The relationship between the race/ethnicity of generalist physicians and their care for underserved populations.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to examine empirically the relationship between physicians' race or ethnicity and their care for medically underserved populations.


METHODS
Generalist physicians who received the MD degree in 1983 or 1984 (n = 1581) were surveyed. The personal and background characteristics of four racial/ethnic groups of physicians were compared with the characteristics of their patients.


RESULTS
When the potentially confounding variables of gender, childhood family income, childhood residence, and National Health Services Corps financial aid obligations were controlled, generalist physicians from underrepresented minorities were more likely than their nonminority counterparts to care for medically underserved populations.


CONCLUSIONS
Physicians from underrepresented minorities are more likely than others to care for medically underserved populations.
Xu
G
G
Jefferson Medical College, Center for Research in Medical Education and Health Care, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA.
Fields
S K
SK
Laine
C
C
Veloski
J J
JJ
Barzansky
B
B
Martini
C J
CJ
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007348:Insurance, Health; D008297:Male; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D010821:Physicians, Family; D012424:Rural Population; D017678:Sex Distribution; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014505:Urban Population