February 8th is National Black Women Physicians’ Day™

Black Women Physicians are Celebrated After 159 Years During Black History Month

HOUSTON, TX, USA, February 8, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- National Black Women Physicians will celebrate Rebecca Lee Crumpler, M. D., the first Black Woman medical doctor in the United States in 1864. Nearly 160 years after Dr. Crumpler became a physician, there are still less than 3% Black Women Physicians in America. The Congressional Recognition by Congresswoman Shelia Jackson Lee in February 2021 has set a tone of celebration for the plight and accomplishments of Black Women Physicians nationwide.

“Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler’s tenacity and resilience to become the First Black Woman Physician at the most inopportune time in American history forged an indelible path for others like myself to follow,” says Sonya Sloan, M. D., Orthopedic Surgeon and co-founder of NBWPD™.

This day of observation for Black Women Physicians highlights the importance of more diversity, equity, and inclusion.
“Given the duration of physician training, any changes implemented [to improve recruitment and retention of students from underrepresented racial and ethnic minority groups] will take more than a decade to affect the physician workforce.” Mora H, Obayemi A, Holcomb K, Hinson M. The National Deficit of Black and Hispanic Physicians in the US and Projected Estimates of Time to Correction. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(6):e2215485.

“Several factors contribute to the health disparities African Americans face, but the lack of African American doctors available in the United States exacerbates these disparities.” https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/health-disparities-between-blacks-and-whites-run-deep/

To learn more about National Black Women Physicians’ Day, click here https://nbwpd.net/

About: Today, February 8, 2023, honors Rebecca Davis, born on February 8, 1831.
Rebecca Lee Crumpler, M. D., graduated from the New England Female Medical College in 1864. She was the First Black Woman to earn a medical degree in the United States.

In early 2021, three Black Women Physicians, Dr. Kanisha Hall (Howard University Medical School Alumna), Dr. Ciri Press (Northwestern University Alumna), and Dr. Sonya Sloan (the first black woman General Surgery intern and Orthopedic Surgery resident at Baylor College of Medicine, Alumna) started a petition to establish National Black Women Physicians' Day as an official holiday. On February 5, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, U. S. Representative for Texas's 18th Congressional District, proclaimed February 8th as National Black Women Physicians' Day by formal Congressional Recognition.

*There are NO surviving photos of Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler per her family and research
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/dr-rebecca-lee-crumpler https://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/items/show/18269

*A Book of Medical Discourses, published in 1883, is available digitally:
https://archive.org/details/67521160R.nlm.nih.gov/page/n3

Sonya Sloan, M.D.
National Black Women Physicians' Day
+1 855-234-6393
admin@nbwpd.net
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