Health Equity: guidance and resources for family physicians
Resources, frameworks and programs for family physicians to advance care in all communities.
Due to their comprehensive training, family physicians are uniquely qualified to care for people of all ages—newborns to seniors. They provide the majority of health care for underserved rural and urban populations and treat a more diverse population of patients than any other medical specialty. This often places family physicians as community leaders who have an important role in raising awareness about health disparities, and then following up that awareness by acting as they help patients address social and economic drivers of health inequities.
Family physicians can be empowered to strive for health equity on this page, which features programs, policies and concepts foundational to addressing inequities and social determinants of health that impact individuals, families and communities across the life span.
Video: The complicated history of medicine and Black/Brown bodies
In this presentation, Jason Glenn, PhD, associate professor of History and Philosophy of Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center, provides a detailed historical overview of medical experimentation on, and exploitation of, enslaved people and minoritized communities. It is a thorough deconstruction of how the transgressions of the past have led us to the health inequities and disparities we see today.
Policies
AAFP policies on health equity aim to address the social determinants of health while promoting diversity and inclusion in clinical settings.
Video: Practicing equity in family medicine
Presented by Dr. Ada Stewart, former AAFP board chair and chair of the AAFP Commission on Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness in Family Medicine, this video provides an overview of AAFP’s definitions and policies related to diversity, equity, inclusion and anti-racism. At the time of this recording, Dr. Stewart was the board chair of the AAFP. Her term ended in September 2022.
A diverse workforce equals a healthier population
The AAFP is dedicated to developing a family medicine workforce as diverse as the U.S. population.1 Family physicians are called to this aim as natural leaders for this work. Family physicians are more geographically diverse than any other medical specialty, practicing in urban and rural underserved communities in every corner of the country. While primary care specialties lead other specialties in representation of racial and ethnic minorities in the workforce, the entire medical workforce lags significantly behind the racial and ethnic diversity of the U.S. population.
A diverse workforce equals a healthier population
Studies show that patient satisfaction and health outcomes are improved when health providers and their patients have concordance in their racial, ethnic and language backgrounds.2,3 Studies also show that students from backgrounds currently underrepresented in medicine are more likely to care for underserved populations in their careers and more likely to choose primary care careers.4
The current U.S. physician workforce includes roughly three times fewer physicians from Hispanic and Latino backgrounds, and roughly two times fewer physicians from Black and African American backgrounds, compared to the general population (Figure 1).5,6
Systemic solutions require systemic change
Increasing the diversity of health care professionals and family physicians is a complex challenge. Barriers occur throughout students’ educational experiences. The AAFP acknowledges the complexities of this challenge. To generate different outcomes in workforce diversity, important facets of the education continuum must be addressed, such as:
- Universal access to high-quality early childhood education to ensure that all students begin their lives prepared to be successful in school8,9
- High-quality schools and teachers in underserved communities—This includes adequate school funding, reduced segregation and ensuring qualified, underrepresented minority students have access to gifted student programs.
- Programs that encourage underrepresented minority students to pursue careers in medicine
- Admissions processes that allow colleges and medical schools to consider race and ethnicity as a means for increasing diversity and meeting their educational mission
- Mentorship for underrepresented minority students in medical school
Resources to increase diversity among family physicians
The Ladder for America: Founded by an AAFP member, The Ladder is a society of medical scholars from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine.
Tour for Diversity in Medicine: Co-founded by a family physician, Tour for Diversity exposes minority high school and undergraduate students to health-related careers.
- Marrast LM, Zallman L, Woolhandler S, Bor DH, McCormick D. Minority Physicians’ Role in the Care of Underserved Patients. JAMA Intern Med. 2014;174(2):289. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.12756.
- Cooper LA, Powe NR. Disparities in patient experiences, health care processes, and outcomes: the role of patient-provider racial, ethnic, and language concordance. The Commonwealth Fund. Accessed March 19, 2018.
- Poma PA. Race/ethnicity concordance between patients and physicians. J Natl Med Assoc. 2017;109(1):6-8.
- Walker KO, Moreno G, Grumback K. The association among specialty, race, ethnicity, and practice location among California physicians in diverse specialties. J Natl Med Assoc. 2012;104(1-2):46-52.
- Association of American Medical Colleges. Diversity in the physician workforce: facts & figures 2014. Accessed March 2, 2018.
- U.S. Census Bureau. American Fact Finder. American Community Survey demographic and housing estimates. 2011-2015 American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Accessed March 2, 2018.
- Association of American Medical Colleges. Underrpresented in medicine definition. Accessed March 18, 2018.
- Community Preventive Services Task Force. Recommendation for center-based early childhood education to promote health equity. J Public Heal Manag Pract. 2016;22(5):E9-E10.
- Community Preventive Services Task Force. Recommendation for full-day kindergarten for children of low-income and racial/ethnic-minority families. Am J Prev Med. 2014;46(3):324-326.
Related resources
AAFP advocacy focus: Health equity
The Academy believes in and fights for policies that advance health equity in all communities.
Learn more.The EveryONE Project™
The AAFP launched this project to help family physicians address health equity issues through education and collaboration.
Learn more.
Partner with us
We’d like to hear from you about what interests you. If you are interested in any of these issues or learning more about health equity, please email us at healthequity@aafp.org.