Synopsis
In response to a year in which racial disparities in health care and police brutality led to intense civil unrest, academic medical centers and major cardiology organizations made bold antiracism statements and initiatives. Interventional cardiac therapies are often underutilized in Blacks and Hispanics, exacerbating health care disparities and contributing to the excess cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in these communities. This lecture will review racial disparities in interventional cardiology and discuss steps that the interventional cardiology community can take to reduce the impact of bias and racism in our specialty.
Quinn Capers, IV, MD, FSCAI
Quinn Capers IV, MD, is an interventional cardiologist, medical educator, and professor of medicine whose expertise includes acute coronary syndromes and transradial cardiac interventions. A graduate of Howard University and The Ohio State University (OSU) College of Medicine, Dr. Capers completed his residency and fellowships at Emory University. As the dean for admissions at Ohio State, he led the school to have one of the most diverse classes in the nation while keeping the average Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) score above the 90th percentile. His study on implicit racial bias in medical school admissions is widely quoted. He also led OSU's cardiology fellowship program to become one of the nation’s most diverse cardiac programs. Recently appointed the chair of the American College of Cardiology’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Dr. Capers speaks internationally on racism and bias in medicine. In 2020, he joined the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School as the associate dean of faculty diversity.