Outraged by the recent events highlighting racial inequities in our country and inspired to make a difference, I have reflected on how we, as health care professionals, can make a difference within our professions. In diabetes management, we must be cognizant of the racial and ethnic disparities in prevalence rates of diabetes: 7.5% of non-Hispanic Whites, 9.2% of Asian Americans, 11.7% of non-Hispanic Blacks, 12.5% of Hispanics, and 14.7% of American Indians/Alaskan Natives (1).

For minority populations, having an ethnically/racially concordant health care provider is associated with improved patient satisfaction, patient-clinician communication, and access to care (2). In the Oakland Men’s Health Disparity Project, non-Hispanic Black male patients randomly assigned to a Black doctor were 20% more likely to agree to diabetes screening (3). The study authors suggest that increasing the number of Black doctors could reduce the cardiovascular mortality and life expectancy gaps between Black and White men.

Table 1 depicts the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/Health Resources and Services Administration 2011–2015 data, published in 2017 (2). These data demonstrate that Hispanics are underrepresented in all the U.S. health occupations that play a vital role in diabetes management, including social workers, psychologists, advanced practice registered nurses, dietitians and nutritionists, pharmacists, physicians, physician assistants, and registered nurses. Non-Hispanic Blacks are underrepresented in all health care occupations except among dietitians and nutritionists (15%) and social workers (21.5%). Asians are underrepresented among social workers (3.0%) and psychologists (3.4%). Alaska Natives and American Indians are underrepresented among all health care diagnosing and treating practitioner professions except that of physician assistant. We, as health care professionals, have a duty to mentor and train the next generation; we can help close this racial divide in the health care professions.

TABLE 1

Selected U.S. Health Occupations by Sex, 2011–2015 (2)

HispanicNon-Hispanic
WhiteBlackAsianAmerican Indian/ Alaska NativeMultiple/ Other Race
Total U.S. workforce 16.1 64.4 11.6 5.3 0.6 1.8 
Social workers 12.0 60.6 21.5 3.0 0.8 2.0 
Psychologists 6.3 83.5 4.9 3.4 0.2 1.6 
Advanced practice registered nurses* 4.5 84.0 5.7 4.1 0.2 1.3 
Dietitians and nutritionists 8.5 68.7 15.0 6.0 0.3 1.4 
Pharmacists 3.7 70.4 5.9 17.9 0.2 1.8 
Physicians 6.3 67.0 4.8 19.6 0.1 2.1 
Physician assistants 10.0 72.7 7.1 7.3 0.6 2.2 
Registered nurses 5.7 73.5 10.4 8.4 0.4 1.5 
HispanicNon-Hispanic
WhiteBlackAsianAmerican Indian/ Alaska NativeMultiple/ Other Race
Total U.S. workforce 16.1 64.4 11.6 5.3 0.6 1.8 
Social workers 12.0 60.6 21.5 3.0 0.8 2.0 
Psychologists 6.3 83.5 4.9 3.4 0.2 1.6 
Advanced practice registered nurses* 4.5 84.0 5.7 4.1 0.2 1.3 
Dietitians and nutritionists 8.5 68.7 15.0 6.0 0.3 1.4 
Pharmacists 3.7 70.4 5.9 17.9 0.2 1.8 
Physicians 6.3 67.0 4.8 19.6 0.1 2.1 
Physician assistants 10.0 72.7 7.1 7.3 0.6 2.2 
Registered nurses 5.7 73.5 10.4 8.4 0.4 1.5 

Data are percentages. Bold type indicates disproportionate representation compared with the total workforce.

*

Includes nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists, and midwives.

This year, I challenge you to:

  • Allow a pre-professional student of color to shadow you.

  • Mentor a high school or college student of color.

  • Reach out to HBCUs (historically Black colleges and universities) in your area and give a talk on your profession.

  • Help applicants of color become a member of your profession by reviewing their admission essays or applications.

  • Offer a mock interview to a pre-professional student or soon-to-be graduate.

If you are not in a position to mentor right now, there are other ways you can help. Consider:

  • Attending a continuing medical education lecture or conference addressing the multiple health care disparities disproportionately affecting people of color.

  • Take an implicit bias test, such as the Harvard Implicit Bias Test on Race (available online from https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/user/agg/blindspot/indexrk.htm) or attend training to recognize how your unconscious biases can affect the health care you provide to patients.

I recognize that it is through both my hard work and my privilege that I became a physician assistant. I lived in a community of health care workers whose mentoring greatly contributed to making me the health care professional I am today. I shadowed neighbors who worked in health care, participated in medical mission trips, and volunteered. Many applicants to health care professional programs do not have similar opportunities. Besides recognizing our privilege, now more than ever, it is time to decrease the ethnic and racial gap in our workforce to ultimately benefit all of our patients.

Duality of Interest

No potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article were reported.

Author Contributions

As the sole author, J.A.D.-M. is the guarantor of this work and, as such, takes responsibility for the integrity and accuracy of the material presented.

1.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
.
National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2020
. Available from https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/data/statistics/statistics-report.html. Accessed 10 July 2020
2.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration
.
Sex, Race, and Ethnic Diversity of U.S. Health Occupations (2011–2015)
. Available from https://bhw.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/bhw/nchwa/diversityushealthoccupations.pdf. Accessed 10 July 2020
3.
Alsan
M
,
Garrick
O
,
Graziani
G
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Does diversity matter for health? Experimental evidence from Oakland
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Am Econ Rev
2019
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109
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