Community

Fewer Black Men Apply to Medical School Than in 1978

Published

9 years ago

November 4, 2015

Oviea Akpotaire and Jeffrey Okonye put in long days working with patients at the veterans’ hospital in south Dallas as fourth-year medical students at the University of Texas Southwestern.

<p>

In a class of 237 people, they are two of only five Black men.

“I knew the ones above us, below us,” Okonye says. “We all kind of know each other. It’s comforting to see another person that looks like you.”

While more Black men than before have graduated from college over the past few decades, the number applying to med school has dropped: From 1,410 in 1978 to 1,337 in 2014.

Enrollment statistics are similar: 542 Black male students enrolled in 1978, compared to 515 in med school in 2014.

That’s according to a report from the Association of American Medical Colleges. Every other minority group — including Asians and Hispanics — saw growth in the number of applicants. And Black women also saw an uptick in applications.

Enrollment statistics for 2015 are just out and they show a modest gain of 8 percent more Black men in medical school over the year before.

“This is a positive sign,” says Marc Nivet, AAMC’s chief diversity officer, “but it does not change the fact that for 35 years the number has been trending poorly.”

“I was really surprised,” says Akpotaire, who is studying internal medicine. “I sent [the study] to my mom and dad immediately.”

The total number of applicants to U.S. medical schools was close to 50,000 in 2014, with about 20,000 enrolling, according to the AAMC.

Increasing ethnic and gender diversity among doctors is important for patient health. Studies show people are more likely to follow doctors’ directions on things like medication or exercise if they can relate to them.

Dr. Dale Okorodudu, a third-year pulmonary and critical care fellow at UT Southwestern, says making cultural connections can make a big difference.

“If you can relate to [patients], it’s a lot easier for them to feel at home and comfortable with you,” he says.

Okorodudu wrote a blog post about an experience at Parkland Hospital that stuck with him. He was walking down the hallway on the 10th floor when a black man stopped him:

“It’s good to see you brother!” I had never met this man, but I knew exactly what he was talking about. With a large smile on his face and a look of pride, he extended his arm to give me a handshake. “There aren’t too many of us doing what you do. I’m glad we got some representation in here.”

For years, Okorodudu has been trying to figure out why so few black men go into medicine. His conclusion: The lack of role models.

“If you’re a black male, let’s say you’re growing up in an inner-city neighborhood,” he says. “There’s so many things directly in front of you that you have the option to go into.”

From music and sports to small business and church, Okorodudu says those professions are visible and present in the lives of young African American boys. “But when you talk about the medical workforce, none of us are directly there in front of them,” he said.

Okorodudu decided to become a doctor when he was 18. A year from now, when he’s done with his fellowship, he’ll be 32.

Med student Jeffrey Okonye points out that for students like him who embraced math and science, there are much faster ways to “make it.”

“A lot of friends of mine, Black males, are engineers,” Okonye says. “They go to school for four years. They have a job, great pay, even had internships in undergrad, I was highly jealous of. Whereas my route, four years undergrad, then another four years of school, and then another X amount of training after that.”

So why did he take the longer route?

“It’s hard to describe the feeling you get when you make someone actually feel better,” Okonye says. “When you can see them go from one state to another and recognize that you were a part of literally changing this person’s life.”

A desire to care for others isn’t the only thing that Okonye, Akpotaire and Okorodudu have in common. All three have had role models of doctors or nurses in their families. And all three are the children of immigrants — from Nigeria.

News article reproduced courtesy of NPR, KERA News and Kaiser Health News at KHN.org.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Who Wants to Be the Next Elected Mayor of Oakland?

The Oakland Post is issuing a CALL to all candidates to present their answers, plans, or solutions in response to our list of questions.

Published

6 hours ago

January 7, 2025

Oakland Post

An aerial view of the downtown Oakland skyline on a clear sunny day. The federal building and other iconic buildings fill the skyline. Photo: iStock.

By Paul Cobb

Many of you probably recall the oft-repeated expression when describing leadership that “many are called but few are chosen.” We will be inundated during January with many claims of qualifications by those who want to lead Oakland.

As of Jan. 1, 2025, we have heard the names of 14 potential candidates who might become Oakland’s next Mayor.

The Oakland Post is issuing a CALL to all candidates to present their answers, plans, or solutions in response to our list of questions.

Any candidate who wishes to receive a free announcement, publicity or space in the paper must submit solutions.

The first questions we propose are 1) What is your budget balancing plan?
What is your position on requiring all city employees to work full-time in their designated offices rather than remotely from their homes?
What is your plan to provide open-access opportunities to all police officers for overtime pay?
Since many businesses, especially downtown, have closed, what is your plan to attract and increase revenues?

Please send your submissions of 300 words or less to each question to Social@postnewsgroup.com or visit www.postnewsgroup.com

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

Oakland NAACP President Stands on the Frontlines for Equity

With education as a cornerstone, Adams emphasized the importance of youth having access to quality kindergarten through 12th-grade education along with college or vocational programming beyond high school. “I feel that it’s so important for our children to get a good education in K-12th grade, along with the colleges of their choice, especially with the HBCU’s (Historically Black Colleges and Universities).”

Published

7 hours ago

January 7, 2025

Oakland Post

NAACP Oakland President Cynthia Adams. Photo Courtesy of Cynthia Adams.

By Carla Thomas

For Cynthia Adams, president of the Oakland chapter of the NAACP, fighting for the rights of Black people comes naturally. With southern roots in Arkansas, Adams experienced firsthand the injustice and unfairness of racism.

“Growing up in the Jim Crow South, I experienced the unfair treatment of people of color and how faith can inspire communities to bring about positive and long-lasting change,” said Adams. Adams says a combination of her family and faith has kept her strong in the face of adversity and inspired her life’s work of advocacy.

Adams chose education as a career path — and a means to achieve equity and overcome racism. She earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and later received an advanced degree from California State East Bay.

Adams’ experience as an Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) recorder, a counselor, a researcher, and a college recruiter has allowed her to be laser-focused on youth. She also served as the chairperson for the Oakland NAACP youth.

“The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination. We want to ensure our citizens have equal rights and opportunities without discrimination based on race.”

As a partner with the State of California’s Stop the Hate campaign, Adams says the initiative is a step in the right direction. “It’s great that our governor and state created the Stop the Hate campaign and provides resources for victims of racism and other hate crimes,” said Adams. “The racism toward Black people has increased and our children are being targeted,” she continued.

“We, at the Oakland branch, created a declaration on racism that will amplify the needs of our community to combat racism,” continued Adams. “That declaration was adopted nationally.”

Bridging communities and collaborating is also a strategy for moving society toward justice, according to Adams.

“Through the NAACP, we build connections between communities and advocate for the rights of historically marginalized and oppressed individuals,” said Adams. “Collective action is the only way to advance civil rights and promote social equity.”

By taking stands on supporting former Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong to supporting the recall of a mayor faced with a scandal that brought negative national press to the city of Oakland, Adams has always demanded more for her people, and better for Oakland, the city she calls home.

She expressed pride in the national organization’s announcement of a $200 million fund designed to empower Black funders nationwide. “We all know the health of a community begins with economics,” said Adams.

Adams says that strengthening Black businesses automatically sustains a community. “We’ve also got to educate our community on opportunities and teach our children critical thinking so that they can provide the next generation of solutions for society,” said Adams.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

‘In 2024, We Had a Decrease in Shootings and Killings,’ Says Oakland Mayor Nikki Bas and Ceasefire Leaders

“The Ceasefire Strategy is once again being properly implemented and fully executed by all its partners as a data-driven gun violence reduction strategy. It is reducing gun violence in the City of Oakland with remarkable results and tangible improvements. The leadership of Rev. Damita Davis- Howard, Ceasefire director, Dr. Joshi of the Department of Violence Prevention, and the Ceasefire Strategy partners must be commended for this incredible work in ensuring public safety,” said Pastor Michael Wallace, Oakland Public Safety and Services Oversight Commission member.

Published

7 hours ago

January 7, 2025

Oakland Post

Some faith and community leaders who attended the year-end Ceasefire press conference are (left to right): Rev. Damita Davis-Howard, Oakland Mayor Nikki Fortunato Bas, Rev. Michael Wallace, and Brooklyn Williams. Photo by Kevin Hicks.

From Oakland City News Sources

Oakland’s Ceasefire partners, including representatives from the City of Oakland Department of Violence Prevention (DVP), Faith in Action East Bay, and other community leaders held a press conference Monday to discuss year-end reductions in gun violence and share community support for the Ceasefire Strategy.

“Our communities have never wavered from our support of the Ceasefire Strategy. We knew in the beginning that Ceasefire saves the lives of Oakland’s most vulnerable,” said Alba Hernandez, Faith in Action East Bay.

According to the DVP, Oakland will finish 2024 as the safest year since the start of the COVID pandemic. As of Dec. 23, there has been a 35% decrease in murders accompanied by a 33% reduction in nonfatal shootings compared to 2023.

As Oakland’s primary violence reduction strategy, Ceasefire seeks to identify individuals at very high risk of being involved in gun violence. Those high-risk individuals who are arrestable are prioritized for law enforcement action. Others at the highest-risk are informed of their risk and offered intensive community-based services such as life coaching, workforce development, and mental health care.

Ceasefire operates through close coordination and collaboration between the Mayor’s Office, DVP, the Ceasefire director, Oakland Police Department, and the Alameda County Probation Department, with the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (NICJR) and California Partnership for Safe Communities (CPSC) providing training and technical assistance.

“I am extremely grateful for the successful resurrection of the Ceasefire Strategy and for the historic declines in shootings and homicides that followed in just one year. I am proud to have worked with [former] Mayor Sheng Thao to reinvest in Ceasefire, and I commend the leadership of Brooklyn Williams in the Mayor’s Office, who has assembled a committed team that is saving lives every day,” said Mayor Nikki Fortunato Bas.

Said Pastor Hopkins, Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church, “I have been a pastor in Oakland for 36 years, and for each of those years the number of homicides has been a crisis in our community. Ceasefire is an answer to prayer because it serves to save lives by stopping the shooting and serving as a lifeline to healing,”

“The Department of Violence Prevention is grateful for the on-going support of Faith in Action East Bay and committed community leaders,” said Dr. Holly Joshi, chief of the DVP.

“Their vision to bring the Ceasefire strategy to Oakland over a decade ago, advocacy for its initial implementation, and determination to see it successfully re-rooted are commendable. With Ceasefire fully up and running, DVP life coaches and violence interrupters are in communities every day working with high-risk individuals, mediating conflicts, and preventing retaliatory violence. Through hard work, focus, and partnership, we have made significant progress this year in reducing gun violence,” said Joshi.

“The Ceasefire Strategy is once again being properly implemented and fully executed by all its partners as a data-driven gun violence reduction strategy. It is reducing gun violence in the City of Oakland with remarkable results and tangible improvements. The leadership of Rev. Damita Davis-Howard, Ceasefire director, Dr. Joshi of the Department of Violence Prevention, and the Ceasefire Strategy partners must be commended for this incredible work in ensuring public safety,” said Pastor Michael Wallace, Oakland Public Safety and Services Oversight Commission member.

“The Oakland Ceasefire Strategy is one of the most comprehensive, intelligence-led violence reduction initiatives I have had the privilege to be a part of and fully support,” said Oakland Police Department Chief Floyd Mitchell.

“The 2024 violent crime reduction data realized by the City of Oakland underscores the effectiveness of our unwavering focus, strategic emphasis, and strong collaborative partnerships within the Ceasefire framework,” Mitchell continued. “Thanks to the dedicated efforts of the Oakland Police Department, and the invaluable contributions of our community, county, state, and federal partners, Oakland has achieved a 34% decrease in homicides, a 33% decline in firearm-related assaults, and a 25% reduction in robberies.”

“Oakland is once again a national leader in gun violence reduction,” said David Muhammad, executive director of NICJR. “Through the hard work of community violence intervention workers in partnership with city staff, police officers, Alameda County Probation, and others, many lives were saved in Oakland this year.”