Cincinnati Enquirer: The Long Hard Road, Part 3

UC medical students eye underserved communities

The Cincinnati Enquirer devoted a special section to examining poverty in the Tristate and the inability of residents to achieve upward economic mobility. Part of the section looked at medicine and how while gender equality has improved in medical education, economic diversity lags. Students of color still face an upheld battle in attending medical school. Their presence is crucial in helping to fuel the pipeline for physicians of color serving communities. Three medical students at the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Medicine—Fernando Blank, Adam Butler and Halimat Olaniyan—shared their thoughts about serving underserved communities. Students of color represented 23 percent of the 185 new medical students at UC College of Medicine, the largest share ever in the school’s history.

Read the special section online.

Learn more about this year diverse class of medical students.

Related Stories

3

What can oral health tell us about kidney health?

May 6, 2026

A recent article published in BMC Nephrology points to a connection between oral health and kidney health, citing evidence analyzed by University of Cincinnati College of Medicine researchers. The article shows an association between oral diseases and chronic kidney disease. Priyanka Gudsoorkar, assistant professor-educator in the Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences, recently appeared on Cincinnati Edition on 91.7 WVXU News, to discuss the latest findings.