The authors discuss the decline in the numbers of black men enrolling in medical school over the last two decades and assess possible reasons for it, including the smaller numbers of men from nearly all races and ethnic groups now applying to medical school, the declining popularity of the undergraduate biology degree among men in general, the falling number of black students who go on to college, and, underlying all these, the pervasive effects of poverty on educational achievement, the dwindling employment opportunities for black men of limited education (brought on by dramatic changes in the American economy), and the rising indices of stress and alienation among black men. The authors review the larger social implications of the growing educational gap between black men and other segments of society, pose questions about some of the trends that have been mentioned, indicate lines for further research, and propose potential solutions to the problem of the deepening underrepresentation of black men in medical schools.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1990

Minorities in medicine: past, present, and future.

Since 1970 the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has had two key policies about minorities in medicine: (1) special attention should be paid to minority groups underrepresented in medicine, and (2) minority groups should be represented in medicine in the same proportions as in the population as a whole. Despite strong gains in the 1970s in increasing the number of black trainees and graduates, the proportion of minorities in medicine now is declining in relation to the total population. The paper discusses this situation, changes in U.S. minority populations, factors that affected the attempt to achieve parity in medicine, the current status of minorities in medical training (including educational debt) and on medical faculties, and remedies for institutions' lack of success in achieving parity. Three successful programs are described, as are the broader social issues that underlie academic medicine's attempt to increase the proportion of minorities in medicine.

Black or African American↗

PubMed1985

Anthropology and the study of chronic disease: adolescent blood pressure in Corpus Christi, Texas.

In this anthropological study, the influence of psychosocial adaptation, and social and biological factors upon the blood pressures of Mexican-American adolescents and adolescents of European descent (Anglo-Americans) in Corpus Christi, Texas were examined. Black Americans have one of the highest rates of hypertension of any population in the world. The reasons for this are not entirely clear. Epidemiologic studies have shown that although clinically defined hypertension usually does not appear until adulthood, systematic differences in the average blood pressures of black and white history of discrimination and prejudice are in some way related to the prevalence of hypertension among black Americans, then Mexican-Americans of south Texas, who also have experienced a high rate of poverty and a history of discrimination, might also be expected to have a higher rate of hypertension than other Americans. Mexican-American youths were found to have a significantly higher mean systolic pressure than Anglo youths. Mexican-Americans also were found to have significantly more problematic psychosocial adaptation. There was little relationship, however, between problematic psychosocial adaptation and high blood pressure. Subsequent statistical analyses, including an analysis of covariance, indicated that other variables, including the heaviness of body build and length of residences in Corpus Christi, were of much greater importance in predicting blood pressure. Implications of these findings for social epidemiology and health promotion are discussed.

Adaptation, Psychological↗