The Health Disparities Podcast

It’s important that health care workers provide quality health care. But when it comes to addressing health disparities, clinical care can only go so far, says Dr. Diana E. Ramos, an OB/GYN who now serves as California’s first Latina surgeon general. 

“It would be wonderful if that 10-minute appointment that a patient just saw me for made the biggest difference in the patient's life. That's not the reality,” Ramos said. “We have to...

Many envision influencers as social media stars with vast followings. But being an influencer is so much more than that. In today’s episode, we redefine the term across various sectors, from health to social justice, and delve into how you can activate your network by using your influence.

One thing influencers do is share information throughout their communities to spread awareness about important issues, says Beth O’Connor, the e...

Nonprofit organizations rely on funding to execute their mission, but steady funding is not always easy to come by. So, what can leaders of nonprofits do to attract attention — and resources — from foundations and corporations with money to give?

Many funders want to understand an organization’s impact — and quantifying and conveying that impact can take many forms, says Velma Monteiro-Tribble, former director of grants and program...

In a nation where healthy choices often take a back seat, Dr. Marc Watkins, chief medical officer at Kroger Health, advocates a transformative shift: viewing food as medicine.

Watkins is spearheading a mission to eradicate food insecurities, paving the way for a healthier America. 

“If we’re going to change the way America eats, we have to lead around making sure we have a variety of foods in our stores that represents an adequate ...

When it comes to self-care, many people think of taking a break due to exhaustion or burnout. But the acts of self-care that make a real difference go beyond self-soothing, says Ariel Belgrave, an award-winning health and fitness expert, wellness consultant, and the founder of Gym Hooky. 

Belgrave challenges people to consider self-care as an investment in their future selves.

“The mindset shift I challenge folks to have is: thinki...

Many people who go into medicine come from well-off families and don’t know what it’s like to live in poverty. So when they graduate and become physicians, they can struggle to understand why their therapeutic interventions aren’t improving the lives of their patients.

This, according to Dr. Pedro José Greer Jr., is because med schools have not done a great job helping their students understand the social determinants of health — t...

Movement is important for a person’s health and well-being. The good news is: many activities that promote movement come with enormous benefits that extend beyond physical health. 

Today’s discussion features the founders of two organizations that aim to promote physical activity — and build community while doing it. 

Walk with a Doc began in 2005 after Dr. David Sabgir, a cardiologist in Columbus, Ohio, invited his patients to go ...

Dr. David Ansell’s book “The Death Gap: How Inequality Kills” was first published in 2017. In a foreword for the book updated in 2020, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot wrote that “Three years before the COVID-19 crisis, Dr. David Ansell published The Death Gap, brilliantly synthesizing what he experienced in decades of practicing medicine in two utterly different medical worlds that were mere blocks apart. What makes this book so compe...

Can equitable real estate development organization Parity help solve Baltimore's empty housing problem and build Black wealth? Founder Bree Jones and her backers are making it happen. According to a profile in Baltimore Magazine, Bree Jones counts herself among a generation of young Black Americans who are being spurred to activism by high-profile killings of unarmed Black people. These are people who demand accountability on issue...

Our guests are health equity practitioners Christin Zollicoffer and Dr. Bonnie Simpson Mason, who discuss programs and initiatives that are making headway in dismantling structural racism with episode host Claudia Zamora. Together they explore a number of different examples and critical success factors that contribute to success, and mention some common mistakes that organizations may make when establishing initiatives. This is the...

For the third installment of our mini-series exploring systemic bias and racism in healthcare, our panel of experts discuss various examples which illustrate how systemic racism is embedded in systems of healthcare and social determinants of health. These include measurements such as eGFR, BMI, and metabolic panels, scoring for post-operative risk; lack of diversity in dermatology textbooks; and how subjective information that is p...

For the second episode in our mini-series exploring systemic racism in healthcare, our panel explores different definitions of bias, stereotyping, systemic racism, and structural racism, and how these behaviors intersect with social determinants of health. Perspectives from both patient and professional viewpoints are addressed. The panel also discuss solutions such as bias training, cultural competency, language competency, self-r...

This is the first of a 4 episode mini-series of The Health Disparities Podcast exploring bias & systemic racism in medicine. The series aims to bring to the surface discussions, definitions, & perspectives about the problem of bias, examples of bias, structural & systemic racism, & examples of programs and policies that are tackling bias & racism.

"Unconscious Bias, Yes it is Real" is a useful short guide to und...

The Movement is Life Annual Summit is fast approaching, and thanks to philanthropic support from the Zimmer Biomet Foundation, there is no cost to register. Over two days (Nov 30 - Dec 01) a mix of plenary sessions and workshops will feature a stellar lineup of health equity thought leaders at the Renaissance Hotel Downtown, Washington, DC. Online registration: https://www.movementislifesummit.org/website/56162/program/ or Google M...

Very few physicians can name Dr. LaSalle Leffall and Dr. Clive Callender as pivotal mentors in their career, and also cite their experiences growing up with sickle cell as another important teacher. In a wide ranging discussion with fellow surgeon and Howard University alum Dr. Randall Morgan, Dr. Frederick explores some of the most important aspects of mentorship. He also discusses developing young leaders in science, the ongoing ...

Michaele Turnage Young, Senior Counsel at Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), joins orthopedic surgeon Tamara Huff, MD, MBA, to discuss the recent SCOTUS ruling on the Fourteenth  Amendment which has impacted affirmative action.

According to the Legal Defense Fund, "the Supreme Court has bowed to pressure from anti-civil rights activists, finding that Harvard and the University of North Carolina’s affirmative action programs ...

When the supreme court struck down race-conscious admissions this year, they ended policies of affirmative action that have helped to diversify college campuses since 1978. The ruling is considered detrimental to efforts to cultivate a representative healthcare workforce. At this year’s annual National Medical Association scientific assembly in New Orleans, Dr. Ruth Simmons was the keynote speaker at a symposium organized by the Co...

From COVID to Katrina to soaring temperatures, when disasters strike it is our most vulnerable communities that are on the emergency frontline, and it’s our underserved populations who experience the most disproportionate impact – and widening health disparities.

The mission of Healthcare Ready  is to help build resilient community health infrastructure that is prepared for, can respond to, and able to recover from disasters and di...