The geographic and functional distribution of black physicians: some research and policy considerations

Studies of the geographic and functional distribution of physicians rarely include race of the physicians as a study variable. For black physicians, there are some rather strong justifications for doing just that: their services are directed almost exclusively to black and often medically undeserved communities; recent efforts to reduce constraints to medical education based on race, sex, ethnicity, and income have resulted in a substantial increase in the proportion of black medical students; inferring about black physicians from information on the general population of physicians given the differences in biographical and experiential characteristics is tenuous at best. Hence, an adequate information base and focused conceptualization on the educational and career patterns of black physicians are indicated. At the policy level there is a need to clarify the relationship between equity in educational (and career) opportunity and efforts to redistribute physicians.