Lawrence Brown Jr., Smith, M. D., Charles, M. D., Freeman, MD, Bert M. Petersen Jr., M.
D., Ogle, D. D. S., Luke S-Roosevelt Hospital Center, Eric Carter, MD, Guishard, MD, Richardson, M. D., Cobbs, MD, Mariscal Jr.
Rosser, M. D., Pogue, M. D., Camilien, M. D., Comrie, MD, Ashford, MD, Brown, M.
D., Holcomb, M. D., Kevin C. Greenidge, MD, John, M. D., Sheares, M.
D., Gayle, M. D., TNJ is dedicated to educating and empowering its readers. In the United States of America (U. S.), Black patients have some of the worst health outcomes and Black men have the lowest life expectancy of any demographic group.
There are several factors that contribute to these health disparities but one problem has been the lack of diversity among physicians; African Americans make up 13% of the U. S. population but only 4% of the U. physicians and less than 7% of the U.
S.'s new doctors. A recent National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) study looked into how changing this ratio could improve health outcomes by randomly assigning Black male patients to Black or non-Black male doctors to see if having a doctor of their race affected patients' decisions about preventive care. The study found that Black men seen by Black doctors accepted more and more invasive preventive services than those seen by non-Black doctors and this effect seemed to be driven by better communication and more trust. A participant who saw an African-American doctor was 20 percentage points (47%) more likely to accept a diabetes screening test and 26 percentage points (72%) more likely to accept a cholesterol test than those who saw a non-African American doctor. Nearly 65% of Black respondents and 70% of White respondents reported that a doctor of the same race would better understand their concerns. Increasing screening by more diverse medical staff bridges life expectancy gap between Whites and Blacks. The Network Journal is a quarterly printed and online business magazine for Black professionals and small business owners that can help you find the type of doctors you need including a Black family doctor, internal medicine doctor, obstetrician/gynecologist (OB/GYN), pediatrician, dentist and specialists located in your area. Unfortunately people even in New York die because of prejudice in the medical system; for example the Tuskegee Public Health Service syphilis study during which unknown Black men were prevented from treating syphilis so that researchers could observe disease progression. First because the study focused on providing preventive care as opposed to curative care to treat diseases the doctor's role was mainly limited to explaining the benefits of preventive services and then providing them. However researchers and others advise against interpreting these results to mean that Black patients should be treated preferentially by Black doctors. In conclusion it is clear that having more Black male primary care physicians can have a positive impact on health outcomes for African Americans as it increases trust between patient and doctor as well as acceptance of preventive services.
