Charles R. Drew University’s College of Medicine Featured in PBS NOVA Documentary on Black Health in America
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU) is featured in the new PBS NOVA documentary Critical Condition: Health in Black America, a compelling and urgent examination of the factors behind health disparities affecting Black Americans.
The film, directed by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Stanley Nelson, premiered nationally on PBS and is now available for streaming and on the PBS app.
CDU’s College of Medicine is highlighted in the film as part of the solution to health inequities—ushering in a new generation of doctors who are not only skilled clinicians, but also equipped to confront bias and understand the broader social and environmental conditions impacting health outcomes.
Sabrina Montgomery, a second-year CDU medical student, shared in the film:
“We’re learning a lot about implicit bias and medical racism. Even as Black and Brown people, when they first brought it up, I thought, ‘We don’t have implicit bias.’ But they had us take certain tests to see, and it became clear that everyone has some level of implicit bias and it’s our responsibility to work on it.”
As revealed in the 90-minute documentary, Black Americans are nearly twice as likely to suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease than White Americans. They also face shorter life expectancies and significantly worse maternal health outcomes. The documentary traces the origins of these disparities to a legacy of pseudoscientific beliefs and structural racism in medicine, while also showing how chronic stress from discrimination—referred to as “weathering”—can accelerate aging and damage health on a cellular level.
Through interviews, data, and real-world stories, the film also spotlights community-based approaches and educational reforms that offer hope.
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science is a private non-profit student-centered University that is committed to cultivating diverse health professional leaders who are dedicated to social justice and health equity for underserved populations through outstanding education, research, clinical service, and community engagement. Located in the Watts-Willowbrook area of South Los Angeles, CDU has undergrad, graduate, and doctoral degree programs, as well as certificate programs, to help start or accelerate careers in health care. CDU is also a leader in health disparities research with a focus on education, training, treatment and care in cancer, diabetes, cardiometabolic and HIV/AIDS.
As a Historically Black Graduate Institution (HBGI), one of only four Historically Black Medical Colleges, and a Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities charter member, CDU’s College of Medicine represents a critical pathway for increasing diversity in the physician workforce and addressing long-standing inequities in healthcare.