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A recent report from the Association of American Medical Colleges has raised concerns about a looming shortage of physicians in the United States, potentially exceeding 120,000 by 2034. The report, titled The Complexities of Physician Supply and Demand: Projections From 2019 to 2034, estimates that the shortfall could range between 37,800 and over 124,000 physicians. One potential solution to ameliorate this shortfall lies in increasing the number of Black doctors in the workforce.
Research highlighted in a JAMA Network article titled Projected Estimates of African American Medical Graduates of Closed Historically Black Medical Schools indicates that around 35,000 Black medical school graduates could have contributed to the physician workforce by 2019, had several historically Black medical schools remained operational. The decline of these institutions is closely linked to the 1910 Flexner Report, which recommended the closure of most such schools, with only Howard University and Meharry Medical College being deemed viable.
Dr. Kendall M. Campbell, senior associate dean for academic affairs at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, along with his colleagues, conducted an economic evaluation on the repercussions of these closures. The analysis employed both steady and rapid expansion models to shed light on how the absence of these educational institutions affects the number of Black medical graduates.
Historically, between the late 1800s and early 1900s, there were 13 Black medical schools across seven states, including Louisiana and Pennsylvania. Research indicates that these schools collectively produced over 700 Black doctors before their closures. Today, only four historically Black medical schools remain: Meharry Medical College, Howard University College of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science.
The Flexner Report, a groundbreaking document that reshaped American medical education, advised the closing of about 75% of U.S. medical schools, including five Black colleges. While Howard and Meharry were allowed to thrive, the report’s impact has resonated negatively through generations, stunting the growth of Black medical professionals. Meharry’s President Dr. James E.K. Hildreth has voiced strong criticisms of the biases in the report, asserting that it suggested Black physicians were unprepared to serve a broader patient community.
Dr. Hildreth and other medical educators argue that merely increasing the number of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) is insufficient to solve the impending physician shortage and the racial healthcare gap. “If those five schools had survived, we would likely see tens of thousands more Black and brown physicians today,” he reflects, a sentiment echoed by Campbell’s research findings.
Emerging Black Medical Schools
Looking ahead, the number of Black medical schools is poised to increase from four to six in the coming years. This expansion offers the potential to diversify the physician workforce, improve healthcare accessibility in marginalized communities, and reduce health disparities. Dr. Reynold Verret, president of Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA), has announced plans for a new medical school at the institution.
“Experts agree that addressing the physician shortage involves creating new medical schools, but increasing diversity requires additional commitment,” Dr. Verret explains. He emphasizes that the establishment of new medical colleges has been infrequent, especially at HBCUs. His vision for XULA aims to change this trend.
XULA, the only historically Black Catholic university in the U.S., has consistently produced a high number of Black students who apply to and graduate from medical schools. Dr. Verret has continued this trend since taking office in 2016, aiming to cultivate a future generation of Black medical professionals with plans for an inaugural class of around 50 medical students.
The initiative to create a medical school is not new; it has been progressing for several years, driven by the goal of confronting health disparities through enhanced representation and increased diversity in medical research. “We want to ensure that experts in color are part of critical health dialogues,” Verret adds.
Morgan State University
Morgan State University in Baltimore is also laying the groundwork for a new medical school. The School of Osteopathic Medicine at Morgan State University is scheduled to admit its first class of approximately 75 students by Fall 2024, pending approval from the appropriate accrediting bodies. This school would be the first osteopathic medical institution at an HBCU and serve regions comprising Maryland, Delaware, and Northern Virginia.
Dr. John W. Sealey, the founding dean of the proposed school, notes that the institution will operate as a privately funded, for-profit entity. Morgan State has partnered with Salud Education LLC for funding and development, thereby enabling the establishment of the new medical school without relying on state funding.
Baltimore currently hosts two prestigious medical schools, the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the University of Maryland School of Medicine. The establishment of Morgan State’s School of Osteopathic Medicine may represent the first new medical school on a Black college campus since 1966.
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
Charles R. Drew University is also in the process of launching a medical degree program, aiming to welcome its first class of about 50 students in 2023. Dr. Deborah Prothrow-Stith, the dean of CDU, has been actively planning this initiative for over five years, emphasizing the pivotal role that addressing racism plays in public health.
The COVID-19 pandemic has starkly highlighted existing racial health disparities and has galvanized efforts to find solutions. CDU, founded in response to socio-political unrest in the 1960s, is now pursuing a similar mission to enhance health equity through education and training.
The university has secured funding from the California state government to bolster its new medical program, aiming to significantly increase the number of Black and Latinx medical graduates in the state.
Morehouse School of Medicine
Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta has recently formed a $100 million partnership with CommonSpirit Health to expand its medical program over the next decade. Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, president of MSM, has announced plans to establish five regional medical campuses, which will considerably increase the number of Black residents and double the size of the medical student body from 110 to 225 students annually in the next five years.
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