Xavier University in New Orleans, Louisiana, the only Catholic “Historically Black College or University” in the United States, announced plans to start a school of medicine to help address the shortage of black doctors in the country.
The school will work with Ochsner Health System, the largest non-profit health system in Louisiana, on plans to open the school within five years.
“Our work with Ochsner and other partners who hold close to their hearts a vision of healing a broken world is a testament to Xavier’s mission to promote a more just and humane society,” said Dr Reynold Verret, president of Xavier University of Louisiana.
“Xavier was bestowed that mission by our founders St Katharine Drexel and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament almost a century ago.
“Our dedication to preparing more Black health care professionals in our fight against health inequity is our answer to the call of our nation’s critical need and makes their legacy proud.”
Xavier’s College of Pharmacy has worked with Ochsner Health previously to establish more clinical training sites for pharmacology students.
The two organisations also partnered during the Covid-19 pandemic to create a centre that focuses on issues of health equity across demographic groups.
“Ochsner has a long and rich history of excellence in medical education, and we are honoured to continue our work with Xavier to improve the health of our state and region,” said Pete November, CEO of Ochsner Health.
“The Xavier medical students will get outstanding clinical training in our integrated health care system, and this significant expansion of our partnership with Xavier demonstrates our commitment to training the next generation of health care providers to solve the critical shortage of physicians in the United States and meet the needs of the diverse communities we serve.”
Louisiana has long been one of the nation’s most ethnographically diverse states.
Only about five per cent of medical doctors in the US are African-American, according to some studies, even though 13 per cent of the population is African-American. Latinos, who account for 19 per cent of the population, are only six per cent of all doctors.
Xavier has graduated more Black students who go on to get graduate degrees in medicine than any other college in the country.
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