Reckoning with Racism in Medicine: A Conversation with Dr. Uché Blackstock on Health Equity and Systemic Change

Systemic racism continues to shape medical education, clinical practice and patient outcomes. It’s a topic near and dear to Dr. Uché Blackstock—physician, health equity advocate, and New York Times bestselling author of Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine. In this episode, Dr. Blackstock reflects on her own experiences as a Black woman in medicine, including a misdiagnosis during medical school that left her hospitalized. She also examines how historical policies, such as the Flexner Report and redlining, continue to impact today’s health inequities. The episode also touches on bias in clinical decision-making and the urgent need to reframe medical training around social determinants of health. This conversation with Movement Is Life’s Dr. Mary O’Connor and Dr. Hadiya Green is a call to action for everyone working to advance health equity. Registration is now open for the upcoming Movement Is Life Annual Summit on Friday, November 14, 2025, in Washington, DC. This year’s theme is “Combating Health Disparities: The Power of Movement in Community.” Visit movementislifecommunity.org for more information. Never miss an episode – subscribe to The Health Disparities podcast from Movement Is Life on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts

Health misinformation is a growing challenge, as social media has become a primary source of information for many people, and influential voices are casting doubt on established medical practices.  Trusted health sources are becoming harder to find, especially in communities of color where access to care is already limited and systemic barriers persist.  The fight to bring reliable health information and resources to vulnerable communities is not new.  For decades, organizations like the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health have been doing this  work — building trust, educating communities and empowering individuals to take charge of  their health.  To learn more, we spoke with Dr. Marilyn Fraser, Chief Executive Officer of the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health. Dr. Fraser speaks with Movement Is Life’s Conchita Burpee. Never miss an episode – be sure to subscribe to The Health Disparities podcast from Movement Is Life on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.  

There are numerous social and structural vectors for disease that are not often discussed in medical school. So, Dr. David Ansell says he had a lot to learn once he became a physician. Ansell, author of “The Death Gap: How Inequality Kills,” writes about the stark disparities in access to treatment and outcomes for patients in the U.S. healthcare system. “We always talk about inequities. We have frank inequities, but we have gross inequalities,” Ansell says. “The care isn't equal… And if we could get to equal, then we can take on the inequity.” One of the most glaring examples is life expectancy; a person’s zip code can be a strong predictor for their life expectancy due to social and structural determinants of health, including structural racism and economic deprivation, he says.  “If you live in The Loop in Chicago, you can live to be 85 and if it were a country, it'd be ranked first in the world,” Ansell says. “But if you live in Garfield Park, three stops down the Blue Line from Rush, life expectancy post-Covid is 66.” In this conversation, which was first published in 2023 for the Health Disparities podcast, Dr. Ansell speaks with Movement Is Life’s Dr. Carla Harwell about the importance of addressing systemic racism and inequality in the healthcare system. Never miss an episode – be sure to subscribe to The Health Disparities podcast from Movement Is Life on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Food insecurity is a systemic public health issue that needs to be addressed because reliable access to healthy food is critical to positive health outcomes. Health care partnerships are forming to improve access to healthy foods in some states, including Massachusetts, which is at the forefront of addressing food insecurity with programs that allow Medicaid funding to be used to address social determinants of health. “I would push back on the idea that things like food and housing are not actually medical,” says Jennifer Obadia, senior director of health care partnerships at Project Bread, a nonprofit focused on creating a sustainable, system-wide safety net in Massachusetts for anyone facing hunger.  “Now, I understand they're not pharmaceutical,” she adds. “But we know that 80% of a person's health is determined by social and environmental factors.” In this week’s episode, Jennifer Obadia speaks with Movement Is Life’s Sonia Cervantes about food insecurity, Project Bread’s mission, lessons learned over the years and shares a call to action for listeners. Project Bread's FoodSource Hotline (1-800-645-8333) is the food assistance line for all of Massachusetts, whether you need help paying for food and don't know where to start or you're simply curious about ways to boost your food budget or save on groceries.   Never miss an episode – be sure to subscribe to The Health Disparities podcast from Movement Is Life on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Conversation is an important part of bringing an end to racism so that everyone thrives in our society. It’s something that the leaders of 904Ward care deeply about.  The 904Ward organization evolved the Jacksonville 904 dialing area code into a nonprofit whose mission is to create racial healing and equity through deep conversations and learning, trusting relationships, and collective action.  Dr. Kimberly Allen served as the inaugural CEO of 904WARD from 2020 to 2025.  “I think we all make judgments all the time because that's just the nature of our brains and how it works, but what I would encourage us to do is to call those judgments out and, I say, ‘Say the quiet part out loud.’ Call those judgments  out so that you can start to work through where they come from,” Dr. Allen says.  In this conversation, which was first recorded in 2022 for the Health Disparities podcast, Dr. Allen is joined by 904 resident Sharon LaSure-Roy. They spoke with Movement Is Life’s Sarah Hohman. Never miss an episode – be sure to subscribe to The Health Disparities podcast from Movement Is Life on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The underlying causes of health disparities are many, and sometimes healthcare providers can exacerbate disparities with how they operate. Health equity researchers have conducted "secret shopper" studies, revealing how healthcare providers limit appointments — and even treatment recommendations — to people with certain types of insurance. “Patients with Medicaid were significantly less likely to be offered appointments compared to those with Medicare or private insurance, and in many cases, clinics told us they weren't accepting any new Medicaid patients or that they didn't take Medicaid at all,” says Dr. Daniel Wiznia, Associate Professor of Orthopaedics & Rehabilitation at Yale and a former member of Movement Is Life’s Steering Committee. “But when we would call back with private insurance, suddenly they have plenty of appointments available for the private insurance patients,” he says. Wiznia and his colleagues also found that even when Medicaid patients were offered appointments, wait times were often much longer — delays which can have serious consequences.  “So if a Medicaid patient has to wait six weeks or eight weeks for an appointment, while a private patient just waits maybe a week, that can really impact outcomes, especially for patients with chronic conditions or urgent needs,” he says. Wiznia joined Movement Is Life’s Dr. Mary O’Connor to discuss these findings in detail. He offers advice to patients who may find themselves in a situation where they’re denied care due to their insurance status and explains how raising reimbursement rates for Medicaid could help address the problem. Never miss an episode – be sure to subscribe to The Health Disparities podcast from Movement Is Life on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What does it take to create healthy neighborhoods that include broad, deep, and permanent pathways to prosperity for low-income families?  That question is the focus of today’s episode with Carol Redmond Naughton, CEO of Purpose Built Communities based in Atlanta. “I really have become an  advocate for community development as a way to move the needle on  health outcomes. And I'm not talking about simply putting a kidney dialysis center in the bottom floor of a senior high rise,” Naughton says. “I don't mean to say that that's not a good thing to do, but we've got to move upstream. We've got to be way upstream and be thinking about: How are we building communities and supporting children, so those children 60 years from now will not need kidney dialysis?” In a conversation that was first published in 2022, Naughton speaks with Movement Is Life’s Dr. Tamara Huff about the difference between access to health care and health outcomes and the importance of addressing the social determinants of health.   She also calls on all of us to reflect on the systems that have kept people trapped in poverty — especially Black and Brown communities — and consider what it takes to create communities that support a “cradle to college pipeline.”  Never miss an episode – be sure to subscribe to The Health Disparities podcast from Movement Is Life on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The case for diversity in healthcare professions is strong. Research shows that a diverse healthcare workforce improves health outcomes, particularly for patients of color, and also increases people’s access to care and their perception of the care they receive.  Physicians of color are more likely to build careers in underserved communities, which can contribute even more toward the goal of reducing healthcare disparities. So, what does it take to cultivate a strong and diverse health care workforce? On this week’s episode, we gain insights from two knowledgeable guests, who spoke with Dr. Hadiya Green at  Movement Is Life’s annual summit: Dr. Cheryl Brewster, Senior Executive Dean for Access, Opportunity, and Collaboration and a Professor in the Department of Bioethics, Humanism, and Policy Roseman University College of Medicine Dr. Jarrod Lockhart, formerly an instructor at Morehouse School of Medicine, now Assistant Vice Provost, Education Outreach & Collaboration at Oregon Health & Science University Never miss an episode – be sure to subscribe to The Health Disparities podcast from Movement Is Life on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Poverty is a key driver of health disparities. But numerous policies have been shown to help alleviate poverty and improve health equity, according to Dr. Rita Hamad, associate professor of social and behavioral sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Hamad says policymakers need to look upstream and identify the root causes of health issues. “And really recognizing that poverty is one of the major root causes of those issues, and that if we don't address that… those health issues are just going to keep arising and not getting any better,” she says.  On this episode of the Health Disparities podcast, Hamad speaks with Movement Is Life’s Dr. Charla Johnson about evidence-based policies for alleviating poverty — like the child tax credit, earned income tax credit — and explains how healthcare systems can get more involved in bolstering the social safety net. Never miss an episode – be sure to subscribe to The Health Disparities podcast from Movement Is Life on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A diverse healthcare workforce is critical to improving outcomes for our diverse nation. In order to achieve this, there needs to be both a pipeline and a pathway, says Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, President and CEO of Morehouse School of Medicine. “We need students to believe what’s possible in first grade and then chart a path,” she says. Montgomery Rice says her own love and science and people led her to chart her career pathway that led her into academic medicine. “What if everybody was given that opportunity. What if everybody was told you can be whatever you want to be?” “Every one of my roles has been about how to develop people to bring their best self to work,” she says. Although health equity work can be polarized and be perceived as political, Montgomery Rice says Morehouse School of Medicine is committed to leading the creation and advancement of health equity — both through new solutions and through complementing existing ones.  The heart of her message on health equity: It’s about “giving people what they need, when they need it, to achieve optimal level of health.” Montgomery Rice spoke with Movement Is Life’s Dr. Carla Harwell for this episode, which was recorded at Movement Is Life’s annual health equity summit. Never miss an episode – be sure to subscribe to The Health Disparities podcast from Movement Is Life on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.