Communities of color have been some of the hardest-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The reasons behind this phenomenon include socio-economic and health disparities impacting these underserved communities. There are many initiatives focused on improving public health outcomes within diverse populations, but one important measure that requires greater attention is that of racial diversity within medicine.
Investing in a model for diversity and inclusion in medicine can directly improve health equity. However, few medical schools in the United States actually train a significant number of Black doctors. University of California Irvine is now one of them. Reflecting on how this was accomplished can offer lessons learned and a programmatic framework for success that can be replicated by academic institutions across the country.
Over 15 years ago, the University of California Irvine's School of Medicine developed the Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community (PRIME-LC), a mission-based program designed to train physicians who are uniquely equipped to address the medical needs of under-resourced Latino communities in Orange County. The first program of its kind in the country, PRIME-LC has recruited talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds and gained national accolades for its actionable commitment to diversity and inclusion. As well, it has helped bring UCI Health's hallmark integrative care into underserved communities in alignment with the school's mission to eliminate health disparities and improve population health.
Given the school's history of success with PRIME-LC, there was no doubt that this program model was worth replicating for medically underserved African, Black, and Caribbean (ABC) communities. But could such a program work in a region where only 2% of the local population identifies as Black? It quickly became apparent that therein lied the opportunity for UCI to put into motion the first program anywhere in the U.S. focused on cultivating physician-leaders to serve ABC communities. Leadership Education to Advance Diversity-African, Black, Caribbean, or LEAD-ABC, launched in 2019 and has thus far proved to be successful in recruiting the best and brightest minds committed to serving ABC communities.
We knew that if LEAD-ABC could prove successful in Orange County, it would send a strong message that a program like this was possible regardless of a school's local demographics.
Beyond providing a uniquely tailored curriculum, which includes training future doctors to provide culturally sensitive care to ABC patients, it is a critical step in carrying out our responsibility as a medical school to address healthcare disparities and create an inclusive learning environment for Black students.
LEAD-ABC's success not only lies in concerted planning by faculty but also the engagement of student leaders like Kaosoluchi Enendu and Kelley Butler who play an active role in recruitment and program development. The next step for the program is to expand it into UCI Health's medical residency programs to retain LEAD-ABC students, allowing them to launch their careers in Orange County for the benefit of our local ABC community. We also envision the implementation of mission-based programs in the College of Health Sciences, developing PRIME-LC and LEAD-ABC tracks in the schools of Nursing, Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Population & Public Health.
This fall, thanks in large part to LEAD-ABC, UCI School of Medicine expects to welcome a diverse incoming class, including 12% Black students. This percentage is close to two times the national average at medical schools across the country, and six times the local population of Black residents. LEAD-ABC demonstrates that strategic programming and investment can overcome perceived barriers to recruitment of Black students. Local demographics can no longer serve as an excuse for us or other health professional schools across the country in aspiring to recruit Black students who are vitally needed as healthcare workers of tomorrow.
Khanh-Van Le-Bucklin, MD, MEd, is vice dean of medical education and Carol Major, MD, is the co-director of the LEAD-ABC program and a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California Irvine School of Medicine.