BATON ROUGE — LSU School of Medicine first opened its doors in New Orleans in 1931, but didn’t see its first Black graduate until 1970. Dr. Claude Jenkins Tellis went on to spend decades working as a pulmonologist in the Baton Rouge area.
When Dr. Tellis graduated from medical school, only 2.2 percent of doctors in the US were Black. Today, Black doctors make up just more than five and a half percent of active physicians, even though Black Americans account for nearly 14 percent of the US population.
Breaking barriers at LSU
Dr. Tellis, now 81, vividly remembers his time at the LSU School of Medicine. It was 1966 when he started, and racial tensions were flaring.
“Because of all of the things that had gone on in our history leading up to that time, I concluded that I wanted to apply. And once I applied, if I had been accepted, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. You know I was kind of scared,” Tellis said.
But he would later realize his fears were unfounded.
“I never had any issues. I was thinking I was going to have one. I was always waiting for it, so the anxiety was always there…even all the way through,” he said.
What he did find at LSU was plenty of support in some unexpected places.
“There were a lot of African American, um, technicians and workers at the place, at, at the school. Um, and they let me know they were happy to see me there. The elevator operators were Black. They were happy to see me,” Tellis said.
In 1970, Dr. Tellis became the first Black student to graduate from the LSU School of Medicine. Before choosing LSU, he applied to 10 medical schools and was accepted at four.
Declining numbers
According to the Association of American Medical Colleges’ 2024 data, the number of African American medical students declined 11.6 percent, the third year in a row of declines.
Dr. Roger Mitchell, head of the National Medical Association, the oldest and largest organization representing Black physicians in the US, said the trend is concerning.
“We’re doing a good job at getting young people interested, more interested in medicine, but they’re not getting into medical school,” Mitchell said.
He primarily blames a lack of commitment to diversity in medical school programs for the recent decline in acceptance numbers.
“The requirement to ensure diversity in the retention and recruitment of medical schools and residency programs, that requirement has been removed,” Mitchell said.
A 2025 AAMC press release quotes Dr. David A. Acosta, the chief diversity and inclusion officer, as saying, “In the wake of the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision on the consideration of race in admissions and state-level policies ending funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, medical schools are operating in a new environment.”
HBCU medical schools’ critical role
There are 193 accredited medical schools in the United States, and four are located at HBCUs or Historically Black Colleges and Universities. HBCU medical schools account for 70 percent of Black physicians.
“Combined, there are about 450 graduates or so every year from those medical schools,” Mitchell said.
Schools that were nearly wiped out in the first part of the 20th century. In 1910, Abraham Flexner published Medical Education in the United States and Canada, often referred to as the Flexner Report. This report called for the reconstruction of American medical education to reach a higher standard. Flexner’s survey of 160 medical schools found that about half were unacceptable. The report particularly targeted Black medical schools. Dozens of schools would eventually close, including five of seven HBCUs. This left only Meharry Medical College in Nashville and Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, DC. Charles R. Drew University would open in Los Angeles in 1966, and Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta in 1975.
“We still are trying to graduate more medical students that will go back into disenfranchised communities and serve…and so the importance of HBCUs that have medical schools is critically important,” Mitchell said.
Studies have shown that Black patients experience better health outcomes when treated by Black doctors.
“So, it’s important to, you know, life expectancy of our community for physicians of color to be practicing in the communities that they’ve come from,” Mitchell said.
New HBCU medical school on horizon
Serving the community is the impetus behind the creation of a fifth HBCU medical school that will soon open its doors in New Orleans. The Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine, a partnership between Xavier University and Ochsner Health, will be the only HBCU med school in the Gulf South.
“I’ll be impacting students who will exponentially impact patients, and so I’m excited about this endeavor,” said Dr. Tamika Webb-Detiege, the Associate Dean for Student Affairs.
Webb-Detiege wants to create an environment for students that she didn’t have as a first-generation college student and med student.
“When you come from a background where you don’t have that pathway set for you, it can be very difficult, and so to me what Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine will mean is opportunity,” she said.
Webb-Detiege calls it an “intentional environment” where students can learn and give back to the local community.
“Our goal is to understand what community needs are, to serve the community, and to ensure that we provide all of those resources to improve the health outcomes,” she said.
Advice for future doctors
After an internship at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in DC, Dr. Tellis eventually returned home to Baton Rouge, where he spent many decades treating patients with pulmonary disease. He has advice for students thinking about following in his footsteps.
“If you’ve had good experiences in school and you’ve been successful all this time, there’s no reason that you shouldn’t continue to be successful,” Tellis said.
Mitchell echoed that sentiment.
“Young people need to understand that if you work hard and you believe in yourself and you try to fulfill your dream, then your dream will come true,” he said.
“Believe in yourself. Trust yourself. Trust the people around you who have supported you because they see something in you,” Tellis said.
The Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine is currently at candidate status and seeking accreditation. According to the AAMC, there will be a severe shortage of up to 86 thousand doctors by 2036. It’s estimated that Louisiana will rank third for physician shortages by 2030.
