New AMA award honors doctors focusing on disparities

The first recipient says inspiring minority students early and giving them coaching in the sciences through high school and college should be a priority.

By Myrle Croasdale, AMNews staff. March 15, 2004.

Ending health care disparities could seem too big a challenge to tackle on one's own, yet some individual physicians, undaunted by the breadth and scope of the problem, are finding ways to have a significant impact.

To honor such doctors and their efforts, the American Medical Association has created the Recognition of Excellence in Eliminating Health Disparities award.

William McDade, MD, PhD, associate professor of anesthesiology and critical care and associate dean for multicultural affairs at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, is the first recipient. The award is to be given six times a year.

Dr. McDade, who is also president of the Illinois chapter of the National Medical Assn. and past chair of the AMA's Minority Affairs Consortium, has spearheaded three University of Chicago programs aimed at cultivating scientific expertise among high school and college students. In the past nine years, 37 students -- ranging from high school students to postdoctoral fellows and most from minority groups -- have worked with Dr. McDade in his research on sickle cell anemia.

AMNews sat with Dr. McDade to get his perspective on the issues facing underrepresented minorities.

Question: What do you see as the biggest hurdles for minorities who are pursuing careers in medicine?

Answer: If you don't see it, you don't know it's there. There are few role models, and there's a generation of students who are not even thinking of medical school. The pipeline problem needs to be fixed. Some say if they aren't thinking about the sciences by sixth grade, it's too late. When I was chair of the Minority Affairs Consortium, through the Doctors Back to School project, elementary students were introduced to minority physicians and the possibility of careers in medicine.