Diversity in medicine can save lives. Here's why there aren't more doctors of color

Students at the University of Minnesota celebrate their induction into medical school. The U.S. has disproportionately few Black and Hispanic doctors. Some of the barriers to entering the profession start before even getting into medical school, recent research finds, including financial pressures and racism. (Anthony Souffle/Star Tribune via Getty Images)

Sabina Spigner says she's always known she wanted to be a doctor. But, as a premed student at the University of Pennsylvania, she found herself struggling to balance a heavy class load while also working as many as 20 hours a week.

"I was always working, because I didn't have money and I was a work-study student," says Spigner.