College of Medicine

Invited by the Goizueta Chair of Science Education at Georgia Southern University, Dr. Rodriguez presented on “addressing disparities in academic medicine” at the College of Education, with participation from the College of Nursing. This presentation was among the more difficult for Dr. Rodríguez, as he was presenting demographic data to educators. The event was well attended, but Dr. Rodríguez got lost on his way to Statesboro and he almost did not make it to the presentation. But, the buick made it and we had a nice event. Afterwards, Dr. Alejandro Gallard, the event sponsor, took Dr. Rodriguez to a country club to eat. When asked, Dr Rodriguez could not remember what he had, only that it was very good.

Dr. Campbell presents to the Board of Directors of the American Board of Family Medicine as part of his Institute of Medicine/National Academy of Medicine (IOM/NAM) fellowship

Dr. Campbell is about to start his second year of his IOM/NAM fellowship. He has been traveling back and forth to Washington DC doing consensus and committee work as he learns more about the IOM and how it operates. As part of his fellowship requirements, he gave a presentation in Greensboro, GA on May 4, 2015 that talked about the work that he has done so far with the IOM.

Drs. Campbell and Rodriguez shared Center research and discussed diversity issues with the Diversity Council for the Department of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. The meeting was via teleconference and Drs. Campbell and Rodriguez presented a PowerPoint presentation of published work from the Center including how to address minority tax issues in our academic health systems.

Dr. Kendall Campbell was invited to sit on a panel to review questions for the American Board of Family Medicine to look for racial and cultural bias in certification and maintenance of certification Family Medicine licensure exams. Dr. Campbell was one of several Family Physicians from all over the nation invited to participate.

Drs. Jose Rodriguez and Kendall Campbell offered a stimulating discussion on debt at a recent gathering of SNMA and ALMS students at Dr. Rodriguez’s home. There were over 40 students in attendance, mostly year one students. Content for the presentation came from Center research and personal experiences of the speakers.

The Center for Underrepresented Minorities in Academic Medicine is designed to research and inform issues that pertain to minority faculty and students in academic medicine. The Center has worked closely with student organizations, SNMA as well as ALMS and has also worked with students in the BRIDGE to Medicine, Masters degree program. The first Bridge student was sponsored last year and completed a project on minority faculty and tenure and a current Bridge student is continuing this research looking at offices of diversity in our medical schools and the presence of minority faculty and students. The Center is also sponsoring a 4th year elective for the first time teaching research methods, literature review and writing skills as they relate specifically to issues involving underrepresented minority faculty in academic medicine.

This year the North American Primary Care Research Group held its annual conference in Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Cancun and the surrounding area were the very last of the provinces to join the nation of Mexico, and it is located in Mexico’s youngest state. The center was invited to present our collaborative work with the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Institute of Public Health on the role that Historically Black Colleges and Universities play in the representation of Black faculty and medical students in the United States. An analysis of 2013 shows that although HBCU medical schools represent less than 3 percent of medical schools, they are responsible for 14% of Black medical students, and 31% of Black chairs. In other words, less than a handful of the 126 medical schools analyzed produced more than 1/3 of all black chairs and 1/10 of all Black faculty. Considering the fact that these schools tend to be under-resourced, this is a call to action for the AAMC, the AMA and the LCME to take action. Medical school expansion is happening at a rapid pace (15 schools in 10 years, with more coming) but there are no plans to place one at an HBCU. Clearly HBCU medical schools have discovered how to increase Black faculty, students and chairs. It is now our opportunity to learn from them, or to form more of them. This will likely have the effect of increasing Black enrollment in medical school as well as Black faculty representation.

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