The National Board of Medical Examiners, the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners, and specialty board certification and accreditation bodies should review examinations for appropriate assessment of cultural competency and make appropriate changes to reflect assessment of cultural competency. Accreditation standards for medical schools should also include an assessment of cultural competency. Managed care plans should develop targets for minority physician representation and track their success in achieving these targets. Measures of quality should include the ability of managed care plans to deliver culturally competent care with adequate numbers of minority physicians and staff who demonstrate cultural competency. Minorities should have access to all specialties and career choices in medicine, including academic medicine.
More research is necessary to understand the factors influencing minority specialty choice.
By 2010, underrepresented minorities should constitute at least 10 percent of medical school faculty. Every academic medical center should have in place specific programs and a dedicated budget for identifying and supporting under-represented minority students with an interest in academic medicine. Managed care organizations should develop training and mentoring programs to promote minority physician leadership in these organizations. These organizations should participate in partnerships between medicine and pre-professional educational institutions. The health status of minority populations may be improved by increasing access to medical care, by decreasing health professional shortages in minority communities, and by increasing minority representation in medicine.