PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Philadelphia nonprofit is engaging in part of a national push to get more Black doctors in the health care system to help work against racial disparities.
Black doctors make up less than 5% of the industry. As a Black, Muslim primary care doctor, Medical Society of Eastern Pennsylvania President Dr. Safiyya Shabazz says she’s working to improve those disparities in more ways than one.
“Access to primary care is super important. But when people are coming out of medical school half a million dollars in debt, it makes it very difficult for people to choose to work in certain settings,” said Dr. Shabazz.
The nonprofit helps provide scholarships and mentoring programs to support the pipeline of Black doctors. It acts as the Philadelphia affiliate of the National Medical Association.
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“It’s the largest and oldest organization in the country that supports Black physicians and their patients, created at a time when Black doctors weren’t allowed into the American Medical Association,” Shabazz said.
On Dec. 9, they’ll host a party with a purpose at the African American Museum of Philadelphia at 701 Arch St. in Center City, with a theme of “Night at the Museum.”
“If you are familiar with the plot of that movie, the exhibits come alive at night,” said Dr. Shabazz. “The exhibits indeed will be alive that night, because each and every physician that you see that is Black is history in the making or a historical figure in their own right.”
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Proceeds will support students who are already in medical school, which Dr. Shabazz hopes can help develop more primary care doctors.
“In the last 120 years, there has been little change in the proportion of physicians who are Black … so we won't solve all of this on December 9, but we're hoping to do our part to make a difference right here in Philadelphia.”
More information about the event can be found on the Medical Society of Eastern Pennsylvania website.