GUY: HEALTH CARE WORKERS HAVE BECOME SOME OF THE MOST ESSENTIAL FOLKS DURING THIS PANDEMIC, AND EVEN MORE ARE NEEDED.
UAB MEDICAL PROFESSOR, DR.
RAEGAN DURANT, JOINS US TONIGHT TO TALK MORE ABOUT RECRUITING BLACK STUDENTS FOR MEDICAL SCHOOL.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME THI EVENING.
THE COVID-19 VIRUS HAS SIGNIFICANLTY EXPOSED HEALTHCARE DEFICIENCIES IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY.
ONE OF THE ISSUES THAT COMES UP IS THE BLACK COMMUNITY’S DISTRUST OF THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM I’M SURE THERE ARE A LOT OF REASONS WHY THAT IS.
WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS?
DR. DURANT: THE DISTRUST IS EMBLEMATIC OF BROADER DISTRUST OF THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM.
MUCH OF THE INFORMATION THAT HAS BEEN DISSEMINATED RELATIVE TO COVID-19, THE PANDEMIC.
I THINK WHAT WE SEE IN THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNI IS THAT DISTRUST MAY BE EVEN MORE INTENSE DUE TO THE LEGACY OF DISCRIMINATION, LEGACY OF ABUSE IN MEDICINE AND RESEARCH.
ALL OF THOSE THINGS COMBINE TO LEAD TO A HEIGHTENED LEVEL OF SUSPICION.
GUY: 13% OF THE TOTAL POPULATION IS BLACK BUT ONLY 5% OF DOCTORS ARE AFRICAN-AMERICAN.
WHY DO YOU FEEL THAT NUMBER IS NOT HIGHER?
DR. DURANT ONE OF THE DIFFICULTIES AND CHALLENGES OF INCREASING THE NUMBER OF AFRICAN-AMERICANS IN THE PHYSICIAN WORKFORCE IS JUST THE PATHWAY.
YOU HAVE TO START WITH PEOPLE APPLYING FOR MEDICAL SCHOOL AND THEN OF COURSE PURSUING CAREERS IN MEDICINE.
THE NUMBER OF APPLICANTS IS DISPROPORTIONATELY SMALL.
THE KEY IS INCREASING THE NUMBER OF -- GU HOW DOES SEEING SOMEONE LIKE YOU IN THE WHITE COAT IN YOUR DOCTOR’S OFFICE AFFECT OVERALL HEALTH CARE?
DR. DURANT YOU KNOW, IT H POTENTIALLY A VARIETY OF EFFECTS.
IN SOME RESPECTS, GENERALIZATION HOWEVER, THERE ARE OFTEN TIMES I WALK IN TO A PATIENT’S ROOM, I’VE NEVER MET THEM BEFORE, IT IS AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN PATIENT, AND
THERE IS A LOOK OF SURPRISE.
A PLEASANT SURPRISE.
I THINK IT IS COMFORTING FOR SOME AFRICAN-AMERICANS BECAUSE THERE IS A PRESUMPTION OF A SHARED BACKGROUND AND CULTURAL FRAMEWORK.
ON T WHOLE, IT CAN BE REASSURING.
THAT IS NOT TO SAY IN THOSE INSTANCE WHEN AN AFRICAN AMERICAN PATIENT IS SEEIN SOMEONE OF ANOTHER RACE THAT DR.
CANNOT CONNECT WITH THE PATIENT IN AN EFFECTIVE MANNER.
BUT THERE IS A SHARED CONNECTION OFTENTIMES WHEN AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN PATIENT SEES AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN PHYSICIAN.
GUY: IN RECRUITING WHAT ROADBLOCKS DO YOU COME ACROSS TO BRING MORE AFRICAN-AMERICANS TO THE BUSINESS OF DOCTORING?
DR. DURANT: THERE ARE A NUMBER OF CHALLENGES.
ONE OF THEM IS JUST ROLE MODELS.
THEN IT BECOMES A CHICKEN AND EGG PHENOMENON.
NAMELY THAT THERE ARE TO FEW AFRICAN-AMERICAN PHYSICIANS CURRENTLY AND THAT RESULTS IN FEWER ROLE MODELS FOR YOUNG STUDENTS WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN MEDICINE.
THEREFORE IF OF THEM CHOOSE A CAREER IN MEDICINE.
THERE ARE ALSO STRUCTURAL BARRIERS IN THAT MEDICAL EDUCATION AS WELL AS ALL HIGHER EDUCATION AT THIS POINT IS VERY EXPENSIVE.
$40,000 TO GET A MEDICAL DEGREE THESE DAYS.
IF YOU HAVE A PERSON -- PEOPLE LIKE AFRICAN-AMERICAN SWORDS PROPORTIONATELY F -- WHO ARE DISPROPORTIONATELY POOR, THAT MAKES IT HARDER IN TERMS OF WHAT CAN BE ALLOCATED AND WHAT IS
AVAILABLE.
STATISTICS HAVE SHOWN AFRICAN-AMERICANS ARE MORE LIKELY TO FALL IN THE HIGHEST CATEGORY OF DEBT FOLLOWING UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTIONS.
ALL OF THESE THINGS COMBINED, THE ABSENCE OF ROLE MODELS, THE MONEY NEEDED TO RECEIVE A MEDICAL EDUCATION, AND FRANKLY, THE TIME INVESTED ALL OF THOSE THINGS COMBINE TO
CHALLENGES TO RECRUITING AFRICAN-AMERICANS.