Why America Needs More Diverse Doctors

Follow Dr. Mathew Wayne Whitest on social media, and you'll get plain-spoken, no holds barred health and wellness advice. He'll tell you that, on average, African American men die seven years earlier from undiagnosed chronic illnesses because they're too afraid to go to the doctor and must change their ways. You'll learn about foods that protect against inflammation, how salt increases high blood pressure, and how important it is to exercise and watch your weight. And during the Covid-19 pandemic, Dr. Wayne, as he's known, posted videos about wearing a mask, what safe distancing means, and proper hand washing.

 Whitest has long been a trusted health and wellness information source in Cordele, Georgia, a predominantly Black city with nearly 39,000 residents located about 140 miles south of Atlanta. A new study published this month in JAMA Network Open shows how crucial diverse primary care providers like Whitest are to saving lives and reducing ethnic and racial health disparities in the US.

Researchers from the Health Resources and Services Administration of the US Department of Health and Human Services analyzed data from 1168 US counties with at least 1 Black primary care physician (PCP). They measured the associations between the representation of African American PCPs and the mortality and survival rates within and between counties at set time points in 2009, 2014, and 2019. The researchers found that residents in counties with a Black primary care provider had higher life expectancies. Additionally, life expectancy increased by about one month for every 10% increase in African American primary care physicians. In 2021, the US life expectancy gap between Black and White Americans was nearly six years. (76.4, 70.8)

In an accompanying editorial Dr. Monica Peek, a primary care provider and University of Chicago health equity researcher pointed out that nearly half of the nation's 3000 counties had to be excluded from the study because they didn't have a single Black physician. Among the counties included in the analysis, none had proportions of Black PCPs equivalent to the ratio of African American residents within the population. Peek says medical schools need to consider increasing the number of Black doctors a national priority. The researchers didn't provide reasons explaining their findings. Peek touched upon other studies that suggest Black doctors are more willing to serve low-income communities and share their expertise outside of healthcare systems to help people stay healthy.

Whitest says that's important because many Black Americans don't trust researchers and the healthcare industry due to institutional racism and historical events. He explains families have handed down these stories. They include how the US Public Health Service used Black Tuskegee Airmen to study syphilis and didn't offer treatment, even after it was widely available, and the sterilizations of Black women. Whitest says these stories have made many Black Americans skeptical of research and medicine, increasing health outcome disparities.

Crisp County, where Cordele is the county seat, Whitests says, is one of the poorest and unhealthiest in Georgia. "A study about the mortality of African Americans in this community from 2009 to 2019 found that the lifespan of an African American Male was 60.2 years of age and for African American Females, it was 68 years of age. That's much less than other races and very sad. So my goal has been to make this community healthier." Whitest has launched various health initiatives, like the daily social media wellness postings, and hosted many local health information and prevention programs to tackle the diseases that most impact people: high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and cancer.  

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Whitest says his years of work in the community made a difference. People were dying, but when the Covid vaccines became available, he says they were too afraid to get it. So Whitest posted pictures of himself getting vaccinated. "People told me they'd heard all kinds of stories and were fearful, but when they saw I got the shot, they trusted me as one of them, and they came in, set aside their fear, and got vaccinated." Whitest says that level of trust and love provides powerful healing. Solid-doctor-patient relationships are necessary to prevent disease, reduce health disparity gaps, and save lives. 

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