As we belatedly celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, I want to take a moment to expand on an important conversation first raised by 2024–2025 SAACOFP President, George Yang, DO, MPH. In his 2023 blog post, “Advocating for Disaggregated Data in the Asian American Population,” Dr. Yang offered a powerful call to action: that we must stop treating AAPI individuals as a single, homogenous group—especially in health data, workforce equity, and medical education.
I'd like to continue that conversation and highlight how aggregated data, even when well-intentioned, can obscure disparities within the Asian American community and ultimately hurt patients and providers alike.
AAPI ≠ Monolith: The Problem With Aggregated Data
When we hear about the success of “Asians in medicine,” we often see data points showing overrepresentation—especially among East Asians (e.g., Chinese, Korean, and Japanese Americans) and South Asians (particularly Indian Americans). But these trends don’t tell the full story. In fact, they mask real disparities in representation, outcomes, and opportunity.
According to a 2021 report published in JAMA Network Open examining the physician workforce pipeline, Laotian American, Cambodian American, and Filipino American individuals were underrepresented at every stage—from medical school admissions to faculty leadership.
This imbalance matters. It affects:
- Who gets mentored
- Which communities are prioritized in pipeline programs
- How patients see themselves in their care teams
- Which languages, customs, and worldviews are reflected in practice
The Filipino Healthcare Paradox
The Filipino community offers a striking example. While Filipino Americans are significantly represented among nurses and advanced practice providers, they remain underrepresented as physicians, particularly in academic and leadership roles.
This disparity highlights why disaggregating data isn’t about division—it’s about precision. If we only look at “Asian” numbers collectively, we might mistakenly assume equity has been achieved, when in reality, many communities remain invisible within systems meant to serve them.
Why This Matters for Family Medicine
As osteopathic family medicine physicians and trainees, our job is to care for the whole person within the context of their community and identity. If we fail to recognize who is missing in our data, our workforce, or our assumptions, we risk delivering care that is well-meaning but incomplete.
Disaggregated data:
- Helps identify which populations are not making it into medicine
- Informs how we can recruit, mentor, and support students from underrepresented AAPI backgrounds
- Drives culturally responsive care by acknowledging diverse cultural, linguistic, and religious nuances
- Encourages more inclusive policymaking and resource allocation
Moving Forward: Representation Is a Starting Point, Not the End Point
True representation in healthcare begins with seeing each other fully—not as a monolith, but as a mosaic. Let’s keep asking: Who is missing? Whose voices aren’t being heard? And what can we do about it?
In the spirit of osteopathic medicine’s holistic philosophy, let us honor the diversity within the diversity. And let that guide how we teach, learn, and care.
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