Increasing African American Public Health Professionals: Utilizing the Feedfoward Model to Address Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities in the African American Community

Abstract

African Americans and other minorities (AAOM) are under-represented in careers in medicine, public health, and research. Furthermore, African Americans suffer more disproportionately from racial health disparities across most health indicators. Scholars suggest that the underrepresentation of AAOM public health and medical professionals contributes to the racial and ethnic health disparity trends in the USA. Thus, an increase in African American public health professionals may lead to a decrease in health disparities in African American communities. This manuscript will share a qualitative research study designed to explore motivators to engage African American students into careers in public health. Grounded theory and the feedforward model were used to explore critical career motivators, career decisions, career trajectories, barriers, and methods to overcome barriers among 20 African American public health graduate students and professionals. Eight motivators and six recommendations were identified to engage African Americans into careers in Public Health.