A confident woman with curly gray hair wearing a bright green blazer and a colorful, abstract patterned dress, standing near a window with a brick wall and greenery outside.
Logo for Black Doc Village featuring a stylized black and green image with text.
Logo for Black Doc Village featuring a stylized black and green image with text.

Founder & President of Black Doc Village

Founded in 2022 ・ 501(c)(3) Research & Policy Change Organization

Black Doc Village translates graduate medical education research into policy to end the disproportionate dismissal of Black resident physicians—at every point in the pipeline where the system pushes them out.

GO TO BLACK DOC VILLAGE

As Founder and President, Dr. Grubbs leads Black Doc Village's research and policy strategy - translating data on racial disparities in graduate medical education into the evidence base needed to drive structural change. Black Doc Village is, to her knowledge, the only nonprofit working at the intersection of GME research and policy reform to make this argument:

The pipeline to a diverse physician workforce cannot end at medical school acceptance. It has to extend through residency, all the way to board certification.

The research below is the foundation of that case.

3x

Higher likelihood of ever experiencing remediation - Black vs. White residents

76%

Higher likelihood of any negative discipline after controlling for gender, residency type, and socioeconomic factors

55%

Black residents reporting race factored into their discipline “a lot”

PUBLISHED RESEARCH

The Evidence Base

BDV’s work is grounded in peer-reviewed research. The findings below are not anecdotal - they are documented, published, and cited in federal and state policy conversations.

  • A research report titled 'Who Gets to Finish Residency: Federal Funding, Structural Racism, and Civil Rights Risk in U.S. Physician Training' features the logo of Black Doc Village. The report discusses disparities in medical training, healthcare equity, and policy implications, with sections on executive summary, core issue, and quantifying harm, accompanied by icons and green highlights.

    Policy Brief | 2026

    Federal Funding, Structural Racism, and Civil Rights Risk in U.S Physician Training

    Read the brief
  • A research infographic titled 'Discipline is Not Neutral: Racial Disparities in Resident Physician Disciplinary Action' presenting findings from a cross-sectional survey conducted between April and August 2024 with 1,755 U.S. resident physicians. The infographic includes sections on study design, gender and race/ethnicity demographics, outcome assessments, perceptions of process, and social determinants of success. It displays statistics indicating disparities faced by Black residents compared to White residents in leadership meetings, remediation, disciplinary experiences, and college graduation likelihood.

    National Survey Study | 2026

    Discipline is Not Neutral: Racial Disparities in Resident Physician Disciplinary Action

    Read the visual abstract
  • Infographic titled 'Policing the Pipeline' discussing resident physician voices on discipline, racial demographics, disciplinary systems, core themes, and institutional support, featuring bar graphs, icons, and quotes.

    In-depth Interview Study | 2026

    Policing the Pipeline: Resident Physician Voices on Discipline, Racialized Professionalism, and Who Gets to Finish Training

    Read the visual abstract
A woman with curly gray hair wearing a bright green blazer over a colorful patterned dress, standing against a plain white background.

READ OUR LATEST FOUNDER’S CORNER

WHITENESS IS A HELLUVA DRUG

When Dr. Vanessa Grubbs named anti-Blackness as the reason Black residents are pushed out of training, a well-meaning White health care leader rolled his eyes—even as she laid out study after study proving it. Read why she says the problem was never Black physicians, but the belief in whiteness itself. Read more on BDV’s Founders Corner.

read on founder's corner

BLACK DOC VILLAGE

See the full body of work

Meet the team, follow policy developments, and read Dr. Grubbs' Founder's Corner essays at blackdocvillage.org

go to black doc village