Medical training for African Americans first became a topic of policy debate in the United States in the context of the post-Civil War South as a way to address the health needs of the African-American community. Disparities between the health status of Whites and African Americans had been observed throughout American history. In the antebellum South, slave owners documented health problems that threatened productivity, and pointed out health disparities between African Americans and Whites to reinforce beliefs that biological differences between the races justified slavery (Savitt, 1985). Common health problems ranged from injuries and malnutrition to pneumonia and tuberculosis. Conditions in the South after the Civil War were not dissimilar to other postwar periods, with many people left homeless—refugees in search of a place to live and a way to make a living (Summerville, 1983). Lack of food, water, and sanitation exacerbated what had already been extremely poor living conditions. The result was major outbreaks of pneumonia, cholera, diphtheria, smallpox, yellow fever, and tuberculosis. Yet, very few white physicians were willing to see black patients, and very few African Americans could afford their fees. The education of African-American physicians and other health professionals was seen as a necessary step to improve the health of Blacks and to protect the public health of the communities where African Americans lived, primarily in the South. African-American medical schools were founded to address this need.