The cardiovascular profession should focus on barriers to health equity and identify solutions that use current and future resources responsibly in order to address racial disparities in cardiovascular health in the U.S., according to a paper published April 12 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

In the paper, Amber E. Johnson, MD, MS, MBA, FACC, et al., highlight a diverse cardiovascular workforce as one solution for improving the quality of cardiovascular health care. They identify three benefits of a diverse cardiology workforce: an improved learning experience for students and trainees; better patient care and health outcomes; and higher-quality research. “Diversity enhances the depth and breadth of learning experiences for all students and prepares graduates to care for diverse patient populations,” write the authors.

The authors also identify strategies that clinicians, educators and administrators can implement to mitigate disparities. These strategies include increasing the numbers of minorities in medical education, clinical faculty and biomedical research; holistic review; dedicated career-path programming to foster workplace diversity; multi-level career development programs that support Black, Latinx and Indigenous faculty; and more.

“Increased racial diversity in the cardiovascular workforce can ameliorate poor cardiovascular patient outcomes and improve health care quality,” write the authors. “Minority representation can be an important facet of workforce diversity, and it must be additionally recognized that diversifying the workforce benefits everyone.”

Keywords: Workplace, African Americans, Minority Groups, Universities, Faculty, Education, Medical, Biomedical Research, Students, Patient Care, Quality of Health Care, Outcome Assessment, Health Care

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