Doctor shines spotlight on inequalities in US medical system on Black patients

Dr. Uché Blackstock spoke with ABC News Live's Linsey Davis about her new book and her advocacy to improve health care for Black patients.

In recent years, conversations of racism and prejudice in health care have become more mainstream, from Black patients not being taken seriously when it comes to pain, to Black women having the highest maternal mortality rate in the United States, according to data.

Dr. Uché Blackstock has studied these issues, and advocated for change in the health care system. Her book, "Legacy: A Black Physician Reckoning with Racism in Medicine," dives into her career in medicine and the disparities in health care.

She recently spoke with ABC News Live's Linsey Davis about her research and advocacy.

ABC NEWS LIVE: I just want to get into the idea. I didn't realize only 2% of medical doctors are Black women, and the significance of your mom. She's a doctor, pass it along, [and] you and your twin sister are the first mother-daughter legacy to graduate from Harvard Medical School. How did she influence you to decide [that] you too wanted to become a doctor? And not just you, but also your twin sister.

DR. UCHÉ BLACKSTOCK: Well, thank you so much for having me here today. Well, my mother was our -- she was our role model. And essentially, I grew up thinking that most physicians were Black women. I had my mother who returned to the community that she grew up in, in central Brooklyn, to take care of her neighbors and family. And then I also had, other Black women physicians. My pediatrician was a Black woman. So I actually grew up thinking that most physicians were Black women. And then I entered college and I was pre-med, and I saw the statistics and said, "Wow, we actually are the unicorns." This is actually a rarity.