Why the U.S. medical field is pushing for more Black doctors
Dontal Johnson, 40, dreamed of becoming a doctor as a child but never saw himself making a mark in the industry.
“I never saw a Black doctor growing up, and one of the craziest things is I never saw a Black doctor until I got to college,” Johnson said.
Johnson decided to apply to medical school in Texas, but was in disbelief when a friend told him about a potential school in Nashville, Tennessee, that was filled with black students.
“He started describing a place where people who looked like me lived, dentists, doctors, scientists. So I went home that night. It was still – I had dial-up Internet – so I couldn’t Not waiting for it to show up. And then these stills were brought in by Meharry and I applied at about 1 or 2 in the morning that night.”
After graduating from Meharry Medical College, a historically black institution, he decided to stay in the community and is now a pediatrician and professor there.
“I think one of the things that’s been really brought to light is the African American patient population and the systemic racism and history and health care industry that’s not always present in those patient populations,” Johnson said.
Black patients fare better overall health outcomes When black doctors treat, According to recent research.
To further strengthen these ties, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently announced $600 million to all four medical schools at historically black colleges and universities — Meharry Medical College, Morehouse School of Medicine, Howard University School of Medicine and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. Together, they educate about 50% of black doctors in the United States, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, African Americans currently make up approximately 14% of the population. But according to the AAMC, they make up only 5.2% of the nation’s physicians.
“Having a health care professional in the community is important, but also having a black healthcare professionals “First of all, this will allow us to educate and train more Black and brown physicians, and it will allow us to have students Have more options where you want to intern and reduce your debt burden.”
This is what she has seen.
In 2020, Bloomberg provided $26 million to Morehouse School of Medicine to help pay off student debt. Resident physician Jamil Joyner received $100,000.
“It doesn’t just say, ‘We believe Black doctors,’ it says, ‘We believe Black institutions and how they will changing healthcare For black people,” Joyner said.
For Dr. Dontar Johnson, more investment in Black doctors is needed.
“I’m a living witness to the training of African-American physicians who provide services and care to the underserved. So when you look at the data together and say, hey, when we work with African-American physicians, we put : “We’re seeing less strokes, less hypertension, less obesity in the community. “
With healthier communities, there will be a healthier country.
