This feels all too familiar.
After watching the violence unfold in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend, after watching white supremacists descend on the city where I went to medical school, and onto the University of Virginia campus where I became a doctor, this is what I said to myself.
I’ve seen this anger before.
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Thanks for doing what you do and for being honest about your experiences. I’m hopeful that the same experiences of today won’t be so for tomorrow’s physicians but we can only get there by having an open dialogue, working together and supporting each other.
Of course our infected society permeates our impaired healthcare system. Thanks for sharing this.
Thank you for your wisdom and courage to stand for good in the face of evil.
I sympathize with some of the counter points in comments. But somehow I think we all need to accept that there areally many things that need to be shared on this issue. This writer is not saying there are not other experiences or dimensions of the issue. She stands in her unique place and gives us insight into her world. One thing I can do is give others the dignity of their own voicell and not demand that they first express every one else’s views before they write.
If you want your discrimination noticed and resolved, then you need to be fighting for all forms of discrimination. Its not just about your one instance, help to get rid of it for other groups, say, women. Reach across to others who also suffer. I’ve done that for several groups and others.
Search for “gaslighting” AND “white wall of silence”. Research Christopher Duntsch and how long that went on and how much hospital admin protected him and their assets at the cost of people’s lives. Try psychopaths, medicine and the white wall of silence.
I have written to several elected reps (of color) and the NAACP in the past couple of years of discrimination in health care. I gave up because of no response and no support from regular people, or protesters, or the elected reps. So where were all the people expressing solidarity with this movement back then? Where was the media when I did something that would actually try and get laws changed to help?
Thank you for insightful and courageous comments but mostly for your professionalism, humanity, service and dedication to healing body, mind and spirit.
You could have ran, you could have quit, you could have fought the administration to have these patients kicked – forcing people to conform or face the consequences.
Instead, you embraced the opportunity and stayed. You were compassionate, you did your job well and in doing so, with each positive interaction you chipped away at their hardened racist worldviews. You weren’t just treating their bodies, you were treating their poisoned minds. You weren’t a victim of them, you were a healer. And it looks like there is lots more work to do and many more people to save.
It is ridiculous that your work place not only tolerated racism but expected you to tolerate it too. Hope you get promoted quickly & change the rules to protect all staff by refusing service & getting security to kick out all racist, sexist, whatever other bigots irrespective of their condition. At least introduce a surcharge to pay for counselling sessions for their victims with the option of the victim collecting the cash & the time off work for the counselling or using it at their discretion. A couple thousand dollars fine and/or no treatment will help improve society & educate such morons much faster. Thank God for people like Sundar Pichai of Google firing his sexist employee.
I work in medicine. You can’t turn anyone away. And you wouldn’t want to anyway – you work in healthcare to help everyone.
So, yeah, I don’t have a lot of sympathy for people who don’t want to make gay wedding cakes.
Well written
If we ever go where we wanted. It’s
time to dream for Mars as next step of the fight. Isn’t it?
Continue your training with courage and faith. I pray that there is always someone near you for love and support. This is a beautifully written article. Thank you.