Microaggressions Are Far Too Common for Black Doctors

Black and Brown doctors — especially women — have interactions with patients and fellow medical professionals that their White male counterparts have likely never experienced. They’re second-guessed and assumed to be a janitor or one of the food-service staff while wearing the same white coat as their peers. The lack of diversity in medicine plays a role in this — just 5% of U.S. doctors are Black and 2% are Black women. Emergency rooms are even Whiter with just 3% of physicians in emergency medicine identifying as Black.