Health inequalities remain a problem in Texas, costing the state about $4.6 billion each year in extra health care costs and lost productivity, according to a recent report by Episcopal Health Foundation and Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas.
One way to address those disparities is for more African-American, Hispanic/Latino, or Native American physicians to practice in neighborhoods where many residents share their racial identity.
"If we look at where Texas is, we're becoming a majority-minority state, and we need physicians and other health care professionals who are representative of our demographics," Jamboor Vishwanatha, PhD, director of the Texas Center for Health Disparities at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth and a principal investigator of the National Research Mentoring Network, told Texas Medicine last year.
The Texas Medical Association created the Diversity in Medicine Scholarship Program in 1998 to help diversify the physician workforce to meet Texans’ health care needs. Since then, it has awarded 136 scholarships totaling $847,500.
These $10,000 scholarships are for members of racial minorities that are underrepresented in Texas medical schools and the state’s physician workforce.
Students entering medical school in 2019 can apply now, and the award presentation will take place during TexMed 2019, TMA’s premier educational showcase and expo. TexMed 2019 is scheduled for May 17 and 18 in Dallas.
Applicants must be African-American, Hispanic/Latino, or Native American incoming freshmen, must complete an application, and provide a letter of acceptance with the intent to attend. If you or someone you know wants to apply, please so do online.
The TMA Foundation, the association’s philanthropic arm, funds the program. Recipients are known as the “Bayardo Scholars” in recognition of the majority support provided by the TMA Foundation Trust Fund of Roberto J. Bayardo, MD, and Agniela (Annie) M. Bayardo, of Houston.
Find more information, including a look at last year’s Bayardo Scholars, on the TMA’s website.
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The 2018 Bayardo Scholars receive their scholarships at TexMed 2018 in San Antonio.