Tour's mission in Hampton: more black doctors ... stat

HAMPTON

Of the nearly 1 million doctors in the United States, less than 4 percent are black, compared with 12.6 percent of the overall population, according to 2010 numbers.

Dr. Kameron Matthews wants that to change.

Her vision drives the Tour for Diversity in Medicine, a bus full of doctors, dentists and medical school students traveling this week to five historically black colleges and universities. Their first stop, on Monday, was at Hampton University.

"I know there could be others doing what I'm doing on a daily basis," said Matthews, a primary care physician in Chicago. "It doesn't take much to get those others to where I am."

Though blacks, Native Americans and people of Latino or Hispanic origin accounted for about 28 percent of the U.S. population in 2008, they represented only about 12 percent of the nation's medical school graduates in the past three decades, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. Virginia recorded similar numbers.

Matthews teamed with other doctors to create the tour because they wanted to ensure that minority students have the logistical information and support needed to launch a medical career.

Their seven-hour program provides tips on interviewing, test-taking and applying to medical and dental school. The doctors also offer advice, encouragement and, in some cases, serve as mentors.

Over a lunch of sandwiches and chips, Dr. Renee Volny told two students that keeping in touch with their mentors made it easier for them to write glowing recommendation letters.

"Don't be discouraged if you're hoping for someone to mentor you and they're not reaching out," she said. "Contact your mentor."

Years ago, Hampton University gave that kind of help to Dr. Alden Landry, one of the tour's co-directors. As a Hampton High School student, Landry participated in a university program that set him on the path to medical school.

"I didn't even know the process of becoming a physician until I did that program," said Landry, an emergency room physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

A physician's race can make a difference for patients. Those cared for by doctors of the same race say they're more satisfied with their visits and more engaged in their treatment, according to research.

Minority physicians also are more likely to treat minority patients. In 2007, more than 45 percent of black medical school graduates said they planned to practice in an under-served area compared with about 21 percent of all graduates.

"They're more interested in helping their own community," Matthews said.

Minority medical students also can help their peers better understand needs and perceptions of patients with different backgrounds, a concept known as "cultural competence" in health circles.

However, minority students often struggle to get in the door. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges:

- 37.9 percent of black medical school applicants were accepted in 2007, compared with 44.6 percent overall.

- 59.1 percent of black students entered medical school in debt, over 10 percentage points higher than the next-closest race.

- 44.4 percent of black students entering medical school owed $25,000 or more on their pre-medical education, the highest among the races.

According to Hampton University students, lack of information, confidence or money can prove to be obstacles. So can reluctance to continue school after college.

"The whole idea of not being able to really work until you're 30 doesn't resonate well," said Kyle Mason, 21, a kinesiology student from Minneapolis.

About 12 percent of the incoming class at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk comes from under-represented races and ethnicities - higher than in previous years, said Dr. Richard V. Homan, the school's provost and dean.

To help attract minorities, EVMS has built relationships with nearby historically black colleges and is a partner in a bachelor's/medical degree program that allows some higher-achieving students to be admitted to EVMS without taking the Medical College Admission Test.

Homan hopes to do more, including adding a "vice president for diversity" position. In his prior post as dean and president of Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, he helped to develop a "holistic review" admissions process that weighs factors, such as family and community backgrounds, along with grade-point averages and MCAT scores.

"My career goals have always been to provide opportunities for those individuals that weren't afforded opportunities that were afforded me," Homan said.

Ariel James was among dozens of students wrestling with sample MCAT problems in a hushed Hampton University student center ballroom.

She began thinking about medical school when she was growing up in Suffolk, helping her mother study for nursing exams. Now 25, James has a biology degree from Norfolk State University. She's working toward a master's degree in medical science, then medical school.

James predicts the percentage of black doctors will rise with her generation.

"With loans, with scholarships, with encouragement from people who look like us, we can really step it up and get more physicians of color out there," she said. "It's not impossible."

Amy Jeter, 757-446-2730, amy.jeter@pilotonline.com