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Michael Bloomberg, businessman, former mayor of New York City and one-time Democratic candidate for president, announced on Thursday that his Bloomberg Philanthropies will give $100 million to four historically Black medical schools to ease the debt of approximately 800 medical students.
Those institutions are Meharry Medical College, Howard University College of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science.
A press release from Bloomberg Philanthropies highlighted that only 5 percent of practicing American doctors are Black, though research suggests Black patients have better health outcomes when treated by Black physicians. The donation is part of the organization’s new Greenwood Initiative, to “accelerate the pace of Black wealth accumulation and address systemic underinvestment in Black communities.”
The donation will allow the four schools to provide scholarships of up to $100,000 to nearly every medical student currently enrolled and receiving financial aid over the next four years, the press release said.
“Although Black doctors are more likely to serve minority patients, and in medically-underserved areas, the devastating economic impact of the current pandemic threatens to worsen existing disparities potentially preventing current Black medical students with financial need from completing their degrees or by forcing Black medical school graduates to pick specialties that offer higher pay in the interest of paying off their medical school debt,” the release said. “Ultimately, the pandemic could … slow the placement of Black doctors in communities with the most need.”
