Jerrian Reedy, left, a student at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, assists Dorothy Gray, a student at Northside High School in the Mississippi Delta, as she practices intubation in a simulation lab. Gray, who is interested in pursuing a career in the mental health care field, attended the University of Mississippi School of Medicine’s annual African American Visit Day in April. Lauren Sausser for KFF Health News hide caption
Many medical students do not attend lectures in the first two years, instead opting to watch recorded classes on their own time. Tom Fowlks/Getty Images hide caption
Students at the University of Minnesota celebrate their induction into medical school. The U.S. has disproportionately few Black and Hispanic doctors. Some of the barriers to entering the profession start before even getting into medical school, recent research finds, including financial pressures and racism. Anthony Souffle/Star Tribune via Getty Images hide caption
HOUSTON, TX - DECEMBER 14: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) A medical staff member Stephanie takes a short nap in nursing station in the COVID-19 intensive care unit (ICU) at the United Memorial Medical Center on December 14, 2020 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Go Nakamura/Getty Images) Go Nakamura/Getty Images hide caption
Carl Allamby recently completed all of his training and was hired as an attending physician at Cleveland Clinic's Hillcrest Hospital. He's 51. Stephen Travarca/Cleveland Clinic Hillcrest Hospital hide caption
Dr. Nicole Scott, the residency program director at Indiana's largest teaching hospital, is worried what the near-total ban on abortion in the state means for her hospital's ability to recruit and retain the best doctors. Farah Yousry/Side Effects Public Media hide caption
Technology consultant Frank Thai creates a 3-D scan of a preserved cadaver in the medical school's Anatomy Resource Center. Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine hide caption
In this 2009 photo, Stephen Cox (left), Mike Forte (center), and Maria Gallo (right), all medical students then, were busy studying a cadaver in the lab at Rocky Vista University's Parker, Colo., campus. Rocky Vista, a for-profit institution, last month received the green light for an accredited satellite campus in Billings, Mont. Ken Lyons/Denver Post via Getty Images hide caption
Sam Smith, a University of Colorado Boulder grad who is applying to medical schools, says he has been inspired by the example of health care workers during the pandemic. He plans to specialize in infectious diseases. "I want to be on the front lines of the next one," he says. Meredith Nierman hide caption
Health care professionals gather outside Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis in June to demonstrate in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Jeff Roberson/AP hide caption
Health workers and others rallied in Seattle during a Doctors For Justice event on June 6, protesting police brutality in the wake of George Floyd's death. Medical training needs a hard look too, doctors say: Students of color and LGBTQ people often bear the brunt of what can be a bullying culture. David Ryder/Getty Images hide caption
Gabrielle Mayer graduated from medical school in April and began her residency early so she could help care for patients with COVID-19. Gabrielle Mayer hide caption
Doctors test a hospital staffer Tuesday for coronavirus, in a triage tent that's been set up outside the E.R. at St. Barnabas hospital in the Bronx. Hospital workers are at higher risk of getting COVID-19, and public health experts fear a staffing shortage in the U.S. is coming. Misha Friedman/Getty Images hide caption
All the portraits hanging on the wall inside the Louis Bornstein Family Amphitheater at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston on June 12, 2018 were of men, nearly all white. The portraits have since been removed. Pat Greenhouse/Boston Globe via Getty Images hide caption
Travis Rieder, author of In Pain: A Bioethicist's Personal Struggle With Opioids, says none of the doctors who prescribed opioids for his waves of "fiery" or "electrical" pain taught him how to safely taper his use of the drugs when he wanted to quit. Stockbyte/Getty Images hide caption
Dr. Hillary Tamar, who's in the second year of her family medicine residency in Phoenix, is part of a new generation of doctors who are committed to treating addiction. Jackie Hai/KJZZ hide caption
In their classic radio show, Car Talk, hosts Ray and Tom Magliozzi, demonstrated what some doctors consider an ideal example of the thinking doctors need to learn to make a good medical diagnosis. Liz Linder/WBUR hide caption
Sarah Spiegel, a third-year student at New York Medical College, pushed for more education on LGBT health issues for students. Mengwen Cao for NPR hide caption
Currently students of color are underrepresented in medical schools, but their numbers are slowly growing. Getty Images hide caption
Nationally gathered statistics suggest that nearly half of graduating physicians in 2017 owed more than $200,000 in student debt. Cargo/Getty Images hide caption
Feranmi Okanlami, now a doctor, became partially paralyzed after an accident in 2013. He says adjustments for his disability during his training, like this chair that lets him stand, helped him succeed. A new report finds variability in medical institution culture and protocols when it comes to supporting aspiring doctors with disabilities. Courtesy of Feranmi Okanlami hide caption
Doctors who trained in foreign medical schools often end up practicing in rural or low-income areas in the U.S. with a shortage of physicians. shapecharge/Getty Images hide caption