Women of Color and Physicians

Edited by Catherine Verdeflor

Our nation’s population is growing exponentially, meaning that, inevitably at some point in their life, these people are going to seek medical assistance. When 40.3% of the population are minorities and 20% are women of color, it's concerning that only 11.7% of all active physicians are women of color (Aguillar, 2017, para. 2). Why is that and how can we overcome it? We must first analyze the odds stacked up against them trying to pursue medicine and dismantle the disparities. Studies have also shown that more women of color in medicine will lead to higher quality patient care (Aguillar, 2017). So why don’t we have more of them as physicians? This is because they are not provided the same opportunities and resources, are constantly discouraged, and have wealth gaps.

Throughout their life, women of color have not been provided the same educational and career advancement opportunities and resources as their white counterparts. A study conducted by the Artemis Medical Society and The Greenlining Institute interviewed physicians that are women of color and found that “nearly half [stated that]…[the] lack of access to science math education left them at a disadvantage” (Aguillar, 2017, para. 3). This is not just these women’s experiences, but a trend throughout our nation. Furthermore, there is an achievement gap of black and white students that continues to grow (Carnoy & Garcia, 2017). This can simply be boiled down to the fact that majority black schools do not receive the same resources as their white counterparts’ schools. It’s time to start holding school districts accountable and ensure equity between the different schools in their district.

Moreover, women of color are constantly discouraged from becoming physicians. In the same previously mentioned study, they also found that “[f]orty percent recalled one high school or college counselor who tried to discourage them from pursuing a medical career… some were even pressured to abandon their dreams of a career and start a family” (Aguillar, 2017, para. 3). Constant discouragement from people meant to encourage you combined with the lack of resources for these women to think otherwise can be a deadly combination for women of color’s medical careers. For those who overcame this, the discrimination continued in medical school and residency. According to the same study, “More than one third recalled instances during medical school and residency in which male students were encouraged to voice their opinions while women were more likely to be silenced,” (Aguillar, 2017, para. 7). These biases can be fixed by adding more diversity to staff, mandating racial and cultural sensitivity training to staff of high schools and higher education, and, overall, dismantling the stereotype that a doctor is a white man.

In addition, becoming a physician can be an expensive process and is another obstacle keeping women of color out of medicine. These costs may affect all aspiring physicians regardless of race and gender, but the racial wealth gap can make it more challenging for women of color to afford this process. Recent studies show that, for every dollar a white family makes, a black family makes 8 cents of that and a Latinx family makes 10 cents of that (Aguillar, 2017, para. 5). This can be helped by addressing the wage gap in all careers and on a smaller scale, making the process of becoming a physician more manageable for the general population or providing more aid to those who can’t.

Women of color are the minority of physicians throughout America on a large scale. This is because of many underlying factors, such as cost, discrimination, and lack of resources. It’s time we take a stand with these physicians and recognize their importance in advancing the care level of the world of medicine. There is no way around it, we need more women of color physicians.

References

Aguillar, O. (2017 November, 2). We Need More Women Physicians of Color. HuffPost. Retrieved from https://www.huffpost.com/entry/we-need-more-women-physicians-of-color_b_59fa52c5e4b01ec0dede3f5c

Carnoy, M. & Garcia, E. (2017 January, 12). Five Key Trends in the U.S. Student Performance. Economic Policy Institute. Retrieved from https://www.epi.org/publication/five-key-trends-in-u-s-student-performance-progress-by-blacks-and-hispanics-the-takeoff-of-asians-the-stall-of-non-english-speakers-the-persistence-of-socioeconomic-gaps-and-the-damaging-effect/

Poston, D. (2020 January, 2). 3 Ways that the U.S. Population will Change Over the Next Decade. PBS. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/3-ways-that-the-u-s-population-will-change-over-the-next-decade

[Untitled image of physician]. Association of American Medical Colleges. https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/how-covid-19-threatens-careers-women-medicine