A Black Doctor's Patient Problems
A Black Doctor's Patient Problems - Newsweek My Turn - MSNBC.com
The first time it happened I was a brand-spanking-new M.D., filled with an intern's enthusiasm. Proudly wearing my pristine white coat and feeling sure that I was going to save the world, I walked into my patient's room.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Kasongo. How can I help you?" I asked cheerfully. The patient was a pleasant African-American woman whose chief complaint was abdominal pain. I spent the next 10 minutes taking her history, examining her thoroughly and doing a rectal exam to spot signs of internal bleeding. I explained that I'd treat her pain, check her blood work and urine samples, and go from there. "That's great," she said with a smile. "When is the doctor going to see me?"
I frowned. Hadn't she heard me? Hadn't I just administered an invasive exam on her posterior? "I am the doctor," I told her, making myself smile again. Did she sense my newness? Was it my lack of confidence that made it hard for her to believe I had a medical degree? I decided that even though I was a 30-year-old intern, it must be the youthful appearance I inherited from my ageless mother that was confusing her.
That was four years ago. There have been many such incidents since then, ranging from the irritating to the comical, and I no longer have much doubt that what baffled my patient was the color of my skin.
posted by Greg L at
11:03 PM
1 Comments:
As I read your comments, Mel, I'm wondering if her experiences would have been different if she were a male. Perhaps they would have been.
Race and the issues it engenders are complex and it's hard to put everything in one neat little box. I'm thinking about how I often hear that black women face less racism due to being less threatening, but that clearly didn't help the doctor here.
African-American CPA's constitute less than 1% of all CPA's in the US. Given that low percentage, it can be supposed that most people aren't accustomed to running into many of us. Yet I have a diverse client base and I don't think that I've run into these sorts of problems. Maybe I did and didn't know it or it just bothered me less.
On the other hand, when I was working in the corporate sector prior to starting my business, I felt that I was constantly running into the same sorts of issues the doctor encountered. In those days, I was pretty angry. That anger spurred my entrepreneurial drive. I just couldn't see my economic future being controlled by what someone thought of me. I found that highly objectionable and still do.
I guess I just think that being more independent reduces this issue to being insignificant mainly by reducing the impact it has on one.
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