- Royce Fellowship
Mya
Roberson
Concentration
Public Health
Award Year
2015
Understanding the Role of the Race and Gender of Physicians as it Relates to Breast Cancer: Screening Communication for Black Women in Birmingham, Alabama
Faculty Sponsor: Melissa Clark
Scientific literature suggests that good patient-provider communication can be a facilitator of cancer screening while bad communication can serve as a barrier. However, this area is understudied along the racial/ethnic lines of patients and providers. Given the widespread breast cancer mortality gap between Black and White women, patient-provider communication serves as a critical sector of research to help address this disparity. Mya interviewed a diverse sample of primary care providers as well as Black women residing in Birmingham in order to see if physicians’ perceptions of breast cancer screening communication aligned with their patients perceptions of care.