As a first-generation immigrant from Cuba, I grew up in a home where neither of my parents spoke English or had a high school diploma. My father worked two jobs as a janitor and garbage man to support my mother, who raised my five brothers and me. My parents always wanted a better life for us than the one they had in Cuba, and because of this, they were the biggest supporters of our education. Being the first in my family to graduate from college and then medical school gave me the opportunity to become a doctor and dedicate my life to serving others. In doing so, I not only achieved my own American dream, but I also set a role model for four of my brothers who followed my example and pursued their educational ambitions after they graduated from college and began graduate school.
I can attest to the fact that education can change lives. Unfortunately, many students from underrepresented backgrounds face barriers that are difficult to overcome. Socioeconomic status and racial stereotypes make it difficult to access higher education, especially medical school.
Gaps in faculty and staff representation, implicit biases, and lack of access to role models and mentors significantly impact how a child sees themselves in science and the professional world. These barriers create significant inequalities of opportunity and prevent many talented people from pursuing their dreams and contributing to a diverse and inclusive workforce, including in the medical field.
Access to medical education is important because to help communities across our country, we must address the shortages and failures in representative health care. Although Hispanics make up 19 percent of the population, they only make up 6.9 percent of physicians. While Black and African Americans make up 13.6 percent of the U.S. population, they make up only 5.7 percent of the nation’s physicians. These discrepancies exacerbate the nation’s current physician shortage. The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) estimates that the U.S. could face a physician shortage of 86,000 by 2036—a statistic that could be greatly improved if more Black and brown students were encouraged to study medicine, thus increasing and making the physician pool more diverse.
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Increasing diversity in our health care system will improve health care for millions of Americans. A growing body of research shows that diversity in medicine plays a critical role in improving health outcomes by increasing access to quality health services and building patient trust. Medical experts agreed that shared cultural backgrounds, such as race or ethnicity, between patients and health care providers lead to better patient outcomes and reduced health disparities.
To address these inequities, we must first lean on those who have done the hard work. Xavier University of Louisiana, the nation’s only Catholic HBCU, has been a leading school for Black medical graduates for decades and is among the schools with the most Black pharmacists in the country.
To create a more equitable and diverse healthcare workforce, Xavier recently announced its partnership with Ochsner Health to create the Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine (XOCOM). Ochsner is a leading academic health system in the Gulf South and has a long tradition of excellence in clinical medical education. By combining two powerful institutional forces, XOCOM will be the only HBCU medical school on the Gulf Coast and one of only a handful nationwide.
In April, I was named the founding dean of XOCOM. This is an opportunity that allows me to give back and provide new opportunities for the next generation of diverse medical students as we continue to shape and advance the future of healthcare. After receiving provisional accreditation, XOCOM will create training opportunities for 50 students in its first class and will continue to grow as the medical school evolves.
Strategic partnerships with leading HBCUs and minority-serving institutions are critical to creating a path for physicians who understand cultural nuances and have the empathy needed to treat patients from marginalized communities. Fostering collaborations with institutions like Xavier and ensuring qualified students have access to these colleges will, in turn, expand access to medical education for underrepresented students. Community and national support is also critical to expanding access to medical education for underrepresented students. We are honored to have recently received $5 million in seed funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Greenwood Initiative to create this educational opportunity. Collaborations like this one leverage one of our nation’s strengths—its diversity—and ensure that future healthcare providers reflect our country’s population.
As we look to the future, the physicians we train through XOCOM, along with those from other HBCU medical schools, will shape a more equitable and humane health care system for generations to come. They will serve our communities, advance health equity, and become the future leaders of health care in this country. I am honored to serve them.
Leonardo Seoane, MD, FACP, is founding dean of the Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine (XOCOM) and executive vice president and chief academic officer of Ochsner Health.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author.
