University of Texas Health at San Antonio, Long School of Medicine.
University of Texas Health at San Antonio, Long School of Medicine.
J Natl Med Assoc. 2021 Feb;113(1):43-45. doi: 10.1016/j.jnma.2020.07.004. Epub 2020 Aug 3.
In these unprecedented times, Black medical professionals must deliver excellent medical care and uphold the highest standards of their profession while living through a devastating pandemic. They must do so in a time when the country tries to reconcile with generations of racism and injustice. The current social environment in America is particularly challenging for medical trainees such as medical students and resident physicians who must focus on their educational requirements and careers in settings that are often averse to addressing topics such as racism. This plight is not new for Black medical trainees, as they have been fighting for centuries to obtain an equitable seat at the table of medical education. Throughout the 19th century and early 20th century, Black physicians were repeatedly disenfranchised from the predominantly white medical societies, most notably the American Medical Association (AMA), which was established in 1847. Racially integrated medical organizations such as the National Medical Society of Washington D.C. (NMS), which was founded in 1870, were developed to challenge discriminatory practices of the American Medical Association against Black practitioners. The inception of the National Medical Association (NMA) in 1895 allowed Black doctors to advocate for disadvantaged patient populations and focus efforts on health issues pertinent to the underserved.
However, Black and underrepresented minorities continue to face challenges with medical school matriculation and retention. A 2015 AAMC report showed that Black male medical school matriculants failed to increase significantly between 1978 and 2014. From 2006 to 2018, the number of Black medical school matriculants increased from 6.7% to 7.1%.
To improve these matriculation statistics, it is critical that institutions integrate innovative measures such as robust recruitment pipelines to expose underrepresented high school and college students to the medical field, as well as seek diversity actively in administration to dismantle the ingrained ideologies of systemic racism rooted in healthcare and medical education. To combat the institutionalized racism that has plagued medical education throughout its existence, collaboration as a unified front is essential to achieving the equity and social justice in healthcare that patients deserve.
在这个前所未有的时代，黑人医疗专业人员必须在经历毁灭性大流行病的同时，提供卓越的医疗服务，并保持其职业的最高标准。他们必须在这个国家试图调和几代人种族主义和不公正的时代做到这一点。当前的美国社会环境对医学生和住院医师等医学受训者尤其具有挑战性，他们必须专注于自己的教育要求和职业，而这些环境往往不愿意解决种族主义等话题。对于黑人医学受训者来说，这种困境并非新鲜事，因为他们几个世纪以来一直在争取在医学教育的餐桌上获得平等的席位。整个 19 世纪和 20 世纪初，黑人医生一再被排除在主要由白人组成的医学协会之外，其中最著名的是成立于 1847 年的美国医学协会（AMA）。为了挑战美国医学协会对黑人从业者的歧视性做法，成立了一些种族融合的医学组织，如成立于 1870 年的华盛顿特区国家医学协会（NMS）。1895 年成立的全国医学协会（NMA）允许黑人医生为弱势患者群体辩护，并专注于为服务不足的人群解决相关健康问题。
然而，黑人和代表性不足的少数族裔在医学院入学和留级方面仍然面临挑战。2015 年 AAMC 的一份报告显示，黑人男性医学生入学人数在 1978 年至 2014 年间没有显著增加。从 2006 年到 2018 年，黑人医学院入学人数从 6.7%增加到 7.1%。
为了提高这些入学统计数据，机构必须整合创新措施，例如建立强大的招生渠道，让代表性不足的高中生和大学生接触医学领域，并在行政部门积极寻求多样性，以打破医疗保健和医学教育中根深蒂固的系统性种族主义观念。为了应对贯穿医学教育始终的制度化种族主义，团结一致的合作对于实现患者应得的医疗保健公平和社会正义至关重要。
