New residency program aims to support Black doctors




PROVIDER—Dr. Akinwunmi Oni-Orisan is a neurosurgeon at St. John’s hospitals. St. John’s Regional Medical Center is starting a new residency program through Morehouse School of Medicine. Courtesy photo

PROVIDER—Dr. Akinwunmi Oni-Orisan is a neurosurgeon at St. John’s hospitals. St. John’s Regional Medical Center is starting a new residency program through Morehouse School of Medicine. Courtesy photo

People of color have been historically underrepresented in healthcare, which has meant Black patients are too rarely treated by doctors whose race or life experiences reflect their own.

A new residency program coming to St. John’s Regional Medical Center aims to be part of a growing nationwide movement to address inequities in healthcare.

The goal of the program is simple: to increase representation of and provide learning pathways for doctors of color.

“The patient-provider relationship is paramount,” Robert Streeter, chief medical officer at Dignity Health’s Oxnard hospital, told the Acorn. “When patients are treated by a provider with similar lived experiences . . . there is increased trust and better outcomes.”

The announcement is part of the More in Common Alliance: a 10-year, $100-million partnership between Morehouse School of Medicine, one of the nation’s three historically Black medical schools, and CommonSpirit Health, the parent company of Dignity Health and one of the nation’s largest health systems.

“We have failed to address the systemic nature of the challenge for health equity for all,” CommonSpirit CEO Lloyd Dean said in a statement.

Streeter said he believes Dignity Health was chosen as one of seven sites because it does not have a residency program and Ventura County needs more diverse healthcare workers, especially primary care physicians.

“In general, the hospital staff represents the composition of the community we serve, but we know across the country . . . there is a shortage of diversity among clinicians in healthcare,” he said.

Education and income can make it more difficult for minorities to enter the medical field. In 2021, 5.8% of medical residents were Black, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Dignity Health was not able to provide information on the demographics of its clinicians.

A 2020 Penn Medicine study found that patients who had the same racial or ethnic background as their physician were more likely to give the highest patient rating score.

With Morehouse as the program’s academic sponsor, residents’ training will focus on addressing health inequities and treating underserved patients.

“A barrier to care is the lack of culturally competent healthcare providers,” Streeter said.

Often, he said, a lack of cultural competency is thought to refer to a language barrier between healthcare workers and their patients. His hope, however, is that graduates of the program learn how to provide personalized care for patients with diverse beliefs and behaviors.

Because a large percentage of healthcare providers practice in the community they trained in, Streeter is confident the partnership will directly benefit marginalized Ventura County residents.

“Any good training program prepares the physicians for practicing in the communities they serve,” he said.

The More in Common Alliance strives to improve not only patients’ quality of care but also their access to care.

Though telehealth has helped many patients, members of marginalized communities often do not have access to devices or internet service, which is why in-person services must be made more available, Streeter said.

COVID-19, which has disproportionately affected people of color, has made the need for the partnership even greater, Streeter said.

“The pandemic has certainly highlighted the need to address access to care,” he said.

Establishing the residency program will likely take Dignity Health several years, as it has to apply through the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

To learn more about the More in Common Alliance, go to moreincommonalliance.org.