The British Caribbean Doctors & Dentists Association was established in order to bring like-minded individuals together, to celebrate Caribbean culture and to support each other throughout training. We aim to develop a strong network of doctors and dentists who are able to offer support to junior members, through our networking events, mentoring and professional development programme.
At BCDD we believe that we have a part to play in raising aspirations of young people in the Caribbean community and hope to increase visual representation of Caribbean people in medicine and dentistry. Through our outreach programmes, working with schools and community organisations, we aim to inspire the next generation to pursue a career within our relevant fields.
We are also passionate about eradicating health inequalities in the UK. Our mission is to advocate against health inequalities particularly those affecting the Caribbean community. We hope to act as a voice for our community and to influence policies which affect our community.
BCDD is a space for like-minded individuals to come together, to support each other through medical / dental training, celebrate our culture and to raise aspirations of young Caribbean people in the UK.
Black Caribbean students in the UK have poor educational attainment in comparison to white students and even their African counterparts. Just 3.5% are expected to achieve Grade A or above in 3 subjects at A-Level. In 2019 only 45% of Black students secured a higher education place. This has the knock on effect of limiting their access to medicine. Across the 33 medical schools in the UK only 238 were registered as Black Caribbean (compared to 23,376 white students in 2017/18).
Doctors from Black and Mixed ethnic groups make up a higher percentage of doctors at staff grade (the most junior of the senior grades) than they do the other senior grades. There is lack of career guidance to increase representation in senior positions.
Ethnic minorities have an increased risk of poor health with inequalities in access to secondary health care and dental care. In addition, Black Caribbeans are almost 2 times more likely to report poor health compared to White British people, with this increasing with age. These inequalities cannot be explained by genetics alone and are related to racism, bias and socio- economic factors.
Black Caribbean people are disengaging from medical services largely due to the mistrust of healthcare professionals. They report a poorer experience with primary care, which has detrimental effects on the benefits of early diagnosis and treatment of illness; as well as poor control of pre-existing illnesses.
