Closing gaps in minority health care

Serghino René

Alice Coombs’ brother had a stroke.

As an anesthesiologist at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, she was concerned about the type of therapy he might receive. After a number of telephone conversations with her brother’s caregivers, she became really concerned.

Coombs acted fast.

She took a Southwest Airlines flight from Providence to Baltimore, got on a standby flight from Baltimore to San Diego, rented a car and drove from San Diego to Fontana, finally arriving in her brother’s hospital room. But to her astonishment, her brother had not seen a neurologist yet.

“About 18 hours later, the neurologist walks into the room and I ask, ‘Why is it that I can come from the east coast all the way to the west coast before my brother can see a neurologist?’” said Coombs. “I specifically requested one before I boarded my plane from Providence.”

It was this experience that spurred her to further pursue her ongoing efforts to help eliminate health disparities in treatment for minorities.

Coombs, assistant treasurer of the Massachusetts Medical Society, was one of several health care professionals to attend the American Medical Association’s Commission to End Healthcare Disparities Spring Meeting. Held at the Massachusetts Medical Society Headquarters in Waltham, the meeting was a large-scale effort to educate physicians and health professionals about health care disparities while identifying and developing strategies to eliminate racial and ethnic gaps in health care.

“This meeting was an effort to bring the racial and ethnic disparities that exist in health care to the forefront of people’s minds,” said Sandra Gadson, president of the National Medical Association. “We hope people leave here more informed and aware because the goal is to make the practice of medicine and other aspects of health care more accessible, affordable and culturally competent.”

Despite overall improvements in American health, minorities are behind on nearly every health indicator, including health care coverage, life expectancy and disease rates. Studies indicate that minority physicians are more likely than white physicians to practice in underserved areas and care for minority, poor, underinsured and uninsured people.

Coombs said there is no racial parity between the number of minority physicians and the minority patrons who seek care.

According to national demographics, 25 percent of the population is comprised of underrepresented minorities — African Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans. Out of that, only 6 percent are physicians and 9 percent are nurses. However, they only make up 10 percent of the health care workforce. In Massachusetts, the health workforce is 84 percent white, 6.8 percent Hispanic, 5 percent black and 4 percent Asian.

“There is a definite gap,” said Coombs.

One of the first steps in closing that gap is through education. In a grassroots effort to increase the number of minority physicians nationwide, the newly launched Chicago-based Doctors Back to School program came to Boston to identify potential medical students who have a major interest in the specific medical problems of the underrepresented.

The program aims to raise awareness of the need for more minority physicians and to encourage children from underrepresented minority groups and communities to look at medicine, dentistry and nursing as career options.

Local minority physicians and medical students told scores of children gathered during the meeting about their experiences in preparing for medical school. The visits were scheduled at the Roxbury Boys & Girls Club last Saturday and the Bethel AME Church in Jamaica Plain last Sunday.

They spoke to nearly 60 kids on Saturday and over 65 the following day, with the audience members’ ages ranging from elementary school to high school.

“It was a pleasure to do the program,” said Coombs, who talked about learning medicine as a language and demonstrated a mock anesthetic induction to the kids. “We saw kids who were enthusiastic, as well as a lot of kids who changed their minds about medicine. It was interactive.”

“Our message was mainly one of empowerment,” said Patricia Falcao-Blumenfeld of Health Systems Consulting. “We encouraged their curiosity about the world around them and some long-term thinking. By planting the seeds now, we hope to see an increase in the number of underrepresented minorities in medical school and eventually the workforce.”

Fatai Ilupeju, a physician at Boston Medical Center, participated in the meeting at the Bethel AME Church and said it was a pleasure speaking to the kids.

“It was clear to see that the kids were very happy with the program,” said Ilupeju. “They asked me questions about what you need to do to get to medical school and become a doctor. It was a great way for us to encourage and push them into what they wanted to become.”

Coming from Nigeria, Ilupeju was asked if it was difficult to come to Boston University Medical School.

“I told them no,” he said. “I said it wasn’t that difficult because I was prepared.”