Jennifer Adaeze Anyaegbunam says that she didn't say anything when, as a medical student doing her internal medicine rotation at the University of Virginia, a patient referred to her three times as a "colored girl."
Neither did the attending physician--nor did she address the incident with Anyaegbunam privately.
That's what disturbed Anyaegbunam the most, she writes in an opinion piece on STAT, where she is currently working as an editorial intern.
The medical student, who plans to start a residency in adult psychiatry this year, says that's not the only time she encountered racism in her time spent in healthcare. In fact, racism is a chronic disease that the healthcare system struggles with, she says, despite medical schools' diversity initiatives and training in unconscious bias and cultural sensitivity.
Those efforts to combat racism are not enough, she says.
"Again and again during my four years of training, I encountered racism and ignorance, directed either at patients or at me and other students of color. Yet it was very hard for me to speak up, even politely, because as a student, I felt I had no authority--and didn't want to seem confrontational to senior physicians who would be writing my evaluations," she writes.
How can medical professionals meet the needs of a rapidly diversifying population when they can't address prejudice within their own community? For her part, Anyaegbunam says she hopes to do better in the future, recognizing prejudice, speaking up against it and fostering inclusion.
To learn more:
- read the opinion piece