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SUMMER MAGAZINE 1984 Pa ge 5
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Philosophical And Ethical Dilemmas . . .
(Continued from page 7)
students from families with annual in
comes below $20,000, and a concomitant
increase in the number of freshman
students from families with annualin-
comes of $30,000 or greater.
All medical schools should expand and
reinforce their committment to
recruiting, educating and graduating
more black students. In 1978, there were
only 793 black students among 14,393
medical school graduates (5.5/), but by
1982, this number had decreased to 763
blacks (4.8/) among 15,985 medical school
graduates. Dr. Alving Tarlov, Chairman of
the Graduate Education National Ad
visory Committee (GMENAC) has stated
that medical schools in the United States
should be producing 2,200 black
graduates annually rather than the 700-
800 now graduating each year.
Governors, state legislatures, boards of
regents and other leaders must urge the
publicly supported medical schools in
their states to increase the number of
black students enrolled. A recent report
from the Southern Regional Education
Board (SREB), a 14-state cooperative
educational agency, has urged the
production of more black physicians,
noting that blacks comprise 19% of the
population of the South, but less than 3/
of the physicians in the South are black
(9). The SREB report in 1983, and the
GMENAC report in 1980, have pointed
out the need to produce more black
physicians, even while recommended
reductions are implemented in the
overall production of physicians in the
United States.
There are many factors other than the
availability of physicians which affect the
health status of individuals and com
munities. However, it is necessary to have
an adequate number of physicians. It is
also helpful to have physicians who
understand and who respect the patient's
culture, history, social status and the
patient’s personal dignity. It is most
helpful to have physicians who live in the
communities they serve and who con
tribute their leadership to the solution of
community problems.
Hopefully, the nation’s response to the
Association’s study will not be to find
scapegoats to blame for these problems,
nor quiet disregard of its findings. Rather,
a coordinated effort is needed, which
involves all of our society in providing
solutions for this silent crisis which affects
a significant portion of our,population.
We need vigorous leadership from the
President, the Congress, federal agencies,
governors, state legislatures, county and
city governments. We need leadership
from the private sector, for it too is
affected by these realities and it has a
significent stake in finding solutions to
these problems; this requires leadership
from corporations, foundations,
associations and individuals.
These are the outlines of the
philosophical and ethical dilemmas which
confront us, the outcomes of which are of
great significance to the medical com
munity, to all of our citizens and to the
nation.