The Washington Post reports that “graduates of medical schools at historically black universities, such as Howard and Morehouse, are the most likely to practice the kind of medicine needed under the health-care overhaul, according to a study published” in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
The Los Angeles Times “Booster Shots” blog reported that “researchers scored all US medical schools on their ability to produce doctors who will work in primary care and in underserved communities.”
The study found that “most of the schools with the finest reputations scored abysmally on the ‘social mission’ criteria.”
Meanwhile, “historically black schools, such as Morehouse College and Meharry Medical College, scored the highest in social mission rankings.”
Bloomberg News reports that “the rankings are based on how many of the schools’ graduates practice in primary care, how many work in what are classified by the government as areas with a shortage of health professionals, and how many belong to minorities that don’t have enough doctors serving them. The study defines that term as blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians.”
So, my heartiest congratulations to the historically black medical schools — and may the others follow their lead … but I’m not holding my breath.