Summer Institute Program to Increase Diversity (SIPID)
Introduction
The Need for Increasing the Number of Minority Scientists
It is well known that African American, Latino and Native Americans, who together represent over one quarter of the American population, are only 3 percent of the science and medicine faculty. These statistics are projected to become more disparate, as the American population continues to become more diverse. It is projected that the proportion of the minority population in the United States will continue to increase. However, of all the medical school graduates expected for the year 2008, only 10-13 percent (about 2,000 of new graduates) will be African American, Latino or Native American.
The best-qualified scientists and physicians of diverse backgrounds are needed in order to address many pressing health issues affecting the population today. One such issue is health disparities, which is particularly acute in diseases related to the cardiovascular system. Well-trained underrepresented minorities are needed to find solutions to these crises because minority research professionals are more likely to choose to work in topics or areas related to underserved minorities and low-income communities. Therefore, it is impossible to underestimate the role that minority professionals can play in addressing health disparities. Although this is not to be interpreted as meaning that racial concordance between doctor and patient or researcher and subject is the only way to increase quality of care for minorities, this finding suggests that there is a need to increase the numbers of minorities in the health and research professions.
