous task of completing. Students need to be reminded that there are role models out there who succeeded in finishing the program.
The data regarding under-represented minorities (URMs) in higher education is shameful. URMs comprise 30 percent of the college-age population but only about 14 percent of college graduates. Statistics from the National Center for Education show that income and education level effect academic achievement. Large numbers of under-represented minorities live in single family homes or low income households. As a result, the pool from which qualified medical school applicants are pulled is minuscule.
Why is this important? I am so glad that you asked. The 17th report of the Council on Graduate Medical Education in 2005 focused on minority medical education. The Council on Graduate Medical Education (COGME) was authorized by Congress in 1986 to provide an ongoing assessment of physician workforce trends, training issues, and financing policies and to recommend appropriate Federal and private-sector efforts to address identified needs. This report highlighted the importance of maintaining diversity in the medical workforce to ensure high quality care of our minority population.
Some of the findings of the report revealed that URM medical students were more likely to finish the program in more than four years, therefore acquiring more debt; URMs were more likely to receive scholarship assistance than non-URMs; URMs were less likely than non-URMs to have a spouse or family member contributing financially to the cost of their education and that there were few existing programs that encouraged URMs to enter academic medicine.
The report then went on to discuss how important the role of minority physicians is in caring for the underserved. Years of research has shown that minority providers are more likely to care for patients in impoverished areas, those who are underinsured, those who lack insurance, and those persons on Medicaid. The National Medical Association, the national organization of African American physicians, has been championing this cause for several years.
The NMA along with the Council on Graduate Medical Education understands that a more comprehensive approach is needed to increase the percentage of black physicians in the US from a dismal six percent. This strategy starts as a pipeline initiative, such as encouraging children at a young age to consider the sciences, improving elementary and secondary science and math education, and ensuring that children have strong reading and analytical skills to improve entrance exam test scores. It also involves providing more financial assistance to current medical students.
On November 3, 2012, Mound City Medical Forum will host its annual scholarship banquet. The revenues from this banquet will provide $10,000 dollars of scholarships to medical students at Washington University and Saint Louis University. One of the scholarships is a $5,000 James Whittico, M.D. award given to a student who has demonstrated significant service and leadership to the community.
Minority medical education is at a crisis. Our communities must do all that we can to encourage and promote our young people. The Supreme Court could rule any day now to eliminate race based consideration in admissions processes. Therefore, we must ensure that our children our prepared no matter the outcome. Contact Mound City Medical Forum at moundcitymedicalforum@yahoo.com to see how you can help local medical students stay in school.
Yours in Service,
Denise Hooks-Anderson, M.D.
Assistant Professor
SLUCare Family Medicine
yourhealthmatters@stlamerican.com
