•Resident & Student News•
 Medical students and residents revel in networking opportunities at the minority forum. |
Four family medicine leaders spoke their minds at the Minority Special Interest Forum and Reception July 29.
Jeannette South-Paul, M.D., of Pittsburgh; Peter Nalin, M.D., of Indianapolis; Harry Strothers, M.D., of Atlanta; and Regina Benjamin, M.D., of Bayou La Batre, Ala., touched on a variety of topics, including these.
Minority recruitment
The numbers just don't make sense: Minorities make up about 30 percent of the nation's population, but minority physicians make up just 6 percent of the health care workforce. The latter figure has been consistent since the 1950s, said Benjamin. "It hasn't changed, and I don't know why." What she did know, she said, is that if students don't get fired up about science in junior high, they probably won't be on a path to a medical career.
Add to that this statistic: Only 6 percent to 10 percent of minority students graduate from college, said South-Paul. "If these young people do not graduate with a bachelor's degree, they're not going to medical school."
Mentoring
"What matters in mentoring is relationships, consistency and unconditional positive regard," said Strothers. You don't have to reinvent the wheel, he added. Look for existing community organizations such as boys' and girls' clubs.
A major problem has been getting male mentors, said South-Paul, because they think they have to be perfect to mentor. She tells the guys, "You just need to be there. You just need to be an ear at the end of the phone."
When mentoring young people, tell them they need to do some kind of "service learning" if they want to be in a health profession, said Nalin. Say to them, "If you have a choice between scooping ice cream and working in a nursing home, work in the nursing home," he advised.
Admissions testing
"Be on that admissions committee," said Strothers. Committee members can make a big difference in who enters medical school.
"The standardized tests are just that -- standardized," Benjamin said, adding that the goal of the exams is to ensure that the physician's skill level meets a basic minimum. "You don't want people to think that because you're a minority, you'll be given a break. You will meet that standard and meet it well," she said.
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