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(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080501/NYTH109 )
BE developed its May cover package at a time when African Americanscontinue to contend with an ever-widening gap in the quality of availablehealthcare. Some of the factors that contribute to this escalating crisisinclude lack of access to services and the alarmingly high cost of adequatecare. Meanwhile, the proportion of the nation's black doctors has remainedstagnant. African Americans make up 13.4% of the total U.S. population butonly 5.6% of all U.S. physicians and surgeons -- 44,900 out of 888,000. Evenfewer black doctors are in positions of power and leadership. Just under adozen serve as chairs of departments at the nation's medical schools.
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"A consistent objective of BLACK ENTERPRISE is to communicate that withoutinvesting in the quality of our health and that of our families andcommunities, it is all but impossible to create sustainable, multigenerationalwealth," says Founder and Publisher Earl G. Graves Sr. "The life of my fatherwas cut short at the age of 46 by a heart condition that was likely bothpreventable and treatable. The exceptional black physicians we highlightuniquely understand the medical issues that confront African Americans. Theirexpertise makes them an essential part of the solution to the healthcarecrisis facing black Americans and our entire nation."
The cover features New York University School of Medicine CardiologistJennifer H. Mieres, Cedars-Sinai Neurosurgery Chair Keith L. Black, andVanderbilt University Medical Center Pediatrician Kevin B. Johnson. What setsthis year's list apart from our previous lists, published in 1998 and 2001, isa stronger weighting of innovators involved in medical breakthroughs amongspecialties. The editors spent more than six months engaged in research,consulting organizations such as the National Medical Association, AmericanMedical Association, Association of Black Cardiologists, American CancerSociety, Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, American DiabetesAssociation, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. BE also contactedtop-ranked physicians as well as the nation's leading medical schools,including Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, Meharry MedicalCollege, Howard University College of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine,Duke University School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School ofMedicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, WeillMedical College of Cornell University, and Mayo Medical School.
The complete "America's Leading Doctors" feature story is available in theMay 2008 issue of black enterprise on newsstands now.
BLACK ENTERPRISE, your ultimate source for wealth creation, is the premierbusiness, investing, and wealth-building resource for African Americans. Since1970, BE has provided essential business information and advice toprofessionals, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, and decision makers. Everymonth, BLACK ENTERPRISE magazine provides 3.9 million readers with informationon entrepreneurship, careers, and financial management. A multimedia company,BE also produces radio and television programming, business and lifestyleevents, Web content, and digital media. BLACK ENTERPRISE is the definitivesource of information for and about African American business markets andleaders, and the authority on black business news and tr
