UNT HSC to host 'Black Men in White Coats' youth summit this weekend
FORT WORTH, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) — The UNT Health Science Center is hosting a Black History Month event this weekend that aims to increase diversity and representation in healthcare.
The Black Men in White Coats Youth Summit will be hosted by the HSC's Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine. The free event begins at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18 in the school's Medical Education and Training building and lasts until about 4:30 p.m.
The campaign began in 2013 and holds several events across the country each year. It aims to inspire young people in underrepresented minority groups to consider careers in healthcare and support their success through mentorship and networking.
A HSC spokesperson said that this year's summit will be completely full and expects about 500 people to attend. The attendees will include students between 3rd and 12th grade, their parents, teachers, healthcare professionals, and community leaders
Dr. Garth Graham, the director and global head of healthcare for Google and Youtube, will be the keynote speaker at the event on Saturday. The campaign's founder, Dr. Dale Okorodudu, will give an opening address at the beginning of the event. The BoykinZ, a performance groups, are set to perform.
Elementary and middle school students will be able participate in various activities in the osteology and anatomy labs and even get to go through a mini medical school. High school and college students will learn more about healthcare careers and get a first-hand look at clinical activities like suturing and intubation in the university's simulation lab.
According to the organization's website, Dr. Okorodudu founded the event after seeing a 2013 report that highlighted the decreasing numbers of Black men applying to medical school. A 2020 study in the New England Journal of Science found that although those figures have slightly rebounded in recent years, they are overall lower than they were 40 years ago.
Researchers have found that disparities in representation among healthcare professionals can actually cause worse health outcomes than when doctors more closely represent their patient population. A 2018 study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that having more Black doctors could help bring the life expectancy gap between Black and white men down by as much as 8%.