12-02-2013, 12:17 AM
UC seeks diverse workforce
Study will test theory that cultural change will also improve health outcomes
Dec. 1, 2013 9:59 PM
Written by
Cliff Peale
Increasing the number of doctors and nurses of color would not only increase the diversity of the region’s health care providers, but could actually improve the region’s health.
At least that’s what the University of Cincinnati’s Academic Health Center is out to prove.
“We’re trying to produce a health care workforce that addresses a community need,” said Greer Glazer, dean of UC’s College of Nursing. “It’s an obligation we’ve got to try to prepare a diverse, culturally competent workforce, so we can make a contribution to better health outcomes.”
The theory may be unproven, but UC is spending more than half a million dollars during the next four years to find the best ways to prime the pipeline of potential health care workers.
Most of the money will come from Urban Universities for Health. UC is one of five urban universities around the country to research how to recruit more students of color and get them out into the community.
About $158,000 comes from UC’s own administration so that four colleges – medicine, nursing, pharmacy and allied health – can better shape their own programs.
In this region and other urban regions around the country, recruiting African-American students into medical and nursing schools is proving difficult.
Only 7 percent of enrollees nationally in fall 2012 were African-American, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.
White students were 65 percent of the total and Asian students were 23 percent.
At UC, 13 percent of the total class of 173 medical students this fall was under-represented minorities, compared to a non-white population of nearly 33 percent in Hamilton County.
The project could be critical for Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, since about half of the region’s primary care doctors receive some training at UC.
UC’s College of Nursing includes about 2,700 students at any one time, and 85 percent of them stay in the region after earning their degree, Glazer said.
With the expansion of Medicaid and health care reform on the horizon, the need for doctors and nurses is increasing in all markets, but could be most acute in urban and rural areas.
Barbara Tobias, a UC doctor and medical director of the Health Collaborative of Greater Cincinnati, said this region is well-positioned.
“With our health systems, payers, providers and employers aligned around improving quality and decreasing cost ... This is an important opportunity to tap into academic leadership to improve disparities in our community,” Tobias said.
One of the biggest barriers is gaining trust among minority populations that haven’t traditionally been reflected in the health care work force, Glazer said.
Outreach to schools and churches is critical.
“If you’ve had bad experiences with health care providers, why would you want your child to be one?” Glazer said. “Patients want providers who look like they do.”
But the No. 1 barrier is money, she said, making increased scholarship support the best way to recruit and retain students.
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