A new study suggests that despite California's ethnically-diverse citizenry, there are comparatively fewer doctors of color to serve them. The study, which was conducted by the University of California San Francisco, concluded that of 62,000 practicing doctors in the state, only 5 percent are Latino, despite the fact that Latinos make up a whopping one-third of the state's total population. And only 3 percent of California physicians are black, compared with 7 percent of the state's overall population. In real number terms, fewer than 3,300 Latino physicians and about 2,000 African-American physicians are in active patient care, in a state with more than 35 million residents. Meanwhile, the state has a disproportionate number of Asian and white doctors, researchers found.
To learn more about the study:
- read this San Francisco Chronicle article
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