A recent article by HealthDay News credits the lack of black doctors in the United States to social and economic problems that predate college years.
A study conducted showed that in 2005, less than eight percent of first-year medical students in the Unites States were black, even though blacks account for about 15 percent of the country's population.
African Americans are more likely to develop cancer than any other racial group in the United States and although white women are more likely to develop breast cancer, black women are more likely to die from it.
More blacks are needed in the medical field to treat and relate to the black community.
"If I do stay in DC, then yes, I see myself practicing in an urban neighborhood. I want to give back to the community and show that it is possible [to be a black doctor]," said College of Medicine student Kojo Marfo.
Marfo, who seeks to become an orthopedic surgeon, says that he feels so many young black students shy away from medical professions primarily because of the lack of role models.
College of Dentistry student, Beverly Green, says that there is indeed a need for more minorities within health professions.
"People want to see someone who looks like them," said Green, acknowledging the fact that patients want doctors who understand their condition personally as well as professionally.
Agreeing with Marfo, Green believes that role models play a huge role in someone choosing health care as a profession.
"I had a brother-in-law who was a dentist," said Green. "To hear him talking about it just interested me…he was able to do his job and still be accessible to his family and I felt that was great."
Although Green does not immediately plan to work in a predominately black neighborhood when she graduates, she plans to head to Jamaica, from which her family is originally, and establish her dental practice in lower income neighborhoods, as a way of giving back and paying forward.
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