COVID-19 has taken a disproportionate toll on African-Americans in New York City and across the country. It's highlighted racial disparities in health care, including the need for more Black doctors, who understand the issues facing African and African American communities.

The Association of American Medical Colleges says that in 2018, just 5 percent of practicing physicians identified as African-American, compared to more than 56 percent who identified as White and 17 percent who identified as Asian. 

Dr. Arturo Holmes is a urology resident at SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn, and he wrote an op-ed about his experiences as a Black doctor. He says while most of his patients welcome his care, that's not always the case. 

"I have had experiences — more often with white patients than Black patients — where I'll walk into a room and a patient will assume I'm not a physician or I'm not a qualified physician because I'm Black," he said.

Listen as he and Dr. Mary Louise Patterson, a retired Black pediatrician on the clinical staff at Weill Cornell Medicine, discuss their experiences with Jami Floyd, WNYC's senior editor for race and justice.