A new study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine has revealed that the number of black doctors in the United States has barely increased in the past 120 years. The study also found that there is a significant income gap between Caucasian and black male physicians, which is likely due to wage discrimination and unequal access to career opportunities. Interestingly, the average age of doctors is over 40, representing 74% of the population. This figure has only increased by 4 percentage points in the last 120 years, and the proportion of black doctors remains unchanged since 1940.
This lack of progress is likely due to a number of factors, including the discrediting of black midwives in favor of white obstetricians and gynecologists, as well as the use of black patients for medical experiments and widespread stereotypes that make doctors less likely to listen to the needs of black patients. Using a database of 30 million profiles, Zippia estimates the demographics and statistics of physicians in the United States. That data set comprised approximately 150,000 doctors (3,300 black doctors and 1,600 black doctors). Research has shown that black patients treated by black doctors tend to have better health outcomes, even because they trust their doctors more.
This is why emergency physician and author Uché Blackstocks took on this research - to highlight how little progress has been made in increasing the number of black doctors in the United States.
