Background
Curtis, James L. was born on April 27, 1922 in Jeffersonville, Georgia, United States. Son of Will and Francis (Hall) Curtis.
(One American in 560 becomes a doctor . . . Only one black...)
One American in 560 becomes a doctor . . . Only one black American in 3800 does. Why? The answers—and what can be done about them—are presented in this succinct and important book by Dr. James L. Curtis. Blacks, Medical Schools, and Society provides an insightful history of the black physician in America—from colonial times to the present—as well as an incisive analysis of contemporary trends and future prospects in black medical education. Examining high school programs and premedical workshops such as the Cornell Medical School-Hampton Institute collaboration, the author evaluates the impact of current approaches and suggests practical steps to increase the quality and quantity of trained black doctors and dentists. At a time when physicians are in short supply, and when—for the first time—more than half of the country's black medical students are attending predominantly white schools, this book offers a significant and straightforward commentary on the medical practices of a multiracial society.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0472269003/?tag=2022091-20
( Affirmative action programs have significantly changed ...)
Affirmative action programs have significantly changed American medicine for the better, not only in medical school admissions and access to postgraduate training but also in bringing a higher quality of health care to all people. James L. Curtis approaches this important transition from historical, statistical, and personal perspectives. He tells how over the course of his medical education and career as a psychiatrist and professor--often as the first or only African American in his cohort--the status of minorities in the medical professions grew from a tiny percentage to a far more equitable representation of the American population. Advancing arguments from his earlier book, Blacks, Medical Schools, and Society, Curtis evaluates the outcomes of affirmative action efforts over the past thirty years. He describes formidable barriers to minority access to medical-education opportunities and the resulting problems faced by minority patients in receiving medical treatment. His progress report includes a review of two thousand minority students admitted to U.S. medical schools in 1969, following them through graduation and their careers, comparing them with the careers of two thousand of their nonminority peers. These samples provide an important look at medical schools that, while heralding dramatic progress in physician education and training opportunity, indicates much room for further improvement. A basic hurdle continues to face African Americans and other minorities who are still confined to segregated neighborhoods and inferior school systems that stifle full scholastic development. Curtis urges us as a nation to develop all our human resources through an expansion of affirmative action programs, thus improving health care for everyone. James L. Curtis is Clinical Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0472112988/?tag=2022091-20
Curtis, James L. was born on April 27, 1922 in Jeffersonville, Georgia, United States. Son of Will and Francis (Hall) Curtis.
Bachelor, Albion College, 1943; Doctor of Medicine, University of Michigan, 1946; certified psychoanalysis, Columbia University, 1954.
Intern, Wayne County General Hospital, Eloise, Michigan, 1947; resident in psychiatry, Wayne County General Hospital, Eloise, Michigan, 1948; resident in psychiatry, State University of New York, Brooklyn, 1949-1950; from instructor to clinical assistant professor, State University of New York Dowstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, 1954-1968; associate dean, associate professor psychiatry., Cornell Univercity Medical Center, New York City, 1968-1980; clinical professor psychiatry, New York Medical College, New York City, 1980-1982; clinical professor psychiatry, Columbia University College Physicians & Surgeons, New York City, since 1982; director department psychiatry, Harlem Hospital Center, New York City, since 1982.
( Affirmative action programs have significantly changed ...)
(One American in 560 becomes a doctor . . . Only one black...)
Captain United States Air Force, 1952-1954. Fellow American Psychiatric Association, American Orthopsychiat. Association, American Psychoanalytic Association, American Academy Psychoanalysts.
Married Vivian Alzine Rawls, December 11, 1948. Children: Lawrence, Paul.