Black Physician Workforce
5.7%
Of active physicians in the United States identify as Black — for a population that is 13.6% Black
Black physicians make up just 5.7% of active physicians in the United States, despite Black Americans comprising 13.6% of the population. The gap is even more acute for Black men, who represent only 2.6% of the physician workforce — a figure that has been essentially flat for three decades. Despite sustained investment in medical school diversity pipelines, the physician workforce has shifted by only 1.3 percentage points since 1990.
Specialty distribution is deeply uneven. Black physicians are more represented in primary care, pediatrics, psychiatry, and infectious disease — fields that disproportionately serve Black communities. They are dramatically underrepresented in surgical subspecialties, dermatology, and radiology. These imbalances reflect historical exclusion from training programs, differential mentorship, and the compounding effects of medical school debt.
The clinical stakes are significant. Studies published in JAMA and NEJM show that Black patients cared for by Black physicians have better outcomes on preventive screenings, pain management, and patient-reported satisfaction. Black newborns delivered by Black physicians have lower mortality rates. Increasing physician workforce diversity is not merely a diversity goal — it is a patient safety issue.
% Black physicians by specialty
AAMC 2023 data on active physicians by specialty and self-reported race.
| Specialty | % Black physicians |
|---|---|
Source: AAMC 2023 Physician Specialty Data Report, active physicians, self-reported race.
% of US physicians who are Black, 1990–2023
Black share of active physician workforce vs. share of US population.
Percentage (%)
Source: AAMC Physician Workforce Data, 1990–2023
Black physicians per 100k Black residents by state
Geographic distribution of Black physician supply relative to Black population.
Methodology
AAMC Active Physician Data, Specialty Area of Practice, self-reported race/ethnicity. Active physicians defined as those with valid DEA, NPI, or state license with no inactive status indicators. Race data reflects self-identification at medical school application or subsequent AAMC surveys. State-level estimates derived from AAMC state physician workforce profiles combined with ACS 5-year Black population estimates.
Cite this page
APA
Black Health. (2026). Black Physician Workforce. Black Health Data Hub. https://blackhealth.org/data/physician-workforce/
BibTeX
@misc{blackhealth_physicianworkforce_2026,
title = {Black Physician Workforce},
author = {{Black Health}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://blackhealth.org/data/physician-workforce/},
note = {Accessed January 10, 2026}
}
Direct link
https://blackhealth.org/data/physician-workforce/
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License: Data compiled from public AAMC reports — public domain