GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — When Dr. Mary Branch meets with a patient, she knows that being a Black cardiologist could be the very detail that puts someone at ease.
“There’s a huge burden and prevalence of hypertension, obesity within our community. A lot of folks don’t feel heard, and they feel more comfortable, sometimes, if they have a physician who looks like them,” she said. She’s part of a small group.
Research in the AHA Journals shows that approximately 3% of cardiologists in the US are Black, which is lower than the 5.7% the Association of American Medical Colleges reports for Black physicians overall.
“I feel like if I go away, we are going to go extinct and that voice and that connection with patients and being those advocates may go away, and that’s very problematic,” Branch said. That’s kept Branch motivated despite the long journey to get to where she is today.
She’s been working as a cardiologist at Cone Health since the fall of 2022. “Here at Cone Hospital, there are three African American female cardiologists and we do have our own little niches and we’re part of the group. There are not many hospitals, I would say, in the country where you’ll have three African American female cardiologists but that requires intention, and our leadership is intentional about having diversity within their staff,” Branch said.