About Us

Who We Are

Diversify Health is a 501(c)(3) and the only national non-profit organization dedicated exclusively to building a more diverse health care workforce by providing educational opportunities for nursing and medical students from historically underrepresented groups in the health care professions.  

Drawing on the American Association of Medical Colleges’ definition of Underrepresented in Medicine – “those racial and ethnic populations that are underrepresented in the medical profession relative to their numbers in the general population” – Diversify Health programs and scholarships aim to make health care careers more accessible to racial and ethnic minorities, with particular focus on African Americans, Latinx Americans, Native Americans (including American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians), and Puerto Rican Americans.

Why Diversity in Health Care Matters

Health is determined by many factors that exist outside the traditional health care space. Commonly referred to as Social Determinants of Health, these conditions (e.g., housing quality, transportation, child/elderly care, access to healthy foods, education, and the ability to exercise regularly) underscore the vital importance of considering non-clinical conditions in providing health care.

Health care providers are able to treat patients most effectively and holistically when they can truly meet patients where they are. Studies show that providers of color are more likely to practice in underserved areas with larger minority populations and will often serve patients of color who are uninsured or underinsured.

Diversify Health amplifies key recommendations from a landmark study by the Institute of Medicine that underscores the critical importance of diversity in the U.S. health care workforce. Our goal is to radically increase the number of underrepresented minorities in the health care professions — particularly among those whose obstacles are greatest.

We strongly believe that diversifying the health care workforce will:

• Expand health care access for medically underserved communities

• Strengthen the medical research agenda in neglected areas of societal need

• Advance culturally competent care

• Enhance the pool of health care leaders and policymakers to appropriately address the priority needs of a diverse population