The need for black specialists in preventive medicine

The disparity in health status between black and white Americans exists chiefly because of an excess of preventable disease in blacks. This situation calls for an increase in preventive services for blacks, services which might best be implemented or directed by black specialists in preventive medicine. However, there exists both an absolute shortage of preventive medicine specialists (of all races) and a relative shortage of black preventive medicine specialists. The immediate need for additional black specialists exceeds the total U.S. preventive medicine residency corps.