Hi,
The need for greater representation in healthcare is pressing. This extends beyond ethnic and racial diversity to include socioeconomic diversity as well. Many doctors come from affluent backgrounds, which is not surprising given the high costs associated with pursuing a medical career. The expenses of college, textbooks, medical school, and numerous other necessities can be prohibitive. Moreover, the path to becoming a doctor is extremely demanding and filled with challenges. Having the time to dedicate to these challenges, along with access to experienced mentors, can make all the difference in achieving success.
Both of us, the co-founders of HealthPath Horizons, have experienced a small portion of these challenges. Growing up without any educated adult mentors, it was a struggle to resolve the dream to become a doctor. Much like many students from disadvantaged backgrounds, we had to actively find opportunities to talk with doctors, shadow them, and do our own research on the entire high school-to-doctor process. I (David) remember my first two shadowing experiences in high school. My first time, I bumped into a cardiothoracic surgeon by chance while performing for an event in Chicago. Then, I stayed behind at an all-school presentation given by a doctor preaching about the dangers of alcohol overconsumption to ask him about shadowing opportunities.
We delineated in a separate post (see: "The Shocking Numbers Behind a Medical Career: A Look into the Journey") the exact numbers behind the journey to becoming a doctor. It turns out that, if you started with 10,000 high school freshmen, only about 28 would become doctors. And even then, most of them come from richer backgrounds. Indeed, more than half of them would be coming from the top 20% of households in the U.S. [1]. Only 5% would come from a household in the bottom 20%—in other words, out of 10,000 freshmen, maybe one from a low-income background could make it to becoming a doctor. Just maybe. You would need about 33,000 low-income students to be (99%) certain that at least one would become a doctor.
Our vision
Looking at it like this, it seems almost impossible for low-income students to become doctors. And it’s not because of a lack of drive or interest—there are many, many hard-working people out there with longstanding dreams to save others through medicine. The only problem is the knowledge of and availability of the proper resources. That’s why we strive to connect students to the resources we need. Through infographics, open-access educational material, presentations, workshops, and more, we hope to arm passionate students with the information they need to continue on their medical journeys.
HealthPath Horizons strives to empower underrepresented and underserved youth populations to feel confident and informed in pursuing a career in the healthcare field.
With our work, we hope to create a difference in the lives of young aspiring doctors and enable them to pursue their medical dreams. And we hope that you will join us in this mission.
Sincerely,
David and Aneesh
References
Association of American Medical Colleges. (2018). An updated look at the economic diversity of U.S. medical students. In AAMC. https://www.aamc.org/data-reports/analysis-brief/report/updated-look-economic-diversity-us-medical-students
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