The Role of Black and Hispanic Physicians in Providing Health Care for Underserved Populations

Many studies have documented racial and ethnic disparities in the U.S. health care system. Blacks and Hispanics have less access to health care, and the quality and outcomes of the care they receive are worse than those of non-Hispanic whites. 1 – 4 Little is known, however, about the physicians who provide care to these underserved groups. Poor urban communities have fewer physicians per capita than do more affluent areas, 5 but there have been no systematic studies of the relation between the racial and ethnic characteristics of a community and the distribution of physicians. A limited body of research suggests that physicians . . .