Racial, Ethnic Health Disparities Expert to Speak at UAMS

By todd

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LITTLE ROCK – Thomas LaVeist, Ph.D., a nationally known professor, author and public speaker, will speak on racial and ethnic health disparities May 2 at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).


 


LaVeist, who is director of the Center for Health Disparities Solutions at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, will speak at 4 p.m. in UAMS’ Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health. The lecture is free and open to public.


 


LaVeist’s topic is “Health Disparities and the Coming Minority-Majority: Overview of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, Discussing the Role of Quality Care and Social Determinants.”


 


“Dr. LaVeist has dedicated his career to ending health disparities in our country, and we’re excited and honored that he will be here to assist our own work on this critical issue in Arkansas,” said Jim Raczynski, Ph.D., dean of the UAMS Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health.


 


Despite major advances in health care over the past decade, racial and ethnic minorities remain less healthy, have shorter life expectancies, higher rates of infant mortality and chronic diseases, and have less access to health care than their white counterparts, Raczynski said.


 

UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with five colleges, a graduate school, a medical center, six centers of excellence and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has about 2,430 students and 715 medical residents. It is one of the state’s largest public employers with about 9,400 employees, including nearly 1,000 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS’ Area Health Education Centers throughout the state. UAMS and its affiliates have an economic impact in Arkansas of $5 billion a year. For more information, visit www.uams.edu.