J Natl Med Assoc
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The number of black male applicants to US medical schools has remained stagnant over the last 30 years. The etiology behind the lack of applicants is multifaceted and involves greater systemic barriers, specifically, educational and social barriers. The lack of representation of black males in medicine also has downstream implications for the health of the African American/black community. ⋯ The greater the gap between these two populations, the harder it becomes to improve healthcare outcomes, maintain a medically ready fighting force in the US military, and improve trust in the healthcare system. This article provides an analysis of the multifactorial barriers black male applicants face applying, matriculating, and graduating medical school and how decreased representation may affect healthcare delivery. Furthermore, this review explores next steps and potential implementations at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences to address the above deficiencies.
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Recruiting a diverse group of medical students, house officers, and faculty in medicine is challenging-particularly for predominantly white, midwest institutions that may not be racially or ethnically diverse. ⋯ SiMfest harnessed our institution's high-quality training, personnel resources, and diversity, equity, and inclusion values to bring historically marginalized students in medicine and department leadership together to learn about one another and offer experiential learning. SiMfest may serve as a model for other institutions to draw on their strengths to develop innovative recruitment programs that promote the education and engagement of undergraduate and medical students from historically marginalized populations while simultaneously promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion culture change.
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To determine what if any differences in presentation exist between men and women who present with acute intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) to the emergency department (ED). ⋯ Women have higher ICH scores than men at initial ED presentation for intracerebral hemorrhage. A higher ICH score is significantly associated with the worse outcomes of death and/or hospice.
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Black Americans have a higher prevalence of diabetes compared to White Americans and have higher rates of complications and death. Exposure to the criminal legal system (CLS) is a social risk factor for chronic disease morbidity and mortality with significant overlap with populations most likely to experience poor diabetes outcomes. However, little is known about the association between CLS exposure and healthcare utilization patterns among U.S. adults with diabetes. ⋯ Among those with diabetes, lifetime CLS exposure is associated with higher ED and inpatient visits in unadjusted analyses. Adjusting for socioeconomic status and clinical confounders attenuated these relationships, thus more research is needed to understand how CLS exposure interacts with poverty, structural racism, addiction and mental illness to influence health care utilization for adults with diabetes.
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Physical inactivity is a behavioral and modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. We aimed to assess the association of walking or moderate to vigorous physical activity of various durations with cardiovascular risk in age and sex groups of the adult general population. ⋯ Our study did not suggest a protective role for walking. However, moderate to vigorous physical activity ≥ 150 min/w was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease in older patients.