Recommended Reading

Resources on Health Equity

The vitally important work we do at National Medical Fellowships develops the health care leaders who are laser-focused on eliminating unnecessary and preventable health disparities. Here we share a selection of resources that examine the pervasiveness of health disparities in communities of color and evidence why and how access to culturally competent care is essential. The work is broader than health — it is deeply steeped in addressing inequity in education, in wealth, and in the workforce.

Clinical Research

Diversity by Design: The Importance of DE&I in Oncology Trials

Critical Diversity Shortcomings in U.S. Clinical Research

Clinical Trial Diversity: Variability in Drug Response

photo of a worker in a laboratory running a test

Cultural Humility

Honing Cultural Humility Skills Can Improve Health Care as a Whole

Health Ramifications of Racial ‘Weathering’ on Black People

Female doctor speaking with elderly male patient on exam table.

Education

Eliminating Racism In Health Care Before And After The Supreme Court’s Affirmative Action Decision

Woke Medicine Doesn’t Mean Worse Medicine

How Health Disparities Can Be Reduced Through Educational Gains and Improved Coordination of Community Services

Changing How Race Is Portrayed in Medical Education: Recommendations From Medical Students

U.S. Medical Schools are Struggling to Overcome Centuries of Racism in Health Care

A confident young adult African American female medical school student gestures as she responds to a professor's question during class.

Health Disparities

Associated Press: From Birth to Death - Black Americans and Lifetime of Disparities

Kaiser Permanente Foundation's The Undefeated Survey on Race and Health

Maternal Mortality

Health Affairs special issue, Racism and Health

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's A Health System Built on Racial Equity

Kaiser Health News: Embedded Bias: How Medical Records Sow Discrimination

AMA Journal of Ethics: Segregation in Health Care

Everyday Health: The Price of Being Invisible

Person's arm showing a blood pressure reading being taken with a cuff and monitor

Health Equity

Federal Policy to Advance Racial, Ethnic, and Tribal Health Equity

AMA Prioritizing Equity podcast

KFF’s 2023 Survey on Racism, Discrimination and Health documents the extent and impact of racism and discrimination across several facets of American life, including health care. The first in a series, the survey also documents the link between racism and discrimination and worse health and well-being, including increased feelings of anxiety, loneliness, and depression.

Doctor Listening To Heartbeat Of Patient

History of Racism in Medicine

KFF: How History Has Shaped Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities: A Timeline of Policies and Events.

The Associated Press has collected a small sample of the history related to health inequities that impacts every phase of life.

Structural Racism In Historical And Modern US Health Care Policy

Black sign with white letters reading: Racism is a Pandemic

Mental Health and Wellbeing

Black Psychiatric Inpatients More Likely to Be Restrained and for Longer

Suicide Rates Among Black Women and Girls Have Climbed for Two Decades

A photo with a black background with a person clasping their hands.

Trust in Health Care

A 2024 KFF Survey on Racism, Discrimination and Health: Views on Racism and Trust in Key U.S. Institutions examines U.S. adults’ views on racism in major aspects of U.S. society, including politics, the criminal justice system, policing, education, housing, employment, and health care.