Critical Shortage of African American Medical Oncologists in the United States

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The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) reported that in 2013 only 2.3% of oncologists in the United States were African American.¹ In early 2015, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) released 2013 data showing that African Americans will likely continue to be seriously under-represented in medical oncology and that African Americans composed only 4.0% of hematology/oncology fellows in the United States.² Data from 2012 show a similar pattern for percentages of African American physicians in hematology/oncology in internal medicine (4.0%), pediatric hematology/oncology (4.6%), and radiation oncology (4.2%).^3.....