Health Equity Has it's Roots in the Exam Room, says AAFP President Iroku-Malize

The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) made health equity a strategic priority in 2017. Family physicians are essential champions for heatlh equity, the Academy asserts, because they focus on primary care and because they more often provide health care in disadvantaged communities than other medical specialties.

In light of a recent report from the Kaiser Family Foundation on persistent disparities in heatlh and heatlh care among racial and ethnic minorities, Patient Care^® asked American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) President Tochi Iroku-Malize, MD, MPH, MBA, to discuss what family physicians and other primary care clinicians can do at the grassroots patient level, in the exam room, to help make a difference. Her suggestions follow in this conversation.

AAFP Resources

• American Academy of Family Physicians Center for Diversity and Health Equity

• AAFP EveryOne Project

• The Neighborhood Navigator

Tochi Iroku-Malize, MD, MPH, a family physician in Long Island, New York, is current president of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Iroku-Malize serves as founding chair and professor of family medicine for the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell in Hempstead, New York, and is senior vice president and chair of the family medicine service line for Northwell Health. She oversees 4 family medicine residency programs and 3 fellowships spread across 23 hospitals. She was previously the director of the family medicine residency program at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, New York. She is currently a member of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine and is active in the Association of Departments of Family Medicine.