Susan B. Komen for the Cure joined the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) to increase the number of minorities practicing oncology in the United States. By recruiting and training more doctors as oncologists from groups underrepresented in medicine, they hope to improve cancer care for ethnically diverse patients.
In announcing the new initiative ASCO said,
Although a number of programs exist to recruit individuals underrepresented in medicine, few of these programs focus specifically on recruitment to clinical oncology. Ultimately, it is hoped that increasing diversity in the clinical oncology profession will lead to increased and improved cancer care for underserved populations as well as increased research on health disparities.
Specifically, the new program will provide:
- Assistance paying medical education loans to trained oncologists who commit to practicing in a medically underserved area.
- Stipends for medical students to have an oncology or oncology research rotation. Rotations will include work with a oncologist mentor who will continue to provide career guidance to the student.
- Travel awards for internal medicine residents to attend ASCO’s annual meeting.
ASCO President Richard L. Schilsky, M.D. said,
Many issues contribute to disparities in health care in the United States, including lack of access to health care, lack of health insurance, poverty, language and literacy barriers, and low expectations of the result of cancer treatment, doctors, and the health care system. Through this initiative, ASCO hopes to further improve cancer care for these underserved populations.
Leave a Reply
Your comments are welcome. However, specific medical advice will not be provided, and we urge you to consult with a qualified physician for diagnosis and for answers to your personal questions. FightCRC is not responsible for the medical accuracy of any comments left by persons other than FightCRC staff members. FightCRC staff members monitor comments and may respond publicly where appropriate.
Please note that we automatically publish the name that you enter next to your post. Also note that our pages are automatically indexed by Google and other search engines, and your name may therefore appear in search results on those sites. So if you wish to remain anonymous please use a different name or enter 'Anon' as the name.
We regret that we are unable to privately answer questions left as comments. So please do not include your phone number, email or mailing address in the body of your comment. For the best personal and direct response to your colorectal cancer treatment questions, please call our Answer Line at 1-877-4CRC-111 (1-877-427-2111).