Whether it’s doctors treating children or pharmacists dispensing medicine representation matters. This weekend there’s a youth summit to encourage students of color to pursue careers in health care.
Exploring what's possible. That's the goal of the upcoming 'Black Men in White Coats' Youth Summit at UNT Health Science Center campus in Fort Worth. The goal is to help guide young Students of Color toward careers in healthcare.
"We know representation matters," UNT Health Science Center Associate Professor and Executive Director of Inclusive Diversity said. "Sometimes not seeing yourself in given professions, sometimes people are not even afforded the opportunity to be exposed to such career paths, so getting students involved in the STEM health sciences could definitely help with representation."
According to a 2021 UCLA study, Black Americans make up about 13.6% of the U.S. population, but just 5% of the physicians. While the number of Black female physicians has slightly increased, the number of Black male physicians has remained essentially unchanged since 1940.
"So the goal is to bring not only that population up but also much broader, all Persons of Color, minorities as well," George said.
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'Black Men in White Coats' is not solely for Black male students. The goal is to get students as young as third grade interested in pursuing a career in the medical field.
"I never aspired to be the dean of a medical school, but I did aspire to make things better," Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee, D.O. said.
Ross-Lee was the first Black female dean of a U.S. medical school.
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"We spend more per capita for healthcare than any other country in the world, yet we are not the healthiest, and as this country gets more diverse, that issue only gets worse. It doesn't get better," Ross-Lee said.
Ross-Lee said we need to change how healthcare works so that it works for everyone.
"The word is trust," Ross-Lee said. "Ultimately every physician will understand human-centered care and it won't matter how the patient is packaged."
The 'Black Men in White Coats' Youth Summit is Saturday, February 18 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the UNT Health Science Center campus in Fort Worth. It's open to students from third grade through college.
