The Medical Field, Barely Black.
By: Jakyla Miller
The doctors office: a place some people dread and a place some people love. As for me, I loved it because I saw people who were doing the things that I wanted to do when I grew up. But none of those people ever looked like me. However, one day, a couple years ago, I was in the ER and I finally saw a black doctor in action. I was so fascinated. I never thought I would ever get to see a black doctor in my life.
The medical field is a field that is biased and racist in a couple of ways. The majority of the field is White while other races are barely represented. According to Data USA, “69.8% of Physicians & surgeons are White, making that the most common race or ethnicity in the occupation.” I can guarantee you most children have once said that they wanted to be a doctor. Why? because doctors are praised and put on a pedestal.
They are the people that can make miracles here on earth and make advancements to the health field all the time. According to an article by white coat investor, "Medicine is a wonderful career with the potential to do much good above and beyond the ability it provides to support your family and meet your financial goals." Above all else, it is a money making career and we all love money because we live in a world where money is everything and you need money to survive.
Why is it that I was so surprised when I finally saw a doctor that was the same color as me? “The overall [doctor] population of the United States was 15 percent black in 2013”, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. However, the proportion of medical students who identified as African-American was 7.7 percent in 2016, up from 5.6% in 1980, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. So what is causing this deficit of Black doctors?
Black children are looked down on like they aren't good enough. People always tell them not to strive so high because they aren't capable of doing great things. However, they are capable of doing great things despite the challenges. I interviewed an African American second year resident at Jefferson hospital and she says she “loves her job. Loves doing procedures that everybody doesn't get the chance to do, and helping people.” This is someone who is passionate about their job and truly cares for their patients. Now why can we not have more than 15 percent of the entire medical field being black? Encouraging the students will help them succeed rather than telling them they can't. In an article about helping students succeed it stated, "Some may take more time than others, but all students want to be told, You're smart and you're doing a good job."
According to an article by the Harvard business review, "a workforce with more black doctors could help reduce cardiovascular mortality by 16 deaths per 100,000 per year — resulting in a 19% reduction in the black-white male gap in cardiovascular mortality and an 8% decline in the black-white male life expectancy gap." You can see that with black doctors, we can make a substantial difference. If you've always wanted to be a doctor but feel like the challenges of breaking into a field that has historically excluded colored people , think again. Try looking at the association of black woman physicians to read into some of the women who are doing great things in the medical field. We need more Black doctors. Maybe the next one is you.
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