Coming of age in the South during the 1940s and 1950s, Josephine B. Isabel-Jones, MD, FACC, saw the signs "Colored Only" and "Whites Only" at water fountains and other segregated public facilities. More than 60 years later, the lettered signs have been taken down, but she still sees other signs of discrimination to be toppled in the field of health care.

"I consider the movement to resolve health care discrepancy just as another layer or phase of the ongoing civil rights movement. I encourage everyone – as cardiologists – to stand up to that call with strength as this journey toward civil rights continues," says Isabel-Jones, who will deliver today's Dan G. McNamara Keynote, "From Civil Rights to Patient Equity – A Legacy of Strength."

According to Isabel-Jones, the first African-American woman to be board-certified in pediatric cardiology in the U.S., the ongoing battle for equality raised its ugly head during the COVID-19 pandemic, when minority populations suffered disproportionate impacts.

"COVID-19 opened up eyes to see inequities in medical care," she says. "Underserved communities experienced disproportionately more poor outcomes in underrepresented minorities in general, but more specifically in African-American communities. With this fervor to create health equity and accountability, we would have to create the means to bring those in the underrepresented communities into quality medical care."

Integrating Libraries, Medical Schools

Isabel-Jones grew up wanting to become a pediatrician, a difficult goal for women and African-Americans to achieve in the early years following World War II. Encouraged by parents who strongly supported the civil rights movement, she did well in school while learning to battle racial discrimination. In high school and college, she worked to get African Americans to vote. In college, she organized demonstrations to get access to coveted books shelved in the white section of the segregated library system.

"Following the example shown by my parents, I had learned to get involved," Isabel-Jones says. "If I wanted a book that was not in the colored library, I had to order it and wait two weeks – if you were lucky – to get it from the white library. I asked my peers in college that we not demonstrate at a lunch counter but to demonstrate at the library. We were arrested and charged with felonies. However, that choice made a significant impact in changes from the library to other public facilities."

That focused spirit carried over to her time as a cardiology fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where she became director of the catheterization lab and established the first pediatric echocardiography lab before her retirement. She is now professor emerita of pediatrics at UCLA. Isabel-Jones also spent many years serving on the UCLA Pediatric and Adult Congenital Heart Disease Workforce and led efforts to bring diversity and equity to cardiovascular care.

"At this time, my role with the workforce is that of support and encouragement. I've had the privilege over the decades of my career to mentor medical students, residents, fellows and even colleagues," she says. "During the time I spent at UCLA, I was also involved in medical school admissions. I had an opportunity to encourage the holistic assessment of students who were applying to us rather than focusing on MCAT scores. This helped to create a pipeline for those interested not only in cardiovascular health but health in general – a pipeline with wonderful rewards."

Mentoring With a Purpose

Today, Isabel-Jones continues to mentor students looking to attend medical school, including those interested in cardiology. She is also active in her church's efforts to improve the physical, mental and intellectual development of children. During today's McNamara Keynote, Isabel-Jones will use an interview format with Roberta G. Williams, MD, MACC, professor of pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, to discuss raising awareness of health care inequality.

"I'm humbled to have been given this opportunity to deliver the Dan G. McNamara Keynote," she says. "I see this as a wonderful opportunity for us as cardiologists, as well as for all physicians, to recall the oaths that we took as we began the practice of medicine to offer all patients the very best quality of health care. This is representative of what Dr. McNamara was doing in trying to be sure that we respect the privileges we have in caring for others."

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