The Formation of the Black Medical Movement and Its Implications for Social Work, Part I: African American Physicians

Abstract

“The world cannot progress beyond its present impasse..unless we begin to learn again what really happened in the world..to give credit where credit is due and have a different conception of the human being regardless of the race or color of that human.” -Sertima, 1986 Background: Health deficits have been present among Black and African American communities since having been brought to and enslaved in the United States. Black Americans have a legacy of finding ways to make ways to acquire the resources and access to medical care desperately needed among their communities. However, the narrative of how these communities gained access to medical methods, education, and training is largely neglected in the context of social work or in social work education. Objective: This historical review examines the efforts and accomplishments of African Americans to acquire medical training and resources to address the health disparities among their own and neighboring communities in need. Methods: Thematic analysis is used to investigate the existence of efforts of African Americans to acquire access to medical resources. Findings: The findings of this analysis identify that the efforts and achievements of Blacks and African Americans to acquire medical training and resources culminate in the Black Medical Movement (1788-Present). Conclusions: This existence of the Black Medical Movement presents at least four implications for the social work profession. A brief background of the genesis of health deficits among African American communities of provided, then followed by a description of the Black Medical Movement from its inception to present. This analysis concludes with a call to interrupt systems of oppression by using the presented findings to inform social work ways of knowing, practice, research, and approaches to social justice.