I attended an anti-racism discussion initiated by Dr. Bonnie Mason for female physicians and medical trainees. I am so grateful to the women who shared their stories. Their stories made many of us, including myself, choke up that discrimination is such a heavy burden on these women every single day. Here are notes to share what I’ve learned. I am educating myself on how to be a better ally, and I encourage you all to too. Let’s do better together.
To answer the question of “What can I do right now”, realize that fighting racism is not any quick actions. It’s committing to a lifelong journey of educating yourself and speaking up.
Let’s beat the culture of complicit silence.
- When someone says something racist, do not wait for the persons of Under represented Minorities (URM) in the room to speak up. If you are an ally that recognizes it, speak up.
- If you’re in a position of leadership e.g. an attending, speak up on behalf of the medical student, resident or fellow. Realize that being silent in racist situations contributes to racism. Persons of URM can feel the obligation every minute preparing for racism to happen and carrying extra burden.
- Do not underestimate how impactful it can be to speak up in those moments. It means a LOT to say to a patient “Hey she is your doctor. If you do not want to respect your doctor and our colleague, you can leave.”
- Think beyond easily recognizable racism. Recognize the everyday racism such as assuming the person of under represented minorities is not the doctor or the person in charge, and many other stories that were shared.
- It’s okay to not respond to every single racist moment because it’s very emotionally exhausting to do so but respond as much as you can that you can. When you can’t respond in the moment or you don’t have the power to speak up, document very carefully what happened and when and report to the relevant officer.
- Medical culture teaches trainees to put our head downs and be grateful we have a spot. Our voices matter more than we know as trainees. Document and report.
- Examine feelings of shame or defensiveness
Anti-racist Resource lists:
- An Anti-Racist Reading List – The Millions
- Another great resource including movies, books, and first steps: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a-lzdtxOlWuzYNGqwlYwxMWADtZ6vJGCpKhtJHHrS54/preview?pru=AAABcqAjucY*WyIEaUuCHjS-qrnThfY6FA#
Follow a diversity of people on Instagram. Try to follow more female physicians from the Black community and other communities to keep you aware and broadening your thickening. For a starting point: Dr Bonnie Mason, Dr Haydee Brown, Dr Laura Scott. There are many many more. I’ll try to re-share more on Instagram.
Suggestions to implement
- A day long seminar for all residents on implicit bias to open the conversation and give a forum for the residents to talk about racism in medicine