Toward a More Perfect Union.

In this essay, the author, Dr. Louis Sullivan, describes his life experiences, having been born in the American South during the period of legal racial segregation. Despite many obstacles, Dr.

Social determinants of prostate cancer in the Caribbean: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Prostate cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths among Caribbean men. However, little data exists on the influence of social factors on prostate cancer in the Caribbean setting. This article supports the 2011 Rio Political Declaration on addressing health inequalities by presenting a systematic review of evidence on the role of social determinants on prostate cancer in Caribbean men.

Educational Health Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors: Findings from Jamaica Health and Lifestyle Survey 2007-2008.

Objectives: Socioeconomic disparities in health have emerged as an important area in public health, but studies from Afro-Caribbean populations are uncommon. In this study, we report on educational health disparities in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, and obesity), among Jamaican adults.

Methods: We analyzed data from the Jamaica Health and Lifestyle Survey 2007-2008.

Workforce diversity in dentistry - current status and future challenges.

The racial and ethnic diversity of the US oral health care workforce remains insufficient to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse population and to address persistent health disparities. The findings from a recent national survey of underrepresented minority dentists are reviewed and recommendations are made for enhancing diversity in the dental profession.

Educational health disparities in hypertension and diabetes mellitus among African descent populations in the Caribbean and the USA: a comparative analysis from the Spanish town cohort (Jamaica) and the Jackson heart study (USA).

Background: Studies have suggested that social inequalities in chronic disease outcomes differ between industrialized and developing countries, but few have directly compared these effects. We explored inequalities in hypertension and diabetes prevalence between African-descent populations with different levels of educational attainment in Jamaica and in the United States of America (USA), comparing disparities within each location, and between countries.

Methods: We analyzed baseline data from the Jackson Heart Study (JHS) in the USA and Spanish Town Cohort (STC) in Jamaica.

Grasping At The Moon: Enhancing Access To Careers In The Health Professions.

A former HHS secretary reflects on what's needed to enable more minorities to become doctors and other health professionals.

Disparities in hypertension among black Caribbean populations: a scoping review by the U.S. Caribbean Alliance for Health Disparities Research Group (USCAHDR).

Background: Despite the large body of research on racial/ethnic disparities in health, there are limited data on health disparities in Caribbean-origin populations. This scoping review aimed to analyze and synthesize published and unpublished literature on the disparities in hypertension and its complications among Afro-Caribbean populations.

Methods: A comprehensive protocol, including a thorough search strategy, was developed and used to identify potentially relevant studies.

Disparities in cardiovascular disease among Caribbean populations: a systematic literature review.

Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the predominant cause of death globally. The large health disparities in the distribution of the burden of disease seen in developed and developing countries are of growing concern. Central to this concern is the poor outcome which is seen disproportionately in socially disadvantaged groups and racial/ethnic minorities.

Trends in Longevity in the Americas: Disparities in Life Expectancy in Women and Men, 1965-2010.

Objective: We describe trends in life expectancy at birth (LE) and between-country LE disparities since 1965, in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Methods & Findings: LE trends since 1965 are described for three geographical sub-regions: the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. LE disparities are explored using a suite of absolute and relative disparity metrics, with measurement consensus providing confidence to observed differences.

Cause-of-death disparities in the African diaspora: exploring differences among shared-heritage populations.

Objectives: We investigated changes in life expectancy (LE) and cause-specific mortality over time, directly comparing African-descent populations in the United States and the Caribbean.

Methods: We compared LE at birth and cause-specific mortality in 6 disease groups between Caribbean countries with a majority (> 90%) African-descent population and US African Americans.

Results: The LE improvement among African Americans exceeded that of Afro-Caribbeans so that the LE gap, which favored the Caribbean population by 1.

Disparities in diabetes mellitus among Caribbean populations: a scoping review.

Background: Despite the large body of research on racial/ethnic disparities in health, there are limited data on health disparities in Caribbean origin populations. This review aims to analyze and synthesize published literature on the disparities in diabetes mellitus (DM) and its complications among Afro-Caribbean populations.

Methods: A detailed protocol, including a comprehensive search strategy, was developed and used to identify potentially relevant studies.

Forming state collaborations to diversify the nation's health workforce: the experience of the sullivan alliance to transform the health professions.

Diversifying the nation's health professions is essential in order to maintain a vigorous health workforce, able to respond to the needs of all Americans. The inability of the health workforce to keep pace with the changing demographics of the nation is a major cause of the persistent inequities in access to quality health care for ethnic and racial minorities in the U.S.

Keynote address: The need for greater racial and ethnic diversity in orthopaedic surgery.

Advances in medicine in the past century have resulted in substantial reductions in morbidity and mortality in the United States. However, despite these improvements, ethnic and racial minorities continue to experience health status and healthcare disparities. There is inadequate national awareness of musculoskeletal health disparities, which results in greater chronic pain and disability for members of ethnic and racial minority groups.

The state of diversity in the health professions a century after Flexner.

Although the 1910 Flexner Report recommended the closure of a large number of operating medical schools, its impact was disproportionately felt on minority schools. The report's recommendations resulted in the closure of five out of seven predominantly black medical schools. Also noteworthy about the report was Flexner's utilitarian argument that black physicians should serve as sanitarians and hygienists for black communities in villages and plantations.