Founded in 1876, Meharry Medical College is an academic health center that exists to improve the health and health care of minority and underserved communities by offering excellent education and training programs in the health sciences. True to its heritage, Meharry places emphases on providing opportunities to people of color and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, regardless of race or ethnicity; delivering high quality health services; and conducting research that fosters the elimination of health disparities.  The Meharry mission is firmly rooted in its core belief that health care -- irrespective of one's social standing or economic means -- is a basic human right.  Perhaps he College's grease and most enduring contribution to health care is the number of its graduates who serve in medically underserved communities.  Ranked one of the nation's top five producers of primary care physicians, and second in social mission among all U.S. medical schools, nearly four out of five (83%) Meharry medical and dental alumni work in medically underserved rural and urban communities. Meharry is committed to the delivery of high-quality health services and to the conduct of research that fosters improved health outcomes and the elimination of health disparities.  The College consistently earns recognition as a leading producer of African-American biomedical PhD graduates -- especially for producing the highest percentages of African-American males graduating with PhDs in biomedical science.  Meharry is a dedicated health advocate for Tennessee residents, providing $30 million in uncompensated care annually to patients who have limited access to medical and dental care.  Meharry physicians and dentists treat uninsured and underinsured patients in more than a third of the counties in Tennessee, and 51 percent of recent graduates practice throughout the state.