Black internships

In 1920s, less than 100 of over 3,000 internships were open to black physicians. In 1923, only six of 202 black hospitals (i.e., that treated primarily black patients) had internships (Ward, 61-62). The internship crisis for African Americans subsided in the mid-1930s as new hospitals for blacks were built and fewer African Americans entered medical school. There was a surplus of internships available to African Americans for the first time in 1936” (65). Only in 1956 did a majority (77 of 129) of Howard and Meharry graduates serve internships in predominantly white (integrated) hospitals (69-70). By end of 1950s, there were over 350 board certified black physicians in all specialties, which was ca. 1% of total number of board certified specialists (78).