African Americans’ Experiences in Health Care Programs
Location
DeSantis Room 1052
Format Type
Plenary
Format Type
Paper
Start Date
16-1-2020 2:45 PM
End Date
16-1-2020 3:05 PM
Abstract
Research has shown that African Americans made up 13% of the U.S. population but only 4% are physicians and surgeons, which is why the population may be considered an underrepresented minority in the field of medicine (Rosenthal, 2014). According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC, 2015), in the past 37 years, medical schools experienced an increase in more diverse applicants, except for African Americans. One challenge colleges and universities face is determining how to recruit, retain, and graduate African Americans for health care profession programs (Moore, 2006). In this study, we explored African American participants’ experiences at the universities they attended for their health care training. Specifically, we interviewed eight African Americans, currently working in health care, about their university experiences and to understand both the barriers they faced, as well as the factors that contributed to their success, in their health care training programs. Participants reported experiencing racism and a lack of support from a few faculty, but found some faculty and university administrators to be sources of support during their programs. Additional sources of support included friends, professional networks, family, their faith, and personal motivation. Participants also spoke to the need for universities to communicate the services available to students and felt their awareness of these resources contributed to their academic successes. By demonstrating the importance of support networks for students, our results point to ways university administrators can better recruit and retain African American students for health care programs.
Keywords
Health Care, Support Systems, Higher Education
African Americans’ Experiences in Health Care Programs
DeSantis Room 1052
Research has shown that African Americans made up 13% of the U.S. population but only 4% are physicians and surgeons, which is why the population may be considered an underrepresented minority in the field of medicine (Rosenthal, 2014). According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC, 2015), in the past 37 years, medical schools experienced an increase in more diverse applicants, except for African Americans. One challenge colleges and universities face is determining how to recruit, retain, and graduate African Americans for health care profession programs (Moore, 2006). In this study, we explored African American participants’ experiences at the universities they attended for their health care training. Specifically, we interviewed eight African Americans, currently working in health care, about their university experiences and to understand both the barriers they faced, as well as the factors that contributed to their success, in their health care training programs. Participants reported experiencing racism and a lack of support from a few faculty, but found some faculty and university administrators to be sources of support during their programs. Additional sources of support included friends, professional networks, family, their faith, and personal motivation. Participants also spoke to the need for universities to communicate the services available to students and felt their awareness of these resources contributed to their academic successes. By demonstrating the importance of support networks for students, our results point to ways university administrators can better recruit and retain African American students for health care programs.