California’s only HBCU aims to solve Black doctor shortage.
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Posted By: S. Moore on December 15, 2022 Charles Drew University, the only historically black university in California, will launch a new MD program next year. The goal is to train more doctors of color to help underserved communities in a state where only 3% of doctors are black. Medical student Allison Leggett knows the power of her presence as a black health worker. During her clinical training, she met a young patient with social delays who was very ill and spent a lot of time alone in the hospital because her father, her sole caregiver, worked three jobs. “At first I thought she didn’t like me, but when I told her it was my last day and I was leaving, she started crying!” Leggett said. “After that, her father pulled me aside and said to me, ‘I don’t think you realize how much of an influence you had on her.'” That moment also resonated with Leggett, who realized how bedside representation can calm a family. “Having a black doctor on the team made him feel really good as he couldn’t be there all the time to advocate for his daughter and he really felt like we were taking care of his little girl,” she said. “He was very scared, but he knew that we were fighting for him and for them.” As a student, Leggett wanted to fight for the community she raised, which is why she began her medical career at the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles, California’s only historically black university. The university has graduated more than 900 physicians since 1981 through a joint program with the University of California Los Angeles. Next year, Charles Drew will start his own medical school in hopes of educating even more culturally competent doctors like Leggett. Studies show that sometimes the difference between great care and a patient slipping through the cracks can depend on who is in the room. For example, a 2020 study found that Black child mortality in the first year of life is halved when treated by a Black doctor. But in California, black doctors have made up about 3% of all doctors in the state for decades. The statewide figure is 5%, compared to 14% of the country’s population, according to a study by Georgetown Review. One reason the study cites for the lack of black doctors: a lack of medical schools serving black students. Of the nation’s 102 historically black colleges and universities, only six are accredited to operate medical schools, but a recent push for medical equity and diversity has opened avenues for more accreditation. “Many African American medical students are interested in treating African Americans and bridging the gap in health disparities — and by opening this new MD program, CDU offers greater opportunities to study medicine in an environment where the institution’s mission is the same – Closing the gap,” said Dr. Deborah Prothrow-Stith, the inaugural dean of Charles Drew’s new College of Medicine. Founded in 1966 after the Watts riots, Charles Drew educates nurses, doctors and assistants and offers specialized residency programs in addition to co-medical studies. Its mission is: “Excellent health and well-being for all in a world without health inequalities.” Medical students in the UCLA joint program complete their pre-clinical training at UCLA and focus on the same subjects as students at other medical schools. But they also get the support and resources of an HBCU and the opportunity to be part of a diverse student body that more accurately reflects the communities they hope to influence in the future – 33% of Charles Drew students identify as Black, 22% Hispanic or Latino as blacks and 22% as Asian. Leggett says the connections she has with her peers were crucial as she navigated medical school, an experience she described as “like drinking out of a fire hose,” and including confronting microaggression and racism during clinical rotations. A recent study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that black medical students at HBCUs felt a greater sense of belonging and reported greater confidence in their academic abilities than those who attended predominantly white medical schools “One of the reasons I chose Drew in the first place is that they are very clear and unwavering in their mission to work with our most marginalized communities, and not just with words but with actions,” he told Leggett , who is in her fifth year of the joint Charles Drew-UCLA program. “Drew was my first job interview and I fell in love with the community, I fell in love with the students and the home environment.” Leggett, who grew up in South Central Los Angeles and received her undergraduate education at the predominantly white Loyola Marymount University, said attending a program that allowed her to focus on giving back to her home was essential. “If you look at the campus, you’ll see that we really are in South Central,” she said, “unlike other campuses that are just a college town.” The university is adjacent to Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital, the only full-service hospital in the Watts/Willowbrook area. Students take turns at the hospital and other locations that provide primary care to underserved communities. With more than 18,000 people per square mile, Watts is one of the most densely populated places in California and the entire country. The area is 85% Latino and 15% Black, more than double the California average. Having his own medical school will allow Charles Drew to focus on his mission without being influenced by another institution’s goals, Prothrow-Stith said. The university will accept 60 students for its independent program, scheduled to begin in July 2023, and another 24 will continue on its joint UCLA program. California lawmakers have earmarked $50 million to support the new program, which school administrators say will be used to construct a new health professions building with a simulation and virtual anatomy training facility. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2023 and be completed in 2025. The curriculum will train students to recognize health issues affecting low-income urban areas, including lack of access to fresh fruits and vegetables, insect-related asthma, overcrowded and stressful living quarters, lead exposure and pollutants in bus parking lots, Prothrow-Stith said. In addition, there are all the usual requirements for pre-clinical training. The curriculum will also include a service-learning component in which students will work alongside community health workers and serve the homeless through mobile clinics. By training more black doctors and bringing them into the community, Charles Drew’s new program could help improve healthcare for the state’s black patients, said Leon Clark, chief research and health equity officer at Sutter Health. To ensure equitable care, medical schools should require training in traits such as sympathy and unconscious bias combined with immersive experiences. “We should be in the classroom, in the hospital, but at some point we need to get the students out into the community, especially into marginalized communities, so they can see firsthand what’s happening to patients outside the system,” he said. And representation matters, he said. “I want to be clear that this does not mean that only black doctors can treat black patients. I think things like empathy, cultural humility, bias are things that can be taught and trained,” Clark said. “But on the other hand, there’s a level of comfort, a level of trust that’s increased when you see people who you think understand what your needs are, what your preferences might be.” Leggett said her medical school experience illustrated the importance of this cultural competency. She shared another experience with a patient during her first year of training. She watched a team of practitioners treat a child with severe burns on her back. The team wasn’t sure how the child came to such an injury and how best to treat him, Leggett said, and wanted to ask Child Protective Services to investigate possible abuse. Leggett noted the patient’s fresh braid style and mentioned that the burns may have occurred when the hair was dipped in hot water, a way to seal synthetic hair extensions. Doctors confirmed the explanation with the child, Leggett said. Despite being the lowest-ranking member on the team, she said, she was able to help expedite care and keep a child with their parents. “Medical school is just a microcosm of what’s happening in our world,” Leggett said. As future doctors at an HBCU, she said, “We constantly interact and see the beauty of diversity within the community.” Story is a Fellow of the CalMatters College Journalism Network, a collaboration between CalMatters and student journalists from across California. This story and other coverage of higher education is supported by the College Futures Foundation. SOURCE CALL MATTERS If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
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