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Health Check: Why we need more black doctors

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Why we need more black doctors

2023/04/26 GMT

BBC World Service - Health Check, Why we need more black doctors

Why more black doctors could increase life expectancy of local black people

Increasing representation of black doctors; Decline in child and teen vaccine take up; The science of felt presence; How long is too long for an afternoon siesta?

Addressing racial diversity amongst doctors can improve outcomes for people in their local communities. We speak to Dr Monica Peek, Doctor of Internal Medicine and Professor for Health Justice of Medicine at the University of Chicago, about a new study showing that a 10 per cent increase in black representation amongst clinicians increased life expectancy for black people by more than 30 days.

BBC Health and Science Correspondent James Gallagher looks at an international decline in childhood vaccine take up during the Covid 19 pandemic. He discusses a new study which links taking a long afternoon nap with obesity and high blood pressure.

And have you ever sensed that someone was with you when you were actually completely alone? It happened to polar explorer Luke Robertson in 2016 when he became the first Scottish person to trek solo to the South Pole. In his book ‘Presence: The Strange Science and True Stories of the Unseen Other’, psychologist Ben Alderson-Day tries to make sense of the phenomenon which has been known to affect many people from Polar explorers, to people with sleep disorders or Parkinson’s disease.

Image Credit: Morsa Images

Presenter: Claudia Hammond
Producer: Clare Salisbury

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