AANHPI Heritage Month

A graphic on a light green background with white bamboo with an overlay of text that says "Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month. The AAFP celebrates the achievements of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and their contributions to family medicine and the health care community."

May is AANHPI Heritage Month. The AAFP believes medicine should be reflective of the diverse populations it serves, which will help ensure every patient receives the high-quality care they deserve. So, while we value our Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander members throughout the year, this month we’ll highlight and celebrate their achievements and contributions. We’ll also feature tools and resources to help members promote health equity and provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services.

Members in action

Meet Anita Ravi, MD, L’Oréal honoree, family physician and advocate

Anita Ravi, MD, MPH, MSHP, FAAFP, has made trauma-informed care of survivors of gender-based violence, including domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking, her mission for the past decade. Ravi’s platform recently got even bigger with help from a seemingly unlikely source when the New York family physician recently was named one of 10 Women of Worth by L'Oréal Paris.
Peony Khoo, MD, IBCLC, FAAFP

NCCL leader says advocacy work ‘fills my cup’

Peony Khoo, M.D., IBCLC, FAAFP, is currently serving the AAFP and the California AFP on commissions and committees, and is an officer in the Los Angeles AFP.

“Once I finished training and settled into my job, I felt a need to stay connected with my passion in reproductive health, in advocacy and all these other aspects of family medicine that make family medicine what it is to me,” said Khoo.

Resident leader hopes to help students find FUTURE in family medicine

Jiayu “Kate” Tian, M.D., once thought she was done with the AAFP’s annual FUTURE conference. Turns out, the event isn’t quite finished with her

“AAFP Board members and other family medicine leaders were all encouraging me and asking, ‘What are you running for?’ A lot of people were invested in my leadership journey even when I didn’t have the confidence to think I could do it.”

Health equity CME

A group of multiethnic family physicians gathered around a table.
Online CME

Health Equity for Everyone Comprehensive

Explore what true equitable and inclusive care can look like in your practice and incorporate strategies your entire care team can use to help everyone you encounter feel recognized and welcome.

This expanded learning activity will help you better appreciate what a non-inclusive patient experience might look like and why certain groups feel isolated, resulting in a less-than-optimal patient-doctor relationship.
Doctor consulting with patient.
Online CME

A Look at the Intersection of Health Equity: Ethnicity, Race, Sexual Orientation and Sexual Identity

Address health inequities through an intersectional lens in this free course focused on strengthening patient-doctor relationships and improving outcomes.

Former American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) President Ada Stewart, MD, FAAFP, will explore fresh approaches to patient care that reflect the people and communities you serve—a conglomeration of ethnicity, race, sexual orientation and sexual identity.
Health equity illustration of multicultural faces.
Free CME

Using Health Equity To Reduce Disparities in Patient Care

Cultural and ethnic differences have been shown to contribute to overall health, with higher mortality rates in general for minority populations.

This free online educational activity is designed to help you understand how these disparities, including provider diversity, affect health care delivery so you can make evidence-based decisions to reduce harm and increase health care equity to all.

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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Poma PA. Race/ethnicity concordance between patients and physicians. J Natl Med Assoc. 2017;109(1):6-8.
  4. 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.
  5. Association of American Medical Colleges. Diversity in the physician workforce: facts & figures 2014. Accessed March 2, 2018.
  6. 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.
  7. Association of American Medical Colleges. Underrpresented in medicine definition. Accessed March 18, 2018.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.