Urban Health Program, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60612-7313, USA.
Acad Med. 2012 Nov;87(11):1556-61. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e31826c97bd.
U.S. universities have created programs that seek to increase the number of minority health care professionals practicing in underserved communities. One such program, the Urban Health Program (UHP), established at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) in 1978, has graduated more than 5,000 members of underrepresented minorities (African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans) into the health professions from the graduate college and the colleges of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, applied health, and public health at UIC.The author provides a history and description of the UHP and an analysis of the key factors that were fundamental in creating the program and sustaining a commitment to its continuance. These factors include community action and demand for a clear and decisive legislative mandate to increase the number of minority health professionals, early outreach and academic pipeline initiatives designed to increase interest in health-related careers among underrepresented minority elementary and secondary students, changes in the culture and commitment of health professions colleges, and institutional commitment at the highest levels.The author seeks to stimulate greater awareness of the rewards, challenges, and complexities associated with maintaining such efforts; his article can serve as a primer for the creation of university programs dedicated to diversifying the health professions and the delivery of health care services.
美国的大学已经设立了一些项目，旨在增加在服务不足的社区工作的少数族裔医疗保健专业人员的数量。其中一个项目是 1978 年在伊利诺伊大学芝加哥分校（UIC）设立的城市健康计划（UHP），该项目已经从研究生院和医学院、牙科学院、药学院、护理学院、应用健康学院和公共卫生学院毕业的少数族裔（非裔美国人、拉丁裔和美国原住民）超过 5000 名。作者提供了 UHP 的历史和描述，并分析了创建该项目和维持其持续承诺的关键因素。这些因素包括社区行动和对增加少数族裔卫生专业人员数量的明确立法授权的需求，旨在提高代表性不足的少数民族中小学生对与健康相关职业的兴趣的早期外展和学术渠道计划，卫生专业学院文化和承诺的变化，以及最高层次的机构承诺。作者试图引起人们对维持这些努力相关的回报、挑战和复杂性的更多认识；他的文章可以作为创建致力于使医疗保健多样化和提供医疗服务的大学项目的入门读物。
